Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Harriette Richards, Senior Lecturer, School of Fashion and Textiles, RMIT University

In a year with few surprises in the awards categories, there was also a dearth of surprises on the red carpet. The sartorial themes included sparkling metallics, coloured menswear and bows, bows and more bows.

Metallic gowns that resemble the Oscar statue are a familiar sight at the Academy Awards and this year was no different. Some of the standouts included best actress nominee Demi Moore in a magnificently glittering silver Armani Privé gown, Selena Gomez in custom Ralph Lauren encrusted with 16,000 individual blush-toned jewel teardrops, and Emma Stone in a minimalist Louis Vuitton sheath covered in iridescent fish scales.

In the menswear category, tuxedos reign supreme. This year was notable only for the diversity of colours in which these suits came.

Best actor nominee Timothée Chalamet lived up to his reputation for monochrome, richly hued ensembles in a custom butter yellow leather suit by Givenchy, paired with a matching silk shirt and delicate neck brooch in place of a tie. His best actor nominated compatriot, Colman Domingo (one of the best dressed men in Hollywood) was pristine in a double-breasted red silk jacket with black lapels, black trousers and matching red shirt by Valentino, similarly eschewing a tie in favour of a fine gold brooch. Andrew Garfield wore louche chocolate brown Gucci and Jeremy Strong wore a suit by Loro Piana in an unusual tone of olive green.

Bows of varying size and stature were perhaps the strongest theme of the night.

Best actress winner Mikey Madison in black and pink Dior, best supporting actress nominee Felicity Jones in shimmering liquid silver Armani, Elle Fanning in white and black Givenchy and Lupita Nyong’o in white Chanel were all adorned with bows at their waists.

The most remarkable bow of the night though was best actress nominee Cynthia Erivo in a structured deep emerald-green velvet Louis Vuitton gown, the broad, wing-like sleeves of which were crafted as a bow.

Notable mentions must also go to those attendees who do not fit neatly into any thematic category. Best supporting actress nominee Ariana Grande wore a meticulously crafted pale pink Schiaparelli confection and Lisa (of Blackpink and now White Lotus fame) perfected a feminine take on masculine suiting in a tuxedo dress by Markgong.

The only real surprise was the lack of political statements on display. Unlike recent years, when pins and ribbons in support of Ukraine and Palestine were widely worn, this year only Guy Pearce was spotted wearing a Free Palestine pin, Conclave writer Peter Straughan wore a Ukrainian flag pin and Kayo Shekoni had “free Congo” emblazoned on the sole of her high heels.

– Harriette Richards

The best picture: Anora

And the best picture Oscar goes to … Anora – the film that was favoured to win, so no surprises here.

Though he had been working for more than a decade at the time, writer-director-editor Sean Baker came onto the independent movie scene with a bang with 2015’s Tangerine, a gimmicky film that was mainly celebrated for being shot on an iPhone. Why this would be celebrated is anyone’s guess. I suspect it’s because of the “I could do it too” factor – something the average person certainly couldn’t say if we’re talking 35mm celluloid.

Since then, Baker’s films have relished in embracing the digital, neon world, but always in a kind of sentimental and shallow, rather than critical, register. None of his films are awful – and maybe that’s saying something in this day and age. Anora also is not awful, but it’s not particularly memorable either.

Anora follows a run of the mill American dream-type story about a hard-working stripper who seems to strike fairytale gold when a young, fun Russian oligarch falls in love with her. Only the dream turns out to be more of a nightmare (kind of) when things don’t quite work out and the film ends with the titular character once again independent and free.

The idea of undercutting the fairytale setup of the typical rom-com is not at all original, and the film strikes me as even more schmaltzy in its rejection of the fairytale dream than if it had embraced it and played like a tween-focused Nickelodeon film (it’s about as poignant as this).

The film’s cardinal sin, however – and it’s certainly not alone in this – is its critical overlength. Each of the film’s sections could have had some 20 minutes cut and we would have had an enjoyably tight romp at 80 minutes. Instead, Anora drags on, swept up in its imagining of its own profundity – at times pretentious, but mainly tedious.

– Ari Mattes

Not the year to stick a neck out

The speeches this year were conspicuously meek. No announcer majorly insulted anyone else. No winner assaulted anyone else. Even the James Bond retrospective lacked energy. What’s going on in Hollywood?

There are clues that help explain this curious flatness. Host Conan O’Brien mentioned the pressure of “divisive politics” while reflecting on California’s wildfires. Several winners spoke about the importance of shared experience, of what unites us, of film as a medium that brings people together, a force for “good and progress in the world” and “a reminder not to let hate go unchecked”.

The directors of No Other Land, receiving their Oscar for best documentary, shared the one clear critical voice. Palestinian Basel Adra wished his newborn daughter a life without the fear that governs daily life in his homeland. Israeli co-director Yuval Abraham agreed: “There is another way. It’s not too late for life and for the living. There is no other way.”

However, that was the only moment people at the Oscars seemed willing to confront the political elephant in the room.

Anora director Sean Baker used his last (of four!) acceptance speeches to compel more people to help keep cinema doors open. He made his point passionately: this was the best way to sustain an industry that could continue to make brilliant movies. That said, the most emotive speeches of past Oscars events went much further than just commenting on the bread and butter concerns of the film industry.

This year, there were more clues in what people did not say. There were feints at Russian dictators – but nobody mentioned the war in Ukraine. There was no discussion of a certain election result, nor of filmmakers’ fears that Washington is now in the control of a governing faction that loathes them. Most revealing of all: nobody raised a peep about the President or his friends.

Hollywood’s collective discipline was on show tonight – and 2025 is not the year to stick a neck out.

– Tom Clark

A banner year for independent film

Independent films were the big winners for this year’s Oscars. While many of the technical awards went to the big budget films, such as Wicked (the US$145 million film won costume design and production design) and Dune: Part 2 (made at a budget of US$190 million, and winning sound and visual effects), the night’s major awards went to small productions.

While the definitions of “independence” and “studio” films don’t exist in a neat binary when it comes to production and global distribution, we can distinguish between film juggernauts and smaller films.

Three independent films won significant awards that are of note. Latvian film Flow was the first independent film to win best animated feature, up against major films Inside Out 2 (Pixar Films) and The Wild Robot (DreamWorks).

The film follows a cat, a dog, a capybara, a secretary bird and a ring-tailed lemur navigating a post-apocalyptic world with rising sea levels. The film also only used free and open-source software Blender and mostly used sounds from real world counterparts of the various characters. It was made for a budget of just €3.5 million (A$5.9 million).

The best documentary film nominees were dominated by independent films. Notably, the winner No Other Land has sadly been unable to find a distributor to release the film in the United States. (It is available for streaming in Australia on DocPlay, and in select cinemas.) The film was only eligible because the Film Lincoln Centre in New York facilitated a one-week, qualifying theatrical run.

The night’s top glories went to Anora, made on a budget of just US$6 million (A$9.7 million), and taking home the awards for best film, director, actress, screenplay and editing.

In his acceptance speech for best director, Sean Baker spoke of the importance of films getting a theatrical release. Films, he said, are about humanity – and that is best experienced in watching a film with other people.

During awards season, Baker has often spoken about the importance of small budget films in the expression of core human experiences.

The final message of the night went to Baker when he thanked the Academy for recognising a truly independent film: “Long live independent film!”

Indeed, independent films ruled this year’s Oscars.

– Stuart Richards

Best actor and actress

Mikey Madison, who won the best actress award for Anora, is quite good in the role. That said, it’s difficult to evaluate her performance in such a meandering film.

She tries hard playing a stripper who falls for Prince Charming – a Russian oligarch (Hollywood’s anti-Russian sentiment has certainly grown in recent years) who turns out to be a bit of a weakling with meanie parents. But Madison never really convincingly embodies the character, and we’re ever aware as we watch the film that she’s an actress working her way through relevant emotions and intensities.

That said, Madison is good at yelling and stripping, and this is the main way she shows her chops here. She screamed well in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019), too. The bar this year was admittedly pretty low, and truth be told Madison’s performance in Anora (aside from Fernanda Torres for I’m Still Here) is probably the best out of the nominees.

In contrast, Adrien Brody, who won the best actor award, is absolutely unforgettable in the flawed but magnificent The Brutalist – the best he’s been since The Pianist, and the deserved winner by a mile out of a similarly mediocre field. Brody is simply a pleasure to watch, and drives, in a wholly embodied way, this grandiose and exceedingly long film (the fact it doesn’t feel long is largely due to his magnetism).

The screenplay, in which the character comes across as a combination of arrogant, sweet and at times comedic, allows Brody to display the full range of his talent, and he plays the whole thing with an endearing vulnerability. But, again, it’s unfair to compare Brody and Madison – The Brutalist is a spectacularly accomplished cinematic epic, while Anora feels as stylish and profound as a social media video (I know that’s the point, but that doesn’t make it any more compelling).

– Ari Mattes

A lacklustre year for music

This was a strong year for music-based films, with three of the most nominated ones being musicals of various types: the big-budget Broadway adaptation Wicked, the original film musical Emilia Pérez, and the musician biopic A Complete Unknown.

The music of the ceremony itself was nicely assembled, with a live orchestra (conducted by Michael Bearden) accompanying proceedings from above the stage.

But the show was marred by an absence: the best song nominations were not performed live. The new songs this year were so bland, however – especially when compared to the Wicked score and Bob Dylan – that I can hardly blame the producers. The nominations included a dull Elton John song, some soft guitar rock from Sing Sing, Diane Warren’s 16th (!) nominated song (more soft rock), and two forgettable songs from Emilia Pérez (one of which, El Mal, was the winner).

So little faith did the Academy have in the songs that only a few seconds were played from each, mostly covered by a montage of interviews with the songwriters.

This year’s nominated best scores were not much more memorable, but Daniel Blumberg deserved his win for The Brutalist. It demonstrates a high level of composition and orchestration craft. It uses edgy instrumental textures to increase the feelings of uncertainty and imbalance that the film imparts.

The show included a lot of Wizard of Oz. Ariana Grande sang Over the Rainbow from the 1939 film and Cynthia Erivo sang Home from The Wiz, the 1974 soul musical based on the book. Then they performed Defying Gravity from Wicked together.

Another subtle Wizard of Oz nod was the music played during the commercial breaks: a loop based on Brand New Day from The Wiz, whose 1979 film version had its music produced by the late Quincy Jones. Queen Latifah and backup dancers brought some much needed energy to the last hour of the ceremony with Ease on Down the Road, also from The Wiz, as part of a Jones tribute.

One surprise was an unnecessary but enjoyable James Bond sequence featuring Margaret Qualley dancing to John Barry’s famous theme, a performance of Live and Let Die by K-pop star Lisa, Doja Cat singing Diamonds Are Forever, and Raye’s rendition of Skyfall.

This plus the various numbers from the Oz Musical Universe only highlighted how lacklustre this year’s nominated music was.

– Gregory Camp

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. From the fashion to the speeches to the music, this was an Oscars of few surprises. 5 experts break it down – https://theconversation.com/from-the-fashion-to-the-speeches-to-the-music-this-was-an-oscars-of-few-surprises-5-experts-break-it-down-251264

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Louise Stewart, Senior Career Medical Officer, Northern Sydney Local Health District; PhD Candidate, University of Sydney

An estimated one in five women and one in 16 men in Australia have experienced sexual violence.

After such a traumatic experience, it’s understandable many are unsure if they want to report it to the police. In fact, less than 10% of Australian women who experience sexual assault ever make a police report.

In Australia there is no time limit on reporting sexual assault to police. However, there are tight time frames for collecting forensic evidence, which can sometimes be an important part of the police investigation, whether it’s commenced at the time or later.

This means the decision of whether or not to undergo a medical forensic examination needs to be made quite quickly after an assault.

I work as a medical forensic examiner. Here’s what you can expect if you present for a medical forensic examination after a sexual assault.

A team of specialists

There are about 100 sexual assault services throughout Australia providing 24-hour care. As with other areas of health care, there are extra challenges in regional and rural areas, where there are often further distances to travel and staff shortages.

Sexual assault services in Australia are free regardless of Medicare status. To find your nearest service you can call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Full Stop Australia (1800 385 578) who can also provide immediate telephone counselling support.

It’s important to call the local sexual assault service before turning up. They can provide the victim-survivor with information and advice to prevent delays and make the process as helpful as possible.

The consultation usually occurs in a hospital emergency department which has a designated forensic suite, or in a specialised forensic service.

The victim-survivor is seen by a doctor or nurse trained in medical and forensic care. There’s a sexual assault counsellor, crisis worker or social worker present to support the patient and offer counselling advice. This is called an “integrated response” with medical and psychosocial staff working together.

In most cases the victim-survivor can have their own support person present too.

Depending on what the victim-survivor wants, the doctor or nurse will take a history of the assault to guide any medical care which may be needed (such as emergency contraception) and to guide the examination.

Sexual assault services are always very aware of giving victim-survivors a choice about having a medical forensic examination. If a person presents to a sexual assault service, they can receive counselling and medical care without undergoing a forensic examination if they do not wish to.

Collecting forensic samples

Samples collected during a medical forensic examination can sometimes identify the perpetrator’s DNA or intoxicating substances (alcohol or drugs that might be relevant to the investigation). The window of opportunity to collect these samples can be as short as 12 hours, or up to 5–7 days, depending on the nature of the sexual assault.

In most of Australia, an adult who has experienced a recent sexual assault can be offered a medical forensic examination without making a report to police.

Depending on the state or territory, the forensic samples can usually be stored for 3 to 12 months (up to 100 years in Tasmania). This allows the victim-survivor time to decide if they want to release them to police for processing.

The doctor or nurse will collect the samples using a sexual assault investigation kit, or a “rape kit”.

Collecting these samples might involve taking swabs to try to detect DNA from external and internal genital areas and anywhere there may have been DNA transfer. This can be from skin cells, where the perpetrator touched the victim-survivor, or from bodily fluids including semen or saliva.

The doctor or nurse carrying out the examination do their best to minimise re-traumatisation, by providing the victim-survivor information, choices and control at every step of the process.

How about STIs and pregnancy?

During the consultation, the doctor or nurse will address any concerns about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and pregnancy, if applicable.

In most cases the risk of STIs is small. But follow-up testing at 1–2 weeks for infections such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea, and at 6–12 weeks for infections such as syphilis and HIV, is usually recommended.

Emergency contraception (sometimes called the “morning after pill”) can be provided to prevent pregnancy. It can be taken up to five days after sexual assault (but the sooner the better) with follow-up pregnancy testing recommended at 2–3 weeks.

Things have improved over time

When I was a junior doctor in the late 90s, taking forensic swabs was usually the responsibility of the busy obstetrics and gynaecology trainee in the emergency department, who was often managing multiple patients and had little training in forensics. There was also usually no supportive counsellor.

Anecdotally, both the doctor and the patient were traumatised by this experience. Research shows that when specialised, integrated services are not provided, victim-survivors’ feelings of powerlessness are magnified.

But the way we carry out medical forensic examinations after sexual assault in Australia has improved over the years.

With patient-centred practices, and designated forensic and counselling staff, the experience for the patient is thought to be empowering rather than re-traumatising.

Our research

In new research published in the Australian Journal of General Practice, my colleagues and I explored the experience of the medical forensic examination from the victim-survivor’s perspective.

We surveyed 291 patients presenting to a sexual assault service in New South Wales (where I work) over four years.

Some 75% of patients reported the examination was reassuring and another 20% reported it was OK. Only 2% reported that it was traumatising. The majority (98%) said they would recommend a friend present to a sexual assault service if they were in a similar situation.

While patients spoke positively about the care they received, many commented that the sexual assault service was not visible enough. They didn’t know how to find it or even that it existed.

We know many victim-survivors don’t present to a sexual assault service or undergo a medical forensic examination after a sexual assault. So we need to do more to increase the visibility of these services.

The National Sexual Assault, Family and Domestic Violence Counselling Line – 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.

Mary Louise Stewart receives funding from the Ramsay Research and Education Grant and from the University of Sydney via the Postgraduate Research Support Scheme. Mary Louise Stewart works as a medical forensic examiner where her research is being undertaken.

– ref. I’m a medical forensic examiner. Here’s what people can expect from a health response after a sexual assault – https://theconversation.com/im-a-medical-forensic-examiner-heres-what-people-can-expect-from-a-health-response-after-a-sexual-assault-244404

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Chand, Lecturer in Illustration and Animation, University of South Australia

Director Chantelle Murray’s new family film The Lost Tiger is the first animated feature written and directed by an Indigenous woman.

Continuing with a long history of Indigenous storytelling, Murray has embedded the film with themes of identity, heritage and adventure. In doing so, she tells a story that is utterly heartwarming and wholly unique to place.

In Murray’s own words:

I didn’t have anything like this growing up. I had the things that reinforced the horrible narratives of Indigenous people globally. So, to have something there for the next generation, representation means everything.

The film is produced by Brisbane-based and woman-run Like a Photon Creative, the studio behind The Sloth Lane (2024) and Scarygirl (2023).

A powerful message

The Lost Tiger is classic orphan story founded on identity. The main character is a thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) named Teo (voiced by Thomas Weatherall), whose hero’s journey starts when he begins to grapple with his differences.

Teo is found as a baby, alongside a mysterious crystal, by a couple from the gregarious wrestling kangaroo troupe Roomania. Young Teo struggles with his identity as he’s coming of age and wants to fit in.

After visiting a museum, Teo meets platypus and aspiring guild adventurer named Plato (Rhys Darby). Once Plato identifies Teo as one of the world’s last thylacines, he tells him of a legendary lost “Tiger Island” said to be inhabited by thylacines – and the two begin a quest to find the island.

The film critiques the “doctrine of discovery” through its antagonist, adventure guild explorer Quinella Quoll (Celeste Barber). The doctrine of discovery refers to a legal and ideological approach through which colonisers tried to justify the seizing of land, resources and objects by Indigenous peoples.

Quoll – who is always looking to “discover” powerful new artifacts for her museum collection – embodies all the extractive qualities of historical European explorers and museum founders.

This is an important message at a time when museums both nationally and internationally are reevaluating what they hold in their collections – and trying to address the historical injustices associated with colonial acquisitions.

With a simple but well-executed plot, the film allows for some fun colloquialisms such as “2-up” (an old Aussie gambling game) and “stop, drop and roll”, along with a slate of side characters that highlight the value of simply doing what’s right.

It taps into the universal truth that each person’s story is irrevocably connected to the stories of others, and that the effect of our choices go far beyond our own lives.

Visually, The Lost Tiger has a distinct texture, underpinned by a vivid vision of the bush. Murray, who is from the Kimberley region, was highly intentional in her portrayal of Australia’s dynamic landscapes. As she explains:

I grew up with red rocks, super white sand, and this aqua coloured ocean, and it looks just like a painting. And it wasn’t until I left Broome and came back, and went, ‘This country has such a juxtaposition’. One minute you can be in the desert, and then you walk into a rain forest with these waterfalls.

The animation itself is created on “stepped keys”, a process in which only every second frame is animated. So instead of seeing 24 frames of motion per second, as you would in a traditional computer-animated film, you see 12 frames per second. This pose-to-pose movement gives the film a stop-motion feel.

This unique approach is complemented by some whiz-bang moments sure to draw in younger viewers. The film’s wrestling scenes and action sequences, supported by animation director Tania Vincent, are choreographed with high levels of energy, leading to a climactic end.

Between two worlds

Animation has the unique ability to tell stories that are both inclusive and diverse – which acknowledge our differences, yet connect us through our shared loves and experiences.

The Lost Tiger does this beautifully by focusing on messages of respect, unity, connection to place and the importance of conserving precious resources on First Nations lands. It also taps into the difficulties of belonging (and struggling to belong) across different cultural worlds.

Murray’s film helps lead us towards an industry that embraces diverse voices, and which will be able to support the uniquely Australian voices of future generations.

The creators of the film acknowledge the Turrbal and Yuggera Peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands in Queensland on which the film was made.

The Lost Tiger is in cinemas now.

Ari Chand does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. The Lost Tiger: first animated film by an Indigenous woman explores heritage and identity through a thylacine – https://theconversation.com/the-lost-tiger-first-animated-film-by-an-indigenous-woman-explores-heritage-and-identity-through-a-thylacine-251033

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Witzenberger, Research Fellow, GenAI Lab, Queensland University of Technology

After a year of shoehorning generative AI into its flagship products, Microsoft is trying to recoup the costs by raising prices, putting ads in products, and cancelling data centre leases. Google is making similar moves, adding unavoidable AI features to its Workspace service while increasing prices.

Is the tide finally turning on investments into generative AI? The situation is not quite so simple. Tech companies are fully committed to the new technology – but are struggling to find ways to make people pay for it.

Shifting costs

Last week, Microsoft unceremoniously pulled back on some planned data centre leases. The move came after the company increased subscription prices for its flagship 365 software by up to 45%, and quietly released an ad-supported version of some products.

The tech giant’s CEO, Satya Nadella, also recently suggested AI has so far not produced much value.

Microsoft’s actions may seem odd in the current wave of AI hype, coming amid splashy announcements such as OpenAI’s US$500 billion Stargate data centre project.

But if we look closely, nothing in Microsoft’s decisions indicates a retreat from AI itself. Rather, we are seeing a change in strategy to make AI profitable by shifting the cost in non-obvious ways onto consumers.

The cost of generative AI

Generative AI is expensive. OpenAI, the market leader with a claimed 400 million active monthly users, is burning money.

Last year, OpenAI brought in US$3.7 billion in revenue – but spent almost US$9 billion, for a net loss of around US$5 billion.

Microsoft is OpenAI’s biggest investor and currently provides the company with cloud computing services, so OpenAI’s spending also costs Microsoft.

What makes generative AI so expensive? Human labour aside, two costs are associated with AI models: training (building the model) and inference (using the model).

While training is an (often large) up-front expense, the costs of inference grow with the user base. And the bigger the model, the more it costs to run.

Smaller, cheaper alternatives

A single query on OpenAI’s most advanced models can cost up to US$1,000 in compute power alone. In January, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said even the company’s US$200 per month subscription is not profitable. This signals the company is not only losing money through use of its free models, but through its subscription models as well.

Both training and inference typically take place in data centres. Costs are high because the chips needed to run them are expensive, but so too are electricity, cooling, and the depreciation of hardware.

To date, much AI progress has been achieved by using more of everything. OpenAI describes its latest upgrade as a “giant, expensive model”. However, there are now plenty of signs this scale-at-all-costs approach might not even be necessary.

Chinese company DeepSeek made waves earlier this year when it revealed it had built models comparable to OpenAI’s flagship products for a tiny fraction of the training cost. Likewise, researchers from Seattle’s Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) and Stanford University claim to have trained a model for as little as US$50.

In short, AI systems developed and delivered by tech giants might not be profitable. The costs of building and running data centres are a big reason why.

What is Microsoft doing?

Having sunk billions into generative AI, Microsoft is trying to find the business model that will make the technology profitable.

Over the past year, the tech giant has integrated the Copilot generative AI chatbot into its products geared towards consumers and businesses.

It is no longer possible to purchase any Microsoft 365 subscription without Copilot. As a result subscribers are seeing significant price hikes.

As we have seen, running generative AI models in data centres is expensive. So Microsoft is likely seeking ways to do more of the work on users’ own devices – where the user pays for the hardware and its running costs.

A strong clue for this strategy is a small button Microsoft began to put on its devices last year. In the precious real estate of the QWERTY keyboard, Microsoft dedicated a key to Copilot on its PCs and laptops capable of processing AI on the device.

Apple is pursuing a similar strategy. The iPhone manufacturer is not offering most of its AI services in the cloud. Instead, only new devices offer AI capabilities, with on-device processing marketed as a privacy feature that prevents your data travelling elsewhere.

Pushing costs to the edge

There are benefits to the push to do the work of generative AI inference on the computing devices in our pockets, on our desks, or even on smart watches on our wrists (so-called “edge computing”, because it occurs at the “edge” of the network).

It can reduce the energy, resources and waste of data centres, lowering generative AI’s carbon, heat and water footprint. It could also reduce bandwidth demands and increase user privacy.

But there are downsides too. Edge computing shifts computation costs to consumers, driving demand for new devices despite economic and environmental concerns that discourage frequent upgrades. This could intensify with newer, bigger generative AI models.

And there are more problems. Distributed e-waste makes recycling much harder. What’s more, the playing field for users won’t be level if a device dictates how good your AI can be, particularly in educational settings.

And while edge computing may seem more “decentralised”, it may also lead to hardware monopolies. If only a handful of companies control this transition, decentralisation may not be as open as it appears.

As AI infrastructure costs rise and model development evolves, shifting the costs to consumers becomes an appealing strategy for AI companies. While big enterprises such as government departments and universities may manage these costs, many small businesses and individual consumers may struggle.

Kevin Witzenberger receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Michael Richardson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Microsoft cuts data centre plans and hikes prices in push to make users carry AI costs – https://theconversation.com/microsoft-cuts-data-centre-plans-and-hikes-prices-in-push-to-make-users-carry-ai-costs-250932

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

Despite community resistance and legal push-back, the government isn’t slowing down on its plan to roll back speed limit reductions on many roads. In the process, it’s going against expert advice from transport officials and solid economic evidence showing the benefits of slower speeds.

Documents recently released quietly by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) show Land Transport Director Brent Alderton raised serious concerns in 2024 about the proposed speed limit changes and urged decision makers to rely on evidence rather than ideology:

There is well founded evidence, nationally and internationally, that establishes the link between vehicle speed and the likelihood of a crash occurring, as well as the severity and consequences of any crash.

But the government is also bypassing evidence that contradicts its own justification that raising some speed limits will help increase productivity.

A comprehensive economic assessment prepared by engineering consulting firm WSP for the NZTA in March 2024 (later released under the Official Information Act) analysed the impact of previous speed limit changes implemented between 2020 and 2023 (with one dating back to 2011). It found the reductions delivered substantial economic benefits to New Zealand.

For road corridors with reduced speed limits, nearly 27 fewer deaths and serious injuries per year were recorded: “The crash cost savings generally outweigh the travel time disbenefits by a factor of 2 to 10 (or more).”

In other words, for every dollar lost in slightly increased travel times, the report estimates New Zealand gains between NZ$2 and $10 in reduced crash costs.

Economic benefits of lower speeds

All the road corridors with reduced speed limits in the WSP assessment showed positive benefit-cost ratios using NZTA’s standard methodology. Even under various sensitivity tests, including if crash benefits were reduced or project costs increased, most speed reductions maintained positive ratios.

But despite the local and international evidence showing lower speed limits save lives and money, the government persists in claiming raising some limits will reduce travel times and therefore increase productivity.

In fact, everything points to any productivity gains from faster travel being significantly outweighed by increased crash costs. As of 2023, the Ministry of Transport estimates those costs at $769,400 per serious injury and $14,265,600 per fatality.

When the WSP report was released, it projected traffic would experience mean speed reductions of between 5% and 9% on roads with lowered limits. This projection was based on actual changes in driving speeds recorded using GPS-based traffic data.

The data showed these reductions resulted in actual death and injury savings “much greater than predicted”. While the observed speed reductions aligned with expectations, the projected safety benefits significantly underestimated the actual harm reduction.

For example, on the Blenheim to Nelson stretch of State Highway 6, the predicted death and injury reduction was 22%, but the actual reduction was 82%. On State Highway 51, the reduction was 100% compared to an expected 31%.

Conversely, where speed limits were increased from 100 km/h to 110 km/h, as on the Cambridge section of the Waikato Expressway in December 2017, deaths and serious injuries rose by 133% compared to pre-increase levels.

In Auckland, dozens of urban corridors will soon see speed limits rise from 50 km/h to 60 km/h. The Auckland Transport agency will also raise the limit on one stretch of Te Irirangi Drive from 60 km/h to 80 km/h – exactly the kind of substantial increase the WSP report linked to dramatically higher crash risks.

Expediency vs evidence

Overall, the WSP report shows speed limit reductions worked better than expected at preventing harm, with significantly lower numbers of deaths and serious injuries annually across the studied corridors.

It is likely the number of lives saved from these speed limit reductions are reflected in the 2024 road fatality statistics, where road deaths across New Zealand were below 300 for the first time in a decade.

The director of land transport can only promise to “monitor” the impacts of the speed limit increases. In reality, there has been sufficient monitoring and measuring already to show speed limit reductions reduce harm as well as deliver economic benefits.

But the speed limit issue fits within a broader pattern of transport policy where ideology or political expediency appear to trump expert advice and economic analysis.

The government has frozen funding for cycling and walking projects, cancelled Auckland’s light rail plan, abandoned regional passenger rail initiatives and prioritised new highway construction over maintenance of existing roads.

This is despite economic assessments consistently showing better benefit-cost ratios for public and active transport investments than for new road projects.

Such decisions also contradict the government’s own climate commitments and overlook mounting evidence that car-centric transport planning worsens congestion rather than alleviating it.

Similarly, economic assessment shows unequivocally that the financial benefits of lower speeds and safer roads far outweigh the costs. If economic rationality were the driving force behind transport policy, speed limit reductions would be expanded rather than rolled back.

Timothy Welch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. False economies: the evidence shows higher speed limits don’t make financial sense – https://theconversation.com/false-economies-the-evidence-shows-higher-speed-limits-dont-make-financial-sense-251138

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yetta Gurtner, Adjunct senior lecturer, Centre for Disaster Studies, James Cook University

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is predicted to make landfall anywhere between Bundaberg and northern New South Wales this week. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has warned it may bring severe hazards and “dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding”.

So, how do you prepare for a cyclone – and what do you do if it’s too late to leave?

How to prepare

Your starting point is to consider the risk to yourself and everyone in your household (including pets). Consider ensuring you have:

• non-perishable food that everyone in the family will eat (enough for five to seven days)
• water for drinking and cleaning (three litres per person per day)
• medication (two weeks worth)
• toiletries and first aid kit
• pet food/supplies
• torches
• batteries
• a back up battery for your phone
• baby formula and nappies if needed
• protective clothing and closed-in shoes
• cash in small denominations
• valuable documents such as passports, title deeds, ID, insurance details, photos (these can be photographed or packed in weather-proof container or envelope)
• kids’ books, card games, board games, headphones
• anything else you may need or really value (and isn’t too heavy to carry).

Make sure you have a grab-and-go kit that you can carry by yourself if authorities suddenly tell you to evacuate immediately.

Conventional wisdom used to be to prepare enough supplies for three days of disruption. Now, experts recommend having enough for five to seven days. After the initial disaster there may be road blockages or supply chain problems.

Ensure you have enough medication for a week or two, because pharmacies may take days or weeks to re-open. And remember that many medications, such as insulin, need to be refrigerated, so consider how you’d keep them cool if the power went out.

Fill containers with water and stick them in your freezer now; they can keep your freezer cool if you lose power. They can also become drinking water in future.

Talk to your neighbours. Do they have a generator or a camping fridge you can use? This is a great opportunity to get to know your community and pool your resources.

Ask yourself if you have friends with whom you or a pet can stay. One of the main reasons people don’t evacuate is because they can’t bring their pets (not all evacuation shelters allow them, so check in advance).

Consider what you can do now to prepare your house. One of the most common call-outs the SES receives is about blocked drains and gutters, so check if there’s time to clean your gutters now. You won’t be able to do it during the storm.

Stay informed – and don’t rely on hearsay

Have a plan for getting truthful information before, during and after the cyclone.

Rely on the information provided by official sources, as they will tell you when it’s too late to evacuate or when it’s safe to come out. This is highly context-specific and will depend on where you are located.

Get advice where possible from your local council’s disaster dashboard (most councils have one).

It should provide information such as where to get sandbags, which roads are closed (which can affect your evacuation plan) and evacuation centre openings and locations.

Anyone who monitors social media will see how many amateur meteorologists and maps are out there, but these are often not the best source. Always rely on official sources rather than hearsay, trending footage or amateur “experts”.

Always have an battery-operated AM-FM radio. If power goes out, relying on your phone to track information will drain your phone battery very quickly.

You may be able to charge it via your car or laptop, but telecommunications networks may not be active.

So having a battery-operated radio on hand – and plenty of batteries – is crucial.

What if the cyclone hits while you’re at home?

If it’s too late to evacuate, have a plan for sheltering in place.

Find the smallest room in your house with the least windows (which can shatter in a storm). This is often the bathroom, but it could be under the stairs. It is usually on the lowest level of the house.

Bring your food, water, radio, blankets and supplies there. Avoid walking around the house during the cyclone to fetch things; there could be glass on the floor or debris flying around.

It’s hard to predict how long you will need to shelter there, but it’s important not to leave until official sources say it is safe to do so.

Cyclones come in stages. They arrive from one direction, then comes an eerie calm as the “eye of the storm” passes over. Next, the other half of the cyclone arrives. Don’t go outside during the eye of the storm, because it’s not over.

Outside the house, there may be powerlines down, broken glass and other hazards. Don’t venture out until you get official clearance from the disaster dashboard or official sources on the radio saying it is safe.

For non-life threatening emergencies – such as a tree on your roof, or water running through your house – call the SES on 132 500 or register on the SES Assistance app (if you’re in Queensland). They will not come during the event itself but will come later.

If it’s a life threatening emergency, always call triple 0.

After the storm

After the storm, consider how to make your house more cyclone-ready in future. Many houses in North Queensland are designed for cyclone zones, but not as many further south will be.

Climate change means cyclones are likely to be more severe in future. These days, be cyclone-ready 365 days a year.

Yetta Gurtner has received funding in the past from the Bureau of Meteorology. She is a community engagement officer with the Queensland State Emergency Services.

– ref. How to prepare for a cyclone, according to an expert – https://theconversation.com/how-to-prepare-for-a-cyclone-according-to-an-expert-251251

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cynthia Mehboob, PhD Scholar in Department of International Relations, Australian National University

Last month tech giant Meta announced plans to build the world’s longest submarine communication cable.

Known as Project Waterworth, the 50,000-kilometre cable would link five continents. Meta says it would improve connectivity and technological development in countries including the United States, India and Brazil.

Improving global connectivity has been the main purpose of submarine cables since the first one was laid across the Atlantic Ocean in 1858.

Globally, there are currently around 1.4 million kilometres of these garden hose-sized, plastic-wrapped cables. The optical fibres inside can transmit data at speeds of up to 300 terabits per second.

But submarine cables can do far more than just enhance telecommunications. In fact, a recent conference I attended in London highlighted how a relatively new generation of cables can also be used to keep us safe from threats such as climate change and natural disasters.

Multipurpose cables

SMART – short for Scientific Monitoring and Reliable Telecommunications – cables are designed for environmental monitoring. They are a joint initiative by the International Telecommunications Union, the World Meteorological Organization and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

These cables are equipped with sensors that measure vital environmental data in the ocean. This data includes seismic activity, temperature fluctuations and pressure changes. It can be used to improve early-warning systems for tsunamis and earthquakes as well as tracking changes in the climate.

OFS – short for optical fibre sensing – cables are aimed at protecting critical infrastructure. They use the fibre within to detect vibrations surrounding the cable. This allows cable operators to identify potential disruptions from fishing activity, ship anchors and other physical disturbances.

A handful of countries, including France and Portugal, are actively investing in these cables. The European Commission is also supporting SMART cable projects within broader infrastructure strategies.

A slow uptake

The topic of sensing cables comes up at conferences, thanks to industry professionals who work on it pro bono. But the technology isn’t widely adopted by the broader industry and governments. For example, SMART cables have been around since 2010, but there are only two projects in development.

The reasons for this slow uptake boil down to three major concerns, as discussed at the conference.

1. Outdated regulation

The legal framework governing undersea cables is outdated.

While the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea regulates international waters, it doesn’t address cables equipped with environmental sensors.

This legal ambiguity introduces additional complexities to already lengthy and complex processes for obtaining permits when sensing technologies are integrated into cables.

2. No clear business model

Industry executives question the financial feasibility of sensing cables. For example, during the conference in London, several industry executives suggested adding sensors raises costs by approximately 15%, with no clear revenue return.

Unlike data traffic, environmental data doesn’t directly generate income. Unless governments intervene with funding, tax incentives or expedited permits, cable operators have little incentive to absorb these added costs and complexities.

3. Security risks

At the subsea cable conference in London, several industry insiders also warned embedding sensors in cables could create new security risks.

Some governments might view sensing-equipped cables as surveillance tools rather than neutral scientific infrastructure.

There is also concern such cables could become attractive targets for malicious actors.

A need for more ocean data

But there are good reasons for more countries and industry to invest in SMART cables.

For example, information on ocean depth, seabed composition and temperature fluctuations is valuable. A wide array of industries, from shipping and offshore energy to fisheries and insurance, could leverage this data to enhance their operations and mitigate risks.

Scientists have also pointed out that in order to better understand climate change, we need more and better data about what’s happening in the ocean.

Current subsea cable regulatory hurdles make investing in sensing technology challenging. But if regulation is updated, projects such as Meta’s Waterworth Project could more easily integrate sensors.

With experts suggesting the Waterworth Project be viewed as multiple cables instead of one, sensors could just be deployed on less geopolitically sensitive cable branches.

They could facilitate the creation of an open-access, publicly funded database for ocean observation data. Such a platform could consolidate real-time data from sensing cables, satellites and marine sensors. This would provide a transparent, shared resource for scientists, policymakers and industries alike.

Of course, deploying sensing technology may not be feasible in volatile regions such as the Baltic or South China seas.

But there is potential in areas especially vulnerable to climate change, such as the Pacific. Here, scientific data could be harnessed to model oceanic changes and explore solutions to rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns.

A path forward

Portugal demonstrates a path forward for SMART cables. Despite the regulatory challenges, it is actively investing in SMART cables in order to improve climate data.

Other governments can learn from this if they wish to fulfil their moral duty to invest in infrastructure that serves as a public good.

The idea of embedding sensors in cables may not be the perfect climate change fix. But it’s a step toward understanding the ocean’s invisible rhythms – a small but necessary gesture to stop pretending our planet’s breakdown will fix itself.

Cynthia Mehboob does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Submarine cables keep the world connected. They can also help us study climate change – https://theconversation.com/submarine-cables-keep-the-world-connected-they-can-also-help-us-study-climate-change-251046

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacob Broom, Lecturer in Politics and Policy, Murdoch University

The Western Australian election is less than a week away, and two themes have dominated: big public spending and culture wars.

The main parties are racking up a long and expensive list of policy promises. The ABC’s election promise tracker shows big spending in suburban road upgrades, improving school access and infrastructure, responding to domestic and family violence, and addressing undercapacity in WA’s health system. The combined promised spend of Labor, Liberals, Nationals and the Greens is estimated to exceed A$16 billion.

Appeals to fiscal restraint have been quiet. Labor is trumpeting its responsible economic management, while the Liberals are promising to “set the right priorities”. There is little talk of slashing and saving.

The combination of the cost-of-living crisis and WA’s strong economy has dampened the public’s appetite for austerity. It has also provided the parties with the cover to spend without seeming fiscally reckless.

While the policy priorities between the parties are broadly similar, there remain significant differences.

Policy debates on housing and climate

In housing, for example, all parties promise to slash stamp duty for first home buyers, but their proposals otherwise differ:

• WA Labor is focusing on build-to-rent projects and expanding WA’s shared equity scheme
• the Liberals will fast-track homes in key growth areas by funding enabling infrastructure
• the Nationals promise a $1 billion project to develop land in regional WA, as well as another A$1 billion to expand the Government Regional Officer Housing program
• the Greens pledge to regulate short-stay accommodation, strengthen renters’ rights and set housing targets.

For climate policy, the differences are starker. Labor promises a coal-free grid by 2030 and a green energy future built in WA, driven by windfarms and WA-made home batteries. It stops short at reducing natural gas use, unlike the Greens.

However, Labor has also pushed back against environmental regulation. Premier Roger Cook lobbied the federal government to abandon environmental protection legislation.

The recent release of a long-withheld independent report that prompted sweeping changes to the WA Environmental Protection Agency was criticised by conservation organisations for its lack of consultation outside of the mining industry.

The Liberals agree on the need for batteries and wind power. However, they also promise to extend the lifespan of WA’s coal power stations and lift the ban on uranium mining in WA.

In her campaign launch speech, Liberal leader Libby Mettam pledged to cut “green tape” and defund the Environmental Defenders Office. This is on the grounds that “taxpayer money should not be spent propping up activists”.

The culture wars cometh

Mettam’s choice to target “activists” signals the Liberals’ flirtation with the culture wars. This term refers to conflict over social issues concerning identity and inclusion such as gender, race and sexuality. These issues are invoked by politicians to win votes from a polarised electorate.

Centre-right parties around the world have embraced culture wars, including in Australia.

Aligning herself with federal Liberal leader Peter Dutton, Mettam has stated she will refuse to stand in front of the First Nations flags.

She’s also promised to “ban the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone treatments and surgical intervention for children under the age of 16 for the purpose of gender transition” and launch a comprehensive review of these treatments.

There are incentives for the Liberals to engage in culture war tactics.

Labor’s electoral position is stable. It also holds a dominant share of political donations. Public desire for big spending is limiting the effectiveness of traditional conservative attacks on Labor’s economic management.

The Liberals may perceive culture-war signalling as their most viable strategy for winning government. And, if the results of recent elections around the world are anything to go by, then “anti-woke” politics is surging.

Scandals involving various Liberal candidates further deepen the perception the Liberals are engaged in culture wars.

Albany candidate Thomas Brough was ordered to take workplace training with the Australian Human Rights Commission after making comments falsely linking the LGBTQIA+ community with paedophilia. Brough (who is a doctor) was referred to the State Administrative Tribunal by the Medical Board for the comments.

Brough also came under fire for suggesting a “posse” of regional doctors would help gun owners navigate new stricter gun laws introduced by Labor. Brough has not been asked by the party to resign.

Similarly, a rising star for the Liberals and candidate for Churchlands, Basil Zempilas, made widely condemned comments about transgender people on his radio show in 2020, shortly after becoming Lord Mayor of Perth. Apologising after, he said he had “forgotten he was lord mayor”.

The party also preselected candidates whose digital footprints revealed unpalatable views.

During an awkward press conference, Darling Range candidate Paul Mansfield was confronted with what the ABC described as “a series of derogatory social media posts, including homophobic slurs and two lewd posts about women”.

Kimberley candidate Darren Spackman was asked to leave the party after derogatory social media posts he made in 2022 about Indigenous people were republished.

The preselection of these candidates could be written off as the reflection of a hollowed-out party struggling to attract strong candidates.

But under Mettam, the WA Liberal Party is caught between signalling it is part of the anti-woke surge and being seen to resist discrimination.

It is unclear whether the culture wars will secure votes for the Liberals. Recent research shows strong support for issues such as transgender rights among Australian voters.

How WA voters respond to culture-war messaging will undoubtedly inform the Liberals’ position in the federal election.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. The WA election campaign has been about big promises, but culture wars are inescapable in contemporary politics – https://theconversation.com/the-wa-election-campaign-has-been-about-big-promises-but-culture-wars-are-inescapable-in-contemporary-politics-249691

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Lacy-Nichols, Senior Research Fellow in Commercial Determinants of Health, The University of Melbourne

Good quality information about when and how alcohol and gambling industries try to influence government decision making should be easily accessible. But in Australia, it’s not.

When we mapped the network of alcohol and gambling interests in Australia in our recent study, we revealed a complex web of memberships and partnerships.

We then used the latest data on political donations from the Australian Electoral Commission to show how these companies can “double donate”, or potentially donate more than twice. That’s once directly and via their often-multiple associations.

However, recent political donation reforms will not stop these kinds of multiple donations.

We’re concerned about the lack of transparency in these associations and political donations, and the potential for influencing public health policy on everything from gambling reform to alcohol labelling.

Read more:
Parliament has passed landmark election donation laws. They may be a ‘stitch up’ but they also improve Australia’s democracy

Hidden webs of influence

Understanding which companies are connected with alcohol and gambling associations can be challenging. This was immediately apparent when we mapped alcohol and gambling industry associations (such as Clubs Australia, which represents both community clubs and large pokies venues, or Alcohol Beverages Australia, which represents drinks manufacturers, distributors and retailers).

Just 75 (59.5%) of the 126 industry associations we identified disclosed their members or corporate partners.

When we documented the members and corporate sponsors of those 75 associations, we found a large and well-connected network.

Unsurprisingly, major alcohol and gambling companies were among the members and corporate sponsors. But these were in the minority. More than three-quarters (78.3%) were from other industries such as health, finance, construction, law, entertainment and telecommunications. Some of these were among the most well-connected organisations in the network.

The figure below shows the links between the most connected associations and corporate partners, using data from 2022.

The larger circles indicate more connections in the network (for example, associations with more partners). Circles of alcohol interests are blue, gambling is pink, industry associations are orange, and other industries are shown in grey. The lines show a direct link (for instance, between a company and industry association).

We also investigated how transparent these relationships were. We mapped disclosures about two prominent groups: the hotels associations (which represent pubs and hotels) and the clubs associations.

Of the 658 relationships assessed, only 91 (13.8%) were transparently disclosed. Alcohol companies were the least transparent (disclosing none fully). Gambling companies fully disclosed only 19 relationships.

The figure below compares the number of disclosures from alcohol, gambling and other companies about their relationships with hotels and clubs associations.

On the left, we have industry sectors. On the right we have the clubs and hotels associations they partner with. In the middle we show how many of those relationships were fully, partially or not disclosed at all.

Poor transparency is just the start

Poor transparency in membership of hotels and clubs associations makes it even harder to keep track of which companies are making political donations to which parties, and how much they’re donating in total.

Donations are often said to buy access to politicians, which can facilitate political influence. Companies who may not want to visibly support political parties can donate via intermediaries – in this case, associations that represent their interests. Depending on how many associations a company belongs to, companies can cultivate multiple access points to government.

This gives them more opportunities to influence politics – and perhaps oppose public policies that threaten their commercial interests.

These multiple access points are often opaque. The potential links between the thousands of donors in political donation data from the Australian Electoral Commission are not explicit. This makes it challenging for someone with limited time and resources to easily understand which company is giving money to which party, how much, and why. So much of the money in Australian politics is effectively hidden.

It was only through extensive data collection, cleaning and linking that we could map links between alcohol and gambling sectors. We then linked our dataset to the new data published by the Australian Electoral Commission on February 1.

If we look at just alcohol and gambling companies, we can see that several essentially “double donate”. They donate once directly and a second time (or more) indirectly via their associations.

We put together a simple visual below to show the flow of funds for the largest alcohol and gambling donors and associations in our dataset.

On the left we have the alcohol and gambling companies donating to political parties on the right. In the middle, we have have alcohol and gambling industry associations also donating to the political parties. The lines represent the financial connection between entities. The wider the lines, the more money we know is donated.

Why aren’t recent reforms enough?

The most recent donation reforms mean political donations over A$5,000 must be disclosed, and these must be disclosed monthly. However, these reforms are far weaker than originally proposed (real-time reporting, $1,000 disclosure cap). This potentially allows alcohol and gambling industries to influence government and hide it.

Our current political integrity safeguards are failing us. That’s because the reforms do not compel industry groups to disclose their members or funders. This potentially allows companies to donate to political parties under the radar.

This would be the case for the 51 organisations we found that did not have a list of members publicly available.

Better transparency – about donations, lobbyists, conflicts of interest and more – can help ensure government decision-making is not unduly influenced by vested interests.

With a federal election looming, it is important the public can trust policies from all sides of politics are free from undue influence.

Cara Platts from the University of Melbourne coauthored the academic paper on which this article is based, and contributed to this article.

Jennifer Lacy-Nichols receives funding from the Victorian Health Promotion Association and the National Health and Medical Research Council. She is a member of Transparency International Australia, the Public Health Association of Australia and Healthy Food Systems Australia.

– ref. Alcohol and gambling firms donate to political parties multiple times. And new rules won’t stop them – https://theconversation.com/alcohol-and-gambling-firms-donate-to-political-parties-multiple-times-and-new-rules-wont-stop-them-250374

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Dempsey, Associate Professor in Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury

The government recently announced a framework to regulate carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) by New Zealand companies.

Energy and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts outlined new rules that would allow emitters to capture their carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and inject them underground for permanent disposal. They would then avoid having to pay for those emissions under the Emissions Trading Scheme.

Globally, CCUS is currently used mostly by coal or gas-fired power stations, liquefied natural gas plants and petroleum refineries. There are 41 commercial operations around the world, and they capture about 40 million tonnes of CO₂ annually.

Our peers (Australia, the United States and the European Union) already have CCUS frameworks and storage projects. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change acknowledges CCUS’s role in curbing emissions, but highlights challenges in scaling and technology readiness.

New Zealand faces the challenge of reducing emissions from strategic industries such as steel, concrete, fossil fuels and their derivatives (methanol, ammonia). CCUS has been tabled as an interim solution, strongly supported by the fossil fuel industry. However, critics warn it could reduce incentives to phase out fossil fuels.

The government argues its CCUS framework aligns New Zealand with international standards. This claim has merit insofar as successful climate action is likely to require international collaboration and technology transfer.

CCUS in New Zealand could enable reinjection of CO₂ produced from the Kapuni gas field in Taranaki, with “utilisation” involving diverting some of the gas for use in the food and beverage or horticulture industries.

However, leakage of CO₂ from long-term disposal sites is a major technical risk and New Zealand’s framework must be clear on how it would deal with this liability.

Lake Boehmer and how things might go wrong

Rules for CCUS projects generally require operators to monitor, report and remedy any leakage of CO₂. But because the industry is young, it is useful to take a broader look at geological leakage in the past to reveal how future challenges play out.

Lake Boehmer, in the the Permian Basin of West Texas, wasn’t always there. But 20 years ago an old irrigation well started leaking saltwater and hasn’t stopped since.

The well was drilled in 1951 by an oil and gas company. No oil was discovered so the well was handed over to the landowner for irrigation. The well produced water, but also poisonous hydrogen sulphide, enough to kill a farmhand in 1953.

In the 1990s, the well started leaking. Water from a deep aquifer had pushed its way up alongside the well through geological layers of salt. The water dissolved the salt, worsening the leak, and emerged from underground three times saltier than seawater.

The Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry in Texas, says they are not liable to plug the well because they only have jurisdiction over oil wells. The original operator, which is claimed to have promised to plug the well “any time it becomes polluted with mineral water”, is no longer in business. No one can find the landowner.

After 20 years, Lake Boehmer has grown to 60 acres. Its shore is rimmed in salt crystals and the odd dead bird from hydrogen sulphide exposure. No one can agree who should fix it.

Could something similar happen with CCUS? Exacerbating factors in the Boehmer case include deterioration of an aged well – it’s almost 50 years since leakage started – and the absence of a backstop party as the final holder of liability. Both could happen with CCUS under the wrong circumstances.

Better ways of dealing with leakage

The Decatur CCUS project in the US state of Illinois has been injecting CO₂ produced from corn ethanol two kilometres deep into sandstone. Over about a decade, 4.5 million tonnes of CO₂ has been injected – emissions diverted from the atmosphere.

The US government imposes strict monitoring rules on CCUS projects. Special monitoring wells are drilled into the disposal aquifer to measure pressure changes and how far the CO₂ has travelled.

Unfortunately, one of these wells started to leak, possibly due to corrosion. It allowed about 8,000 tonnes of CO₂ to escape into overlying geological layers.

This is rightly concerning, but to put it into perspective, the size of the leak is 0.2% of the injected CO₂ volume and none of it has escaped to the atmosphere or shallow groundwater. The leak was detected, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intervened, issuing a notice that the leak be remediated, and the company plugged the well.

This illustrates a functioning CCUS framework. Monitoring requirements ensured the leak was discovered and the regulator was empowered to dictate remedial action.

However, critics have questioned the timeliness of the operator’s disclosure. The site remains on hold but may resume operations if the EPA is satisfied with the fix.

Lessons for New Zealand

A proposal circulated last year suggests the government will model its legislation on Australia and the EU, with CCUS operators being responsible for leaks during disposal operations and for a time after site closure.

This is like the Decatur situation. It makes sense for operators to fix leaks because they have the technical expertise and are the direct financial beneficiaries of emissions disposal.

It gets trickier on generational time frames. Companies can go out of business or might leave the country. In these cases, the government is liable for long-term leakage and may seek financial security from the operator to cover future costs.

A leak arising decades after closure could be more difficult to detect and costly to fix, especially if held up by a protracted fight around liability. This is the Lake Boehmer example.

Some CCUS seems inevitable if the world is to meet climate targets. It is therefore important to prepare for the possibility of a leak by having robust practices and clear responsibility.

Although it may seem unfair to burden future generations with looking after CO₂ disposal sites, we argue it is preferable to a legacy that has those same climate-warming gases in the atmosphere.

David Dempsey receives funding from MBIE for research into carbon dioxide removal.

Andrew La Croix receives funding from MBIE for research into carbon dioxide removal.

– ref. Leakage is a risk with carbon storage projects – NZ’s new framework must be clear on how to deal with this liability – https://theconversation.com/leakage-is-a-risk-with-carbon-storage-projects-nzs-new-framework-must-be-clear-on-how-to-deal-with-this-liability-251006

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Stephen, Lecturer, School of Nursing, University of Wollongong

More than 260,000 students across Australia are going to university for the first time.

Some come to university to pursue a passion, others to discover one, and some aren’t quite sure why they’re here. Whatever their reason, it can take time to adjust and feel comfortable at uni, and some students decide studying is not for them. In their first year, around 14% of Australian students will choose to leave.

What do you do if you get to uni and it isn’t quite what you expect?

Expectations versus reality

The transition from high school to university can be a big adjustment, especially for Year 12 students who are used to structured learning and clear guidance. Suddenly, you’re managing a new timetable, deadlines, and navigating new places and possibly new subjects on your own.

While university social clubs and campus activities can help you settle in, your first year at university can be a lonely time. You are away from familiar school friends and in classes full of people you don’t know.

Mature-aged students (anyone over 21) face their own challenges when life experience does not always translate to confidence in academic skills.

Juggling study, work and personal commitments isn’t easy. Fitting university in around other life pressures can feel overwhelming.

Seek out support

Each university will have slightly different offerings around student support.

If you are finding the academic work difficult, ask if there are academic writing supports or library research supports available.

If you are worried about your funds, ask about financial counselling.

Also seek out on-campus mental health or counselling supports if you you are feeling particularly stressed about your situation.

Read more:
Uni is not just about lectures. When choosing a degree, ask what supports are available to you

Can you change your degree or subjects?

If you’re not enjoying yourself, try to work out exactly what it is you don’t like: is it university itself? Is it your course? Or just a particular subject?

If your current degree isn’t working, you could consider switching degrees or the mix of subjects you are studying. Switching to another degree or discipline may come with credit for prior study. Remember, no learning is ever wasted, and many skills are transferable. You can talk to your university admissions team to see what’s possible.

Or perhaps part-time study would be a better option for you. This is very common among uni students. Only 40% complete their degree within four years.

Universities often allow up to ten years for a bachelors’ degree, so you have time to rethink and adjust. Chat with an academic advisor or student services to understand your options.

If university isn’t working at all, remember there are many other options post-school. This includes vocational education and training courses (some of which are free) that provide practical skills, geared towards a job. It is OK to change your mind.

Key dates to know

Timing is important. You need to be aware of the “census date” for your particular uni. This is the deadline when your fees are locked in.

Before then, you can drop courses without financial or academic penalties.

Think of the time before the census date as a “try-before-you-buy” period. While dates vary between universities, the first few weeks give you a chance to experience course content and decide if it’s the right fit for you.

Remember you are going through a big change – so go easy on yourself. And speak to academic, career, and wellbeing supports at your university if you think you need to make a change.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. What can you do if you’ve started uni and you don’t like it? – https://theconversation.com/what-can-you-do-if-youve-started-uni-and-you-dont-like-it-251052

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Isaacs, Associate Professor, Film Studies, University of Sydney

This month, as the weather stays high and you’re likely to want to stay under the air-conditioning, our experts have a cornucopia of shows and films they’re watching to suit every mood.

There is Robert de Niro’s romp through politics which “stretches the bounds of credibility”, new seasons of The Traitors from both the United Kingdom and the United States, three new Aussie productions and a new comedy from Aotearoa New Zealand. There is a documentary about Cyclone Tracy for the history buffs – and to round it all out, the intriguingly titled Nightbitch.

Zero Day

Netflix

It seems appropriate that Netflix’s attempt to create a show that captures the state of US politics should be as absurd and troubling as the first months of the Trump administration. Zero Day stretches the bounds of credibility, but, like Trump, it is hypnotic viewing.

A former president, George Mullen (Robert de Niro) is called upon to track down the source of a cyber-attack which turns off all power for one minute, leading to multiple deaths.

Mullen’s own family story becomes central to the plot, involving both his wife (Joan Allen) and daughter (Lizzy Caplan) – who conveniently happens to be a congresswoman, clearly inspired by left-wing congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Zero Day is full of such references, from the current president (Angela Bassett), a nod to Kamala Harris, to a populist radio host and a sinister tech tycoon.

American reviews have complained the series tries too hard to appeal across partisan lines, to suggest woke calls from the left is equivalent to extremism on the right. Yes, there’s a fuzziness to the politics of Zero Day. But I saw it as a cry of despair at the state of American public life which is also highly entertaining television.

– Dennis Altman

Optics

ABC iView

What does it mean to tell the truth? And how do we, as consumers of media, differentiate truth from fabrication? Optics, a new comedy series from the ABC, asks these questions through the setting of a public relations firm.

The show expertly balances humour with quick-wit, social media vernacular, and a level of marketing wordsmithing that makes you question if the news has ever told you a true story.

The show is based in the PR firm Fritz & Randell and opens with the death of its aging CEO Frank Fritz (Peter Carroll), in a men-only board meeting no less.

After Frank’s death, the son of the cofounder, Ian Randell (Charles Firth) makes a bid for top spot. But the owner of the firm, Bobby Bahl (Claude Jabbour) is concerned with “optics”, so he puts two young women in charge instead.

Their young, spunky attitude and social media prowess is seen as a massive advantage. And it is. But it soon becomes apparent this move is much more than a feminist fresh-take for the firm – and is rather a bid to push some skeletons further back in the closet.

With outrageous lines such as “is there an emoji for miscarriage”, you are guaranteed an entertaining watch. The show will have you questioning the stories you yourself are presented through news outlets. Further still, it will make you wonder how many hands those stories passed through before they hit the papers and screens.

– Edith Jennifer Hill

Read more:
ABC’s Optics is a clever, believable comedy that will make you second-guess what you see in the media

N00b

Netflix (Australia), ThreeNow (New Zealand)

N00b is a coming-of-age story set in small town Gore, New Zealand, a proverbial “arse-end” of the world. Under show creator Victoria Boult, the series bristles with a vibrancy and edginess.

It’s a familiar story of rugby jocks (“boys”) and popular kids, geeks, misfits, and their witless teachers. It’s something of a modest, reality snapshot of the teen dramas it so confidently riffs on, shows like Laguna Beach and The O.C.

But what makes this a courageous entry in the genre is N00b’s willingness to be both uproariously funny and caustically cynical. This is a very funny teen comedy, and yet it is also dark and provocative in ways I found refreshing and quite surprising.

Boult cut her teeth on film studies at the University of Sydney and then went on to work with Jane Campion on The Power of the Dog. The sureness of vision and the deftness of the way in which Boult understands genre is so impressive. The production is based on Boult’s viral TikTok series of the same name (which I can highly recommend).

I sincerely hope that N00b finds a major audience and perhaps even garners a cult following. Highly recommend.

– Bruce Isaacs

The Traitors US and UK, seasons three

TenPlay (Australia), ThreeNow (New Zealand)

The third seasons from The Traitors UK and US are fantastic companion pieces, with respective hosts Claudia Winkleman and Alan Cumming guiding the plucky contestants with their camp prowess.

With their third seasons, the creative teams behind each version have realised that the more theatrical the better, with Winkleman and Cumming leading the charge with their sass and eccentric fashion choices. The setting of Ardross Castle (for both series) in the Scottish Highlands helps.

The premise is simple: a cast of contestants must complete challenges to earn money for the kitty. Hidden among the faithful contestants are traitors. If a traitor makes it to the end, they keep the money for themselves.

Each episode, the faithfuls must banish a contestant who they think is a traitor. That evening, the traitors also meet in their turret, wearing mysterious cloaks of course, to “murder” a contestant in their sleep.

The British season has a diverse cast of everyday contestants, with standouts being one person who gives herself away as a traitor within seconds of being chosen, and another faking a Welsh accent to appear more down to earth.

The US season is vastly different with a cast of former reality television show icons. Here, it’s fascinating to see how contestants from different franchises, such as RuPaul’s Drag Race, Real Housewives, Survivor and Big Brother all approach the game differently.

Both the American and British versions of The Traitors are fantastic viewing and it’s a genuine shame that the Australian version was let down with substandard casting choices and an aesthetic that was the antithesis of camp.

– Stuart Richards

Cyclone Tracy

9 Now

On Christmas Eve 2024, Australia remembered the 50th anniversary of the destruction of Darwin wrought by Cyclone Tracy. Fittingly, the 9 Now streaming service marked this anniversary by featuring the 1986 miniseries Cyclone Tracy, a vivid depiction of 1970s Darwin and the terrible impact of the cyclone.

Cyclone Tracy stars Tracy Mann as Connie, a widow and mother of two who has just paid off the mortgage of her hotel, which serves as the central stage for the drama.

The series captures the cultural diversity of Darwin (though some portrayals veer towards caricature at times), and the city itself is beautifully evoked through archival footage and great production design. The cyclone itself is frightening, and its destructive power is powerfully evoked (the series’ director of photography, Andrew Lesnie, would later win an Oscar for cinematography).

In the mid-1980s, when this series first went to air, many viewers would have still been coming to terms with this terrible disaster: it was an act of storytelling for the nation. Watching it in 2025, Cyclone Tracy reminds us of the importance of these nation-making television programs that were once such an important part of Australian culture.

– Michelle Arrow

Apple Cider Vinegar

Netflix

Apple Cider Vinegar tells the story of the elaborate cancer con orchestrated by Australian blogger Annabelle (Belle) Gibson.

For anyone who followed Gibson during her rise to fame in the 2010s – or her spectacular fall – the show feels eerily familiar.

From the clothing, to the makeup, to the food, Apple Cider Vinegar excels in set design and staging. Every effort has been made to ensure this true story, based on a lie, looks like it did when it was unfolding on our phone screens in the 2010s.

As someone who followed Gibson closely and spent months hunting down the recalled cookbook to see if the health claims were as outlandish as I’d heard (they were), this show was a treat to watch.

The scenes are cut with recreations of Belle’s stylised Instagram pictures of green juices, beaches and food with “no nasties”. Belle’s account was removed from Instagram after the massive public ousting of her hoax.

Apple Cider Vinegar has done an incredible job recreating this account and breathing life back into the deleted content.

Whether or not you are already familiar with Gibson’s story, Apple Cider Vinegar is a compelling watch. You’ll especially love it if you enjoy non-fiction productions that play with ideas of truth such as iTonya, the Tinder Swindler and Inventing Anna.

– Edith Jennifer Hill

Read more:
Belle Gibson built a ‘wellness’ empire on a lie about cancer. Apple Cider Vinegar expertly unravels her con

Invisible Boys

Stan (Australia), TVNZ+ (New Zealand)

Stan’s new series Invisible Boys follows four young gay men as they understand and explore their identities while living in Geraldton, a regional town in Western Australia.

Charlie Roth (Joseph Zada), Zeke Calogero (Aydan Calafiore), Kade “Hammer” Hammersmith (Zach Blampied) and Matt Jones (Joe Klocek) represent four very different young men. Yet they share the experience of feeling invisible because of their sexuality.

An adaptation of Holden Sheppard’s novel of the same name, the story challenges linear narratives of progress and typical ideals of queer life. It also shows how such mentalities can lead gay and bisexual men growing up in regional Australia to feel invisible, as they often don’t fit the neat narratives associated with “progress”.

No previous teen drama has been quite as truthful in its representation of some young gay and bisexual men’s experiences.

As someone who grew up gay in regional Australia, it feels like an authentic representation of my own experience. There’s something universal about Charlie, Zeke, Kade and Matt’s stories of not fitting in, and of being invisible to be safe.

Most striking is the way the series captures the complicated mix of joy and fear – the clash of opportunity and consequence – that accompanies becoming visibly gay in these environments.

– Damien O’Meara

Read more:
Stan’s Invisible Boys carries the tradition of real, gritty Aussie teen drama, while smashing it into something new

Nightbitch

Disney+

“Motherhood,” the beleaguered stay-at-home mother of Nightbitch tells us in contemplative voice-over, “is probably the most violent experience a human can have aside from death itself”.

The film sets out to show motherhood is also far more savage and feral than the anodyne images posted on social media by retrograde tradwives or mumfluencers would have us believe.

As Nightbitch puts it, it’s “fucking brutal”.

Mother (Amy Adams) is an unnamed installation artist who places her career on hold to raise her young son. Wrung out by the demands of motherhood and increasingly furious with the lack of support she receives from her incompetent and often absent Husband (Scoot McNairy), Mother starts to spiral out of control, morphing into a dog complete with tail, sharpened canines, extra nipples and a ravenous desire for raw meat.

Nightbitch takes the fear of the reproductive woman literally, drawing on magic realism and horror tropes to show the visceral and psychological metamorphosis women undergo on becoming mothers. Unfortunately director Marielle Heller’s refusal to lean into the body horror results in a neutered narrative with more bark than bite.

– Rachel Williamson

Read more:
A new wave of filmmakers are exploring motherhood’s discontents. Nightbitch makes this monstrous

Michelle Arrow receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Bruce Isaacs, Damien O’Meara, Dennis Altman, Edith Jennifer Hill, Rachel Williamson, and Stuart Richards do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Belle Gibson, teenage lives and trying to find the traitors: what we’re streaming this March – https://theconversation.com/belle-gibson-teenage-lives-and-trying-to-find-the-traitors-what-were-streaming-this-march-250759

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Sussex, Associate Professor (Adj), Griffith Asia Institute; and Fellow, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University

Has any nation squandered its diplomatic capital, plundered its own political system, attacked its partners and supplicated itself before its far weaker enemies as rapidly and brazenly as Donald Trump’s America?

The fiery Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday saw the American leader try to publicly humiliate the democratically elected leader of a nation that had been invaded by a rapacious and imperialistic aggressor.

And this was all because Zelensky refused to sign an act of capitulation, criticised Putin (who has tried to have Zelensky killed on numerous occasions), and failed to bend the knee to Trump, the country’s self-described king.

What’s worse is Trump has now been around so long that his oafish behaviour has become normalised. Together with his attack dog, Vice President JD Vance, Trump has thrown the Overton window – the spectrum of subjects politically acceptable to the public – wide open.

Previously sensible Republicans are now either cowed or co-opted. Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is gutting America’s public service and installing toadies in place of professionals, while his social media company, X, is platforming ads from actual neo-Nazis.

The FBI is run by Kash Patel, who hawked bogus COVID vaccine reversal therapies and wrote children’s books featuring Trump as a monarch. The agency is already busily investigating Trump’s enemies.

The Department of Health and Human Services is helmed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine denier, just as Americans have begun dying from measles for the first time in a decade. And America’s health and medical research has been channelled into ideologically “approved” topics.

At the Pentagon, in a breathtaking act of self-sabotage, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered US Cyber Command to halt all operations targeting Russia.

And cuts to USAID funding are destroying US soft power, creating a vacuum that will gleefully be filled by China. Other Western aid donors are likely to follow suit so they can spend more on their militaries in response to US unilateralism.

What is Trump’s strategy?

Trump’s wrecking ball is already having seismic global effects, mere weeks after he took office.

The US vote against a UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia for starting the war against Ukraine placed it in previously unthinkable company – on the side of Russia, Belarus and North Korea. Even China abstained from the vote.

In the United Kingdom, a YouGov poll of more than 5,000 respondents found that 48% of Britons thought it was more important to support Ukraine than maintain good relations with the US. Only 20% favoured supporting America over Ukraine.

And Trump’s bizarre suggestion that China, Russia and the US halve their respective defence budgets is certain to be interpreted as a sign of weakness rather than strength.

The oft-used explanation for his behaviour is that it echoes the isolationism of one of his ideological idols, former US President Andrew Jackson. Trump’s aim seems to be ring-fencing American businesses with high tariffs, while attempting to split Russia away from its relationship with China.

These arguments are both economically illiterate and geopolitically witless. Even a cursory understanding of tariffs reveals that they drive inflation because they are paid by importers who then pass the costs on to consumers. Over time, they are little more than sugar pills that turn economies diabetic, increasingly reliant on state protections from unending trade wars.

And the “reverse Kissinger” strategy – a reference to the US role in exacerbating the Sino-Soviet split during the Cold War – is wishful thinking to the extreme.

Putin would have to be utterly incompetent to countenance a move away from Beijing. He has invested significant time and effort to improve this relationship, believing China will be the dominant power of the 21st century.

Putin would be even more foolish to embrace the US as a full-blown partner. That would turn Russia’s depopulated southern border with China, stretching over 4,300 kilometres, into the potential front line of a new Cold War.

What does this mean for America’s allies?

While Trump’s moves have undoubtedly strengthened the US’ traditional adversaries, they have also weakened and alarmed its friends.

Put simply, no American ally – either in Europe or Asia – can now have confidence Washington will honour its security commitments. This was brought starkly home to NATO members at the Munich Security Conference in February, where US representatives informed a stunned audience that America may no longer view itself as the main guarantor of European security.

The swiftness of US disengagement means European countries must not only muster the will and means to arm themselves quickly, but also take the lead in collectively providing for Ukraine’s security.

Whether they can do so remains unclear. Europe’s history of inaction does not bode well.

US allies also face choices in Asia. Japan and South Korea will now be seriously considering all options – potentially even nuclear weapons – to deter an emboldened China.

There are worries in Australia, as well. Can it pretend nothing has changed and hope the situation will then normalise after the next US presidential election?

The future of AUKUS, the deal to purchase (and then co-design) US nuclear powered submarines, is particularly uncertain.

Does it make strategic sense to pursue full integration with the US military when the White House could just treat Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul and Canberra with the same indifference it has displayed towards its friends in Europe?

Ultimately, the chaos Trump 2.0 has unleashed in such a short amount of time is both unprecedented and bewildering. In seeking to put “America First”, Trump is perversely hastening its decline. He is leaving America isolated and untrusted by its closest friends.

And, in doing so, the world’s most powerful nation has also made the world a more dangerous, uncertain and ultimately an uglier place to be.

Matthew Sussex has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the Atlantic Council, the Fulbright Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation, the Lowy Institute and various Australian government departments and agencies.

– ref. In siding with Russia over Ukraine, Trump is not putting America first. He is hastening its decline – https://theconversation.com/in-siding-with-russia-over-ukraine-trump-is-not-putting-america-first-he-is-hastening-its-decline-251140

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

The Albanese government will temporarily freeze the indexation on draught beer excise, in what it describes as a win for drinkers, brewers and businesses.

The freeze is for two years and starts from the next due indexation date in August. Indexation changes are made twice a year, with the most recent one in February.

The government says the cost to the budget would be $95 million over four years from 2025-26.

The Australian Hotels Association had previously called for a freeze on the excise for drinks sold in pubs, clubs, bars, and restaurants.

In a statement, the government said the move would “take pressure off the price of a beer poured in pubs, clubs and other venues, supporting businesses, regional tourism and customers”.

Last week it announced relief for Australian distillers, brewers and wine producers.

At present brewers and distillers get a full remission of any excise paid up to $350,000 each year. The government said it would increase the cap to $400,000 for all eligible alcohol manufacturers and also increase the Wine Equalisation Tax producer rebate cap to $400,000 from July 1 next year. That was estimated to decrease tax receipts by $70 million over five years from 2024-25.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the temporary excise indexation freeze as “a commonsense measure”.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said, “This is a modest change but will help take a little bit of pressure off beer drinkers, brewers and bars”.

The AHA recently labelled the excise a “hidden” tax, saying it put pressure on the cost of living. It said Australia’s beer tax was the third highest in the OECD.

The industry and Chalmers had a skirmish over the recent indexation increase. Chalmers said it would equal less than one cent a pint, and warned outlets not to “rip off” or mislead consumers.

Chalmers wrote to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission asking it to monitor outlets in February to make sure they “do not take undue advantage” of the rise to “mislead” customers about the impact.

The federal government introduced the beer excise in 1988, with the tax linked to inflation. The AHA said in September that the recent jump in inflation meant the beer excise rose 8% over the previous six months.

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Albanese’s pitch on beer – temporary freeze on excise indexation – https://theconversation.com/albaneses-pitch-on-beer-temporary-freeze-on-excise-indexation-250898

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gavin Brown, Lecturer in Religious Education, Australian Catholic University

Most people recognise organisations such as the YMCA and the Boy Scouts, or events such as the Modern Olympic Games, summer camps and wilderness retreats.

Few, though, have ever heard of the movement from which they took their principal inspiration: muscular Christianity.

The term sounds odd indeed, conjuring up images of Jesus with an impressively chiselled physique or, for devotees of the eighties, Vangelis’ memorable soundtrack to Chariots of Fire.
However, the term arose because it once carried Christian hopes of a solution to a longstanding problem: men.

That is, in the 19th century especially, Christian churches became particularly alarmed more and more men were leaving religion to women – from attendance at worship to running parish organisations or establishing charitable endeavours.

Worse still was the fear Christianity itself had become soft and even effeminate through the Victorian age.

Christians, especially the Protestants who started the movement, needed to present Christianity in ways attractive to men. But how?

A literary beginning

In 1857, the Englishman Thomas Hughes published the novel Tom Brown’s School Days, followed later by Tom Brown at Oxford in 1859.

In the first book, Tom attends the prestigious Rugby School, before making his way to Oxford in the sequel. This character would epitomise a “muscular Christian”, as Hughes put it. In the sequel, Hughes wrote:

The least of the muscular Christians has hold of the old chivalrous and Christian belief, that a man’s body is given him to be trained and brought into subjection, and then used for the protection of the weak, the advancement of all righteous causes, and the subduing of the earth which God has given to the children of men.

Men precisely as men could use their bodies to Christianise the world. A movement with twin aims was born: first, encourage men to embrace their physicality and second, through such disciplining of their bodies, to glorify God.

Rise and fall

From England, the movement spread through the Anglosphere, including Australia.

And it has some impressive credentials. Pierre de Coubertin’s inspiration for reviving the Olympic Games was, in part, inspired by reading Tom Brown’s School Days.

In the United States, the YMCA – the Young Men’s Christian Association – in New York added a gymnasium in 1869, which soon became a permanent fixture at the “Y.” The physical director at Boston’s Y coined the term “body building”. James Naismith would later invent basketball in 1891 while working at a Y.

Many Protestant churches drew upon muscular Christianity to bring men back into the fold. They masculinised church services through hymns which celebrated manliness and virtue, encouraged ministers to embody more masculine traits, brought men into the company of other men through brotherhoods and promoted vigorous missionary activity.

Even Jesus received a makeover – arguably the most popular being Warner Sallman’s 1940 portrait painting Head of Christ.

Sallman’s original motivation for such depictions came from the dean of a Chicago Bible College in 1914:

I hope you can give us your conception of Christ. And I hope it’s a manly one. Most of our pictures today are too effeminate.

There is evidence, too, of Catholics muscling in. Take, for example, Notre Dame’s football team’s successes in the 1920s and 30s in the US, or the Italian cyclist Gino Bartali, winner of the Tour de France in 1938 and 1948 and, according to the Catholic press, the ideal Catholic sportsman.

Most historians will mark the decline of the movement after the first world war, though its influence continues to be felt to this day.

A continuing legacy?

So, apart from indulging in historical curiosity, what does it offer us?

Muscular Christianity highlights both the dangers and continuing challenges raised when navigating the complex relationship between religion, culture and gender.

It pursued a worthy goal, but tended to play a zero-sum gender game: gains for men in the churches often came at the expense of women. Such emphasis on masculinity easily slipped into gender bias, where a “church full of men” was deemed more valuable than churches full of women.

The effort to bolster masculinity also traded in narrow gender stereotypes, though as the historian Clifford Putney reminds us, there was some flow-on effect for women and their organisational engagement in sport and physical activity.

Some evangelical Christians have recently re-engaged its ethos.

And perhaps muscular Christianity still has something valuable to say. At the very least, scratch beneath the surface of modern Western culture and you will often find Christianity or values which originated from it.

Muscular Christianity can also remind us to reconnect with our bodies. We now live in a world which, as Australian author Michael Frost argues, has become increasingly “excarnate” – that is, less bodily.

Muscular Christianity recognised bodies matter and matter spiritually. It encouraged people not to treat health and physical activity as ends in their own right or as a servant of the ego but, rather, a means to an end: wholeness, good character, the cultivation of virtue and the selfless desire to help others.

Gavin Brown does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. How ‘muscular Christianity’ strove to bring men back to religion – and what it can teach us today – https://theconversation.com/how-muscular-christianity-strove-to-bring-men-back-to-religion-and-what-it-can-teach-us-today-249485

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney

American quantum computing startup PsiQuantum announced yesterday that it has cracked a significant puzzle on the road to making the technology useful: manufacturing quantum chips in useful quantities.

PsiQuantum burst out of “stealth mode” in 2021 with a blockbuster funding announcement. It followed up with two more last year.

The company uses so-called “photonic” quantum computing, which has long been dismissed as impractical.

The approach, which encodes data in individual particles of light, offers some compelling advantages — low noise, high-speed operation, and natural compatibility with existing fibre-optic networks. However, it was held back by extreme hardware demands to manage the fact photons fly with blinding speed, get lost, and are hard to create and detect.

PsiQuantum now claims to have addressed many of these difficulties. Yesterday, in a new peer-reviewed paper published in Nature, the company unveiled hardware for photonic quantum computing they say can be manufactured in large quantities and solves the problem of scaling up the system.

What’s in a quantum computer?

Like any computer, quantum computers encode information in physical systems. Whereas digital computers encode bits (0s and 1s) in transistors, quantum computers use quantum bits (qubits), which can be encoded in many potential quantum systems.

The darlings of the quantum computing world have traditionally been superconducting circuits running at temperatures near absolute zero. These have been championed by companies such as Google, IBM, and Rigetti.

These systems have attracted headlines claiming “quantum supremacy” (where quantum computers beat traditional computers at some task) or the ushering in of “quantum utility” (that is, actually useful quantum computers).

In a close second in the headline grabbing game, IonQ and Honeywell are pursuing trapped-ion quantum computing. In this approach, charged atoms are captured in special electromagnetic traps that encode qubits in their energy states.

Other commercial contenders include neutral atom qubits, silicon based qubits, intentional defects in diamonds, and non-traditional photonic encodings.

All of these are available now. Some are for sale with enormous price tags and some are accessible through the cloud. But fair warning: they are more for experimentation than computation today.

Faults and how to tolerate them

The individual bits in your digital computers are extraordinarily reliable. They might experience a fault (a 0 inadvertently flips to a 1, for example) once in every trillion operations.

PsiQuantum’s new platform has impressive-sounding features such as low-loss silicon nitride waveguides, high-efficiency photon-number-resolving detectors, and near-lossless interconnects.

The company reports a 0.02% error rate for single-qubit operations and 0.8% for two-qubit creation. These may seem like quite small numbers, but they are much bigger than the effectively zero error rate of the chip in your smartphone.

However, these numbers rival the best qubits today and are surprisingly encouraging.

One of the most critical breakthroughs in the PsiQuantum system is the integration of fusion-based quantum computing. This is a model that allows for errors to be corrected more easily than in traditional approaches.

Quantum computer developers want to achieve what is called “fault tolerance”. This means that, if the basic error rate is below a certain threshold, the errors can be suppressed indefinitely.

Claims of “below threshold” error rates should be met with skepticism, as they are generally measured on a few qubits. A practical quantum computer would be a very different environment, where each qubit would have to function alongside a million (or a billion, or a trillion) others.

This is the fundamental challenge of scalability. And while most quantum computing companies are tackling the problem from the ground up – building individual qubits and sticking them together – PsiQuantum is taking the top down approach.

Scale-first thinking

PsiQuantum developed its system in partnership with semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries. All the key components – photon sources and detectors, logic gates and error correction – are integrated on single silicon-based chip.

PsiQuantum says GlobalFoundries has already made millions of the chips.

By making use of techniques already used to fabricate semiconductors, PsiQuantum claims to have solved the scalability issue that has long plagued photonic approaches.

PsiQuantum is fabricating their chips in a commercial semiconductor foundry. This means scaling to millions of qubits will be relatively straightforward.

If PsiQuantum’s technology delivers on its promise, it could mark the beginning of quantum computing’s first truly scalable era.

A fault-tolerant photonic quantum computer would have major advantages and lower energy requirements.

Christopher Ferrie is a founder of Eigensystems. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

– ref. A quantum computing startup says it is already making millions of light-powered chips – https://theconversation.com/a-quantum-computing-startup-says-it-is-already-making-millions-of-light-powered-chips-251057

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gemma Hamilton, Senior Lecturer, RMIT University

As International Women’s Day approaches, we must redouble our efforts to champion social justice and the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). These are under unprecedented attack by some political leaders.

In the United States, President Donald Trump has recently dismantled DEI measures, claiming they are wasteful and discriminatory. Without evidence, he even blamed diversity hirings for a deadly collision between a military helicopter and a passenger plane that killed 67 people.

In Australia, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is echoing a similar agenda with his criticism of “culture, diversity and inclusion” positions in the public service.

We must resist attempts to tear down all the progress that has been made and remind ourselves of the many good reasons why we pursue DEI in the workplace.

Women, racial minorities, people with disability and others continue to face barriers to equal opportunities at work. Too often, they remain excluded from leadership and decision-making roles.

Defending diversity

Given the assault on DEI measures, it is worth restating why they are so important to a truly inclusive modern workplace.

DEI initiatives work to address obstacles and correct disadvantages so everyone has a fair chance of being hired, promoted and paid, regardless of their personal characteristics.

They ensure every person has a genuinely equal chance of access to social goods. They can be seen as “catch up” mechanisms, recognising that we don’t all start our working lives on an equal footing.

Gender equality initiatives address discrimination, stereotypes and structural barriers that disadvantage people on the basis of their gender.

These initiatives call into question the idea of “merit-based” hiring, which often disguises the invisible biases which are held by many people in power – for example, against someone of a particular gender.

Australia’s story

In Australia, we have a mixed story to tell when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The federal workplace gender laws require companies with more than 100 employees to report annually on gender equality indicators, including pay gaps and workforce composition.

In Victoria, the Gender Equality Act 2020
promotes “positive action” to improve gender equality in higher education, local government and the public sector, which covers around 11% of the total state workforce.

Despite these laws, Australia is behind on gender equality indicators compared to other countries such as Iceland, Norway and New Zealand. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report, Australia is ranked 26th out of 146 countries, albeit a step up from 54th in 2021.

The report shows continuing and significant gender gaps, particularly regarding women’s representation in various industries such as science and political leadership.

Increased recognition

But in a cross section of fields, including politics, sports, medicine, media and academia there have been positive changes. Gender equality is being promoted through a wide range of initiatives that seek to push back against centuries of patriarchal dominance.

Workplace policies around paid parental leave, flexible working arrangements, part-time work, breastfeeding and anti-discrimination are part of the broader agenda to make workplaces more inclusive for women, gender-diverse people and working parents.

While many would not consider these improvements specific diversity initiatives, they are clear examples of the ways in which workplaces now recognise the different needs of women and working mothers.

Today, we see more women in the workplace and in positions of leadership across sectors.

But as feminist Sara Ahmed has noted, it is often the marginalised employees who carry the burden of doing all the “diversity work” in the workplace.

Diversity becomes work for those who are not accommodated by an existing system.

Redoubling efforts

Despite the welcome advances made, inequalities persist in the workplace.

We recognise many in positions of power are not willing (or able) to acknowledge their own privileged positions. Therefore they do not see the barriers that exist for others.

Social justice will not simply be gifted by those in power.

Given the challenging political climate, it is more important than ever that we continue to strive for gender equality – rather than simply uphold the status quo.

Gemma Hamilton receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC).

Nicola Henry receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and Google. She is also a member of the Australian eSafety Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group.

Bess Schnioffsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace are under attack. Here’s why they matter more than ever – https://theconversation.com/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-the-workplace-are-under-attack-heres-why-they-matter-more-than-ever-250651

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Thorp, Professor of Finance, University of Sydney

You might remember Pesto, the king penguin chick who became a star attraction at Melbourne Aquarium last year. Good food, good genes and a safe home let Pesto grow into a huge ball of brown fluff twice the size of his parents. Pesto became a local and international celebrity.

While not cute or funny like Pesto, Australia’s financial sector gave birth to its own baby three decades ago that has since rapidly grown into a big adult – superannuation. It, too, has become internationally famous.

This week, our superannuation sector attracted the attention of US asset managers and government officials, including the new US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, at a summit in Washington DC.

Super industry leaders joined Treasurer Jim Chalmers and the Australian ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, to pitch a strengthening of ties. So, why are Australian super funds so keen to shore up support in the United States?

Read more:
Your super fund is invested in private markets. What are they and why has ASIC raised concerns?

A giant nest egg

Figures from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) show the total pool of superannuation assets had grown to about A$4.2 trillion by December 2024. That’s up 11.5% on the year before.

That’s about 160% of the value of all goods and services produced in Australia – the gross domestic product (GDP) – over the year to June 2024 at $2.6 trillion.

This scales to a very large pool of investable retirement money – the fifth largest in the world. Australia’s population ranks just 54th in the world.

Some of the biggest individual funds have significant assets under management. Australian Super and Australian Retirement Trust, for example, both manage more than $300 billion in retirement savings.

Looking overseas

This leads us to why the Australian super industry is securing openings in the US. Australian super funds have invested some funds overseas since their inception. But this practice is expanding quickly for two reasons.

First, the sheer size of the superannuation investment pool has largely outgrown its Australian asset base.

To illustrate, our $4.2 trillion super pool is significantly larger than the total market capitalisation of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), about $3.1 trillion.

Without new places to invest our super, it’s impossible to keep earning a return on it.

The second – and related – reason is the need for diversification. It makes sense to lower risk by spreading funds across industries, geographies and jurisdictions.

A scan of the aggregated asset allocation of large Australian super funds shows that around half of the funds invested in equities, property and infrastructure are currently in overseas assets.

The US accounts for about 45% of aggregate financial assets of all investors worldwide – more than US$90 trillion (A$144 trillion).

The strategy to diversify investments has paid off. The US stock market has seen some spectacular recent returns, with annual returns of more than 20% in some years. These have far outpaced those of the ASX.

Compulsory savings

Australia’s super sector has been fed by compulsory contributions (savings) and investment returns. Super has also been protected by legislation that makes participation compulsory for most workers and preserves savings until retirement.

Since 1992, employers have made compulsory (superannuation guarantee) contributions on behalf of workers into superannuation accounts. The compulsory contribution has risen significantly from an initial 3% of earnings to 12% of earnings from July this year.

High coverage (well over 90% of workers), combined with rising contribution rates, has meant the amount of money flowing into superannuation accounts has grown at a remarkable compound annual rate of 14% since 1992.

Even after the superannuation guarantee rate peaks at 12% this year, growth in labour earnings, fed by workforce and productivity growth, will continue to generate substantial inflows.

Can’t touch our nest egg early

Australia’s strict rules preventing withdrawals from super are among the tightest in the world. With some exceptions for extreme hardship, members of super funds can withdraw their savings from age 60 if they retire, and from age 65 even if they have not retired.

An ageing population will mean more retirees in future decades, speeding up outflows. But so far, Australian retirees are proving to be very cautious with their nest eggs.

Along with compulsory contributions and rules on withdrawing it, investment returns have grown the super baby, at rates of 7.3% annually over the past 30 years, or about 4.4% annually above inflation.

The super sector is still smaller than its older sibling, the banking system, where assets of A$6.3 trillion are about 240% of the value of annual GDP. But super is forecast to grow to 200% of annual GDP over the next two decades.

Riskier investments

To generate these rates of return, Australian super funds have invested in a wide range of financial assets, and with a substantial exposure to high return (but riskier) assets.

In Australia, super funds invest around two-thirds
of funds in equities, property, infrastructure and commodities, and around one-third in safer bonds and cash.

That contrasts with some other pension systems, such as Japan and the UK, where a majority of funds are invested in safer assets like government bonds.

Susan Thorp is a member of UniSuper. She receives and has received research funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the TIAA Institute (USA), IFM, and UniSuper and Cbus Superannuation funds via ARC Linkage Grants. Thorp was previously Professor of Finance and Superannuation at UTS, a position that was partly funded by Sydney Financial Forum (Colonial First State Global Asset Management), the NSW Government, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), the Industry Superannuation Network (ISN), and the Paul Woolley Centre for the Study of Capital Market Dysfunctionality, UTS. She was an Associate Investigator for the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR), and is a member of the OECD-International Network on Financial Education Research Committee, the Steering Committee of the Mercer CFA Global Pensions Index, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Consultative Committee, the Board of New College (UNSW) and the Research Committee of Super Consumers Australia, a not-for-profit advocacy organisation for Australian pension plan participants.

– ref. Australia’s retirement savings are too big to invest at home – here’s why super funds are looking to the US – https://theconversation.com/australias-retirement-savings-are-too-big-to-invest-at-home-heres-why-super-funds-are-looking-to-the-us-250920

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julaine Allan, Professor, Mental Health and Addiction, Rural Health Research Institute, Charles Sturt University

Nitrous oxide – also known as laughing gas or nangs – is cheap, widely available and popular among young people.

Yet it often flies under the radar in public health programs and education settings. For example, it’s not included in the drug education curriculum in Australian schools.

In our new study, we spoke to young people (aged 18 to 25) who have used nitrous oxide. We found they were are unaware of its risks – even when they reported symptoms such as “brain fog” and seizures.

What is nitrous oxide?

Nitrous oxide is regularly used for sedation and pain relief in dentistry and childbirth.

The gas, which has no colour or flavour, is also used recreationally and is known as nangs, nos, whippits and balloons.

In fact, nitrous oxide has been used to get intoxicated since its creation in 1722, and wasn’t used in surgery until 1842. It can create a feeling of dissociation from the body, changes in perception and euphoria. This lasts about one minute.

In Australia, nitrous oxide is cheap and accessible. This is because the gas is also used in baking, for example to whip cream.

So, while it’s not legal to sell nitrous oxide for recreational use, the canisters or “bulbs” are widely available online via 24-hour delivery services.

People usually discharge the gas into a balloon or a whipped cream dispenser and then inhale. Nitrous oxide is intensely cold – minus 40 degrees Celsius.

How common is it?

We still don’t have much data about who uses nitrous oxide and how often. Compared to other drugs, there is minimal research on its recreational use.

However researchers believe it is becoming more common globally, especially among young people.

For example, in 2022, nitrous oxide was the second-most used controlled substance among 16–24 year olds in the United Kingdom after cannabis.

In January 2023, the Netherlands banned the sale and possession of nitrous oxide after 1,800 road accidents, including 63 fatal crashes, were linked to the drug in a three-year period.

The Global Drug Survey reported a doubling in nitrous oxide use between 2015 and 2021, from 10% of respondents to 20%. But this voluntary survey is not representative of all people who use drugs. While it is an indication of people’s nitrous oxide use, the picture remains patchy.

What are the health risks?

Nitrous oxide is not the most harmful drug people can use but that doesn’t make it safe.

Inhaling nitrous oxide has short-term health risks, including:

• cold burns from the gas

• injuries from falling over

• nausea and dizziness.

Using a lot of nitrous oxide at one time can result in passing out (from lack of oxygen) and seizures. Calling an ambulance is necessary if this happens.

Longer-term health problems may include:

• vitamin B12 loss (causing numbness of hands and feet and eventually paralysis)

• urinary incontinence

• strokes

• memory loss

• mental health conditions, including depression and psychosis.

The availability of much larger canisters (including flavoured varieties) is also linked to an increase in significant harms. These can deliver roughly 70 times the amount of nitrous oxide as traditional small canisters.

Larger bulbs allow people to consume more of the gas at one time and they often experience health problems more quickly as a result.

However, there is still limited knowledge about nitrous oxide in the health system. This means its health risks are often compounded because it is overlooked by those assessing medical conditions and because people deny using it.

Our research

During the first stage of our 2025 Australian study, we interviewed seven young people (aged 18 to 25) who had used nitrous oxide at least ten times.

While the number of interviewees was small, the stories they told were very similar.

They were either unaware of, or unconcerned about, the drug’s potential risks. This is despite their own experiences of psychological and physical problems.

They reported becoming unconscious, getting burns from the gas on their hands and faces, sores around the mouth and even having seizures.

Of particular concern to us was use before driving because people did not recognise the lingering effects of the gas on concentration.

Our study participants also spoke about “memory zaps” or “brain fog”. Regular use of nitrous oxide affected people’s ability to participate in work and study, with some saying it was also bad for their mental health.

These thinking problems are a concerning side effect. Yet it’s one that has not been adequately investigated.

The role of social media

Videos of young people using nitrous oxide can easily be found on social media. This not only points to its popularity but suggests social media could be a good place to reach young people with information about the drug and harm reduction.

In the second stage of our research we worked with 30 young people who used nitrous oxide to co-create harm reduction resources.

As a group, we developed videos, photos and text for
our nitrous oxide specific social media accounts on Tik Tok and Instagram and for posts on various sub-reddits.

These describe ways to use the drug more safely. For example the “take a breath” messaging suggests breathing the nitrous oxide in for only ten seconds at a time to ensure enough oxygen. “Take a seat” advises sitting down while using nangs, to avoid injuries from falling.

Julaine Allan receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aging to conduct research on substance use and mental health programs. She has received funding in the past from other state and commonwealth departments and entities for research.

Helen Simpson, Jacqui Cameron, and Kenny Kor do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Nangs are popular with young people. But are they aware of the serious harms of nitrous oxide? – https://theconversation.com/nangs-are-popular-with-young-people-but-are-they-aware-of-the-serious-harms-of-nitrous-oxide-250654

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Zarmati, Senior Lecturer in Humanities and Social Sciences Education, Faculty of Education, University of Tasmania

A young man killed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE was likely overcome by a fast-moving cloud of gas at a temperature of more than 500°C in a process that transformed fragments of his brain into glass, according to new research.

The man’s remains were discovered in 1961, and in 2020 researchers confirmed that parts of his brain had been turned into glass. This is only example of vitrified brain matter found to date at any archaeological site.

The new study, led by Guido Giordano of Roma Tre University and published in Scientific Reports, explains how the unusual sequence of rapid heating and cooling required to turn organic matter into glass may have occurred.

Pompeii’s less famous neighbour

The city of Pompeii is one of the most famous archaeological sites in Italy and the world. Fewer people know about its smaller neighbour, Herculaneum, which was also destroyed by the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE.

Herculaneum was settled during the sixth century BCE by Greek traders who named it after the Greek hero Herakles (whom the Romans called Hercules). By the first century CE, it had developed into a typical Roman town.

Built on a grid plan, Herculaneum boasted a forum, theatre, elaborate bath complexes, multi-storey buildings and luxurious private seafront villas with spectacular views over the Bay of Naples.

The town’s population is estimated to have been around 5,000 people at the time of the eruption. They consisted of wealthy Roman citizens, merchants, artisans, and current and freed slaves. About 7 kilometres to the east, Mount Vesuvius loomed.

A tale of two destructions

Although Pompeii and Herculaneum were both destroyed, their experiences of the eruption were different.

Located about 8km southeast of Vesuvius, Pompeii was violently pelted by falling pumice and ash for about 12 hours before its final destruction by what are called “pyroclastic surges”: fast-moving, turbulent clouds filled with hot gases, ash and steam. Pompeii’s end arrived some 18–20 hours after the eruption began.

Herculaneum’s destruction came much sooner. During the first hours it experienced light ash and pumice fall. Most of the population is believed to have left during this time.

Then, about 12 hours after the eruption began, in the early hours of the morning, Herculaneum was engulfed by a swift-moving, deadly pyroclastic surge. The deadly cloud of gas, ash and rock swept over the town at speeds greater than 150km per hour. Anyone who had not already escaped died rapidly and violently as the town was buried.

A rain of ash, a sudden heat

Because of the differences in how the eruption hit the two towns, those who died in each were preserved in different ways.

At Pompeii, victims were buried under ash that hardened around their bodies. This allowed archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli to develop a technique in the 1860s for creating the now-famous plaster casts that dramatically preserved the victims’ final positions at the moment of death.

At Herculaneum, extreme heat (400–500°C) from pyroclastic surges caused instant death. As a result, we see skeletal remains with signs of thermal shock: skulls fractured from boiling brain tissue and rapidly carbonised flesh.

Victims found in boat houses and along the shore at Herculaneum in the 1980s appear to have died quickly while waiting to escape by sea.

‘The custodian’

In 1961, Italian archaeologist Amedeo Maiuri discovered a skeleton in a small room of the College of the Augustales, a public building dedicated to worship of the emperor. The victim was lying face-down on the charred remains of a wooden bed.

Maiuri identified the person as male and about 20 years old, and dubbed him “the custodian” of the Augustales. What was unusual about this skeleton was the appearance of glassy, black material scattered within the cranial cavity, something archaeologists had not seen before at either Herculaneum or Pompeii.

In 2020, a scientific team led by anthropologist PierPaolo Petrone and volcanologist Guido Giordano conducted the first study of the glassy material using a scanning electron microscope and a neural network image-processing tool. They identified traces of the victim’s brain cells, axons and myelin in the well-preserved sample.

Petrone and Giordano concluded that the conversion of the man’s brain tissue into glass was the result of its sudden exposure to scorching volcanic ash followed by a rapid drop in temperature.

Brain of glass

The follow-up study, released today in Scientific Reports, provides a more detailed analysis of the vitrification process. The scientists estimate the temperature at which the brain transformed into glass had to be above 510°C, followed by rapid cooling.

The researchers propose the following scenario to describe the victim’s death and explain how his brain was vitrified.

The victim died when he was engulfed by the fast-moving, extremely hot ash cloud of the pyroclastic surge. His brain rapidly heated to a temperature exceeding 510°C. The thick bones of the skull may have protected the brain tissue from turning to gas and vaporising.

Within minutes, the ash cloud dissipated and the temperature quickly dropped to around 510°C, a temperature suitable for vitrification. The researchers also believe the fact the brain was broken into small pieces allowed it to cool quickly and therefore vitrify.

In the final phase of the eruption, Herculaneum was buried by thick, lower-temperature deposits that preserved what remained of the man’s body in cement-like material. The vitrification resulted in the preservation of complex neural structures such as neurons and axons.

This research makes a significant contribution to scientific knowledge. After centuries of archaeological research, this is still the only known example of human brain matter preserved by vitrification.

Louise Zarmati does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. ‘Brain vitrification’: new research shows how the Vesuvius eruption turned a man’s brain to glass – https://theconversation.com/brain-vitrification-new-research-shows-how-the-vesuvius-eruption-turned-a-mans-brain-to-glass-250918

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ellen Reeves, Lecturer in Criminology, University of Liverpool

People experiencing domestic violence are often urged to report their abuse to police. But what if your abuser is a police officer?

Our new research, drawing on 17 interviews with victim-survivors from two studies and published in the journal Violence Against Women, examined the challenges faced by victim-survivors in this situation.

‘He knows how to make sure that there is no evidence’

Victim-survivors told us their abusers often initially used their police role to project a “safe” image. Later, however, many perpetrators were able to draw on their police training and skills in control, surveillance and investigation to abuse and entrap their partners. One interviewee said:

He is a state-funded, trained master manipulator.

Police also have access to weapons, and importantly, knowledge about how domestic violence evidence is collected. One interviewee said:

They’re doing things that they believe they can get away with or that they know they can get away with […] Police offenders are smarter than that and they’re looking for these little insidious ways to skirt the system.

One person who experienced coercive control from her police officer father-in-law said:

He knows how to make sure that there is no evidence.

‘The people coming to interview me are his colleagues’

Victim-survivors told us they faced many barriers when seeking help.

Some victim-survivors had moved away from family and friends for the perpetrator’s job and only socialised with other “police families”, leaving them isolated.

One person said her perpetrator:

used to bitch about DVs, like just how it’s that victim’s moment of 15  minutes of fame, a moment of attention.

This made some victim-survivors reluctant to report abuse.

When they did report abuse, many encountered police reluctance or refusal to take action against “one of their own”. One person said:

I tried to report his stalking to the local police station. The moment I mentioned the name, I was pretty much told to get the fuck out.

Other victim-survivors we interviewed said:

I had to report at the police station where he works, where everybody knows everybody […] So the people coming to interview me are his colleagues […] You can’t trust them, you don’t feel safe, and even the police stations nearby, it’s still regional and they still work with each other.

They just had a chat to him and he went, “No, that didn’t happen” and then that was it, he just got more and more and more empowered.

Some victim-survivors in our study felt no amount of evidence was sufficient to see the perpetrator charged or convicted. One told us:

Every time I spoke to a solicitor, they’d say, “Oh, well. You’ll have such a – you’ll have a far higher threshold to prove anything because he’s a police officer, and magistrates don’t like giving orders against police officers because they get made non-operational.”

In some cases, the police perpetrator had the victim-survivor arrested or subjected to a domestic violence intervention order. One victim-survivor recounted:

He’d wake you up all night, he’d break in, he’d destroy property, intimidation. He did do an assault but it wasn’t an assault — it didn’t leave a mark, but then he said that I had dug my fingernails into his hand and that’s what I was charged on the basis of. Minor, minor injury that I actually saw him do […] So I ended up with assault occasioning an actual bodily harm over that.

‘I can call the police now if I want and get you sectioned’

Some interviewees told us police officers can use police databases to get information (such as location) about the victim-survivor.

In one case, a fellow police officer drove the perpetrator to the victim-survivor’s “secure” location.

Police perpetrators can also draw on their knowledge and connection with broader formal institutions. One interviewee told us:

He was convincing me that I had a mental health issue. He’d get me to a point where I’d be sobbing because he’d tell me everything that was wrong with me and berate me and then say, “I can call the police now if I want and get you sectioned and you have to go to [mental health facility] for the night”.

Many interviewees expressed frustration that family violence cases where the perpetrator was a police officer are often not referred to Professional Standards Command, an internal police oversight body operating in most state and territory police forces.

Calls for genuine accountability and independence

Many victim-survivors interviewed said police perpetrators were not – in their experience – likely to be held accountable. One told us:

Police sought [an intervention order] for my protection and this was granted for 12 months. He has his weapon taken from him, then returned two weeks later.

Another said:

He didn’t get sacked, they let him resign […] and now he’s on a nice cushy pension for the rest of his life.

Another participant said her perpetrator was simply moved to another location.

Cases were often handed back and forth between different police stations, Professional Standards Command, and other independent or semi-independent police bodies. There was often no transparency in how decisions were made and little – if any – communication with the victim-survivor about the progression of their case.

Legal or professional repercussions were rare and minimal. They also often failed to stop the abuse, and allowed the perpetrator to keep their job.

Some state and territory police forces, including Victoria Police and Tasmania Police, now have specific police officer-involved domestic violence policies.

For example, Professional Standards Command in Victoria has a Sexual Offences and Family Violence Unit to investigate allegations that involve Victoria Police employees accused of family violence, sexual assault, serious sexual harassment and predatory behaviour.

Victim-survivors welcomed this but expressed concern these new dedicated teams may remain vulnerable to the “boy’s club mentality” and information leaks.

Ultimately, broader police responses to gender-based violence cannot improve while a problematic police culture persists.

The National Sexual Assault, Family and Domestic Violence Counselling Line – 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.

Ellen Reeves has received funding for family violence related research from the Australian Institute of Criminology, the Australian Research Council and Respect Victoria.

Kate has received funding for family violence related research from a range of federal and state government and non-government sources. Currently, Kate receives funding from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS), the South Australian government, Safe Steps, Australian Childhood Foundation, and 54 Reasons. This piece is written by Kate Fitz-Gibbon in her role at Monash University and is wholly independent of Kate Fitz-Gibbon’s role as chair of Respect Victoria and membership on the Victorian Children’s Council.

Sandra Walklate has received funding from the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Australian Research Council for family violence relayed research.

Silke Meyer has received federal and state government funding for research and evaluation. She currently receives research funding from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS), the Queensland government and non-government organisations.

– ref. ‘He knows how to make sure that there is no evidence’: when your domestic violence abuser is a police officer – https://theconversation.com/he-knows-how-to-make-sure-that-there-is-no-evidence-when-your-domestic-violence-abuser-is-a-police-officer-250754

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Harcourt, Industry Professor and Chief Economist, University of Technology Sydney

This weekend, Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) continues to trumpet its now annual pilgrimage to open its season in Las Vegas.

While it’s only the second year of a five-year arrangement, the NRL claims its Vegas experiment has been a great success at a time when the league has been in excellent health on and off the field.

But why is the Australian league hosting games in Las Vegas? And has this experiment paid dividends?

The NRL’s Vegas play

There are a few reasons behind the NRL’s Vegas venture, with money at the heart of it.

It’s partly about future TV revenue and trying to grab a slice of the US sports gambling market.

And then there’s sponsors – it’s allowed the NRL to fish in the larger US pond in terms of corporate involvement in the game.

According to NRL CEO Andrew Abdo:

Outside of the benefit we get here domestically, in America we’ve now got sponsors that are incremental. We would not have had these sponsors had we not been growing in America. We’ve got a successful travel experience for fans, and we’ve got incremental subscriptions on Watch NRL, so you’ve got real revenue coming in which allows to us to now invest in expansion, and invest in a better product here.

The move is also part of a grand vision to grow the game internationally.

The NRL has announced a team from Papua New Guinea will join the league in 2028. It is also aiming for more integration with the Super League in England, perhaps one day eyeing franchises in the US and the Pacific.

The NRL is also conscious of the US National Football League’s venture into Melbourne in 2026 and the competition that could bring for Pacific talent.

Read more:
It’s the most American of sports, so why is the NFL looking to Melbourne for international games?

There may also be some football diplomacy at play. For example, some Sharks players visited the Los Angles firefighters who fought the recent wildfires for some lessons on leadership and crisis management.

What happened last year?

The Vegas venture started a year ago with the Sydney Roosters playing the Brisbane Broncos and the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles playing the South Sydney Rabbitohs in a groundbreaking double-header.

These matches were the first NRL regular season games held outside Australia and New Zealand.

The crowd at Allegiant Stadium, which holds 65,000 fans, surpassed all expectations, with 40,746 turning up when about 25,000 were expected.

According to Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, more than 14,000 fans flew from Australia for the games and many Aussie expats living in the US also made the trip.

In terms of TV audiences in Australia, the experiment was a big hit.

The Manly-South Sydney clash was the most-watched NRL game ever on Fox Sports, with 838,000 fans tuning in. The Roosters-Broncos contest drew a Fox Sports audience of 786,000.

According to NRL chairman Peter V’Landys:

There was a lot of success in Vegas last year that we didn’t even plan, and for me that was record viewership in Australia and […] record attendances at pubs and clubs.

Stateside reaction

Of course a lot of Aussies tuned in, but how about US viewers?

Around 61,000 tuned into Manly-South Sydney while 44,000 watched the Roosters and Broncos, which is well below the threshold of 100,000 viewers for profitable sports broadcasting, according to TV ratings experts Sports Media Watch in the US.

The NRL set up fan zones and other activities in the build-up to the games in Las Vegas to attract US fans and entertain the visting Aussie tourists.

This year there will be even more on offer: there are four games instead of two, with the NRL bringing over the Canberra Raiders and the New Zealand Warriors, and reigning four-time premiers the Penrith Panthers and the Cronulla Sharks.

In addition, there’s an English Super League game, with the Wigan Warriors taking on Warrington Wolves, as well as an Australia-England women’s Test match.

Is it worth it?

So, has it been worth all the expense for the NRL?

According to V’Landys, the competition’s bottom line has been largely unaffected despite the significant costs of the games:

This year there’s a possibility that we’ll actually return a profit on Vegas and if not, it’ll be a small loss.

But he’s not leaving anything to chance. In fact, in a televised plea on US TV show Fox and Friends, V’Landys invited President Donald Trump to attend the game.

Will the president attend? Unlike a major US event like the Superbowl, where Trump was the first sitting president to attend, there’s not a big domestic constituency for rugby league, so chances are he won’t join the revelry in Vegas.

But it sounds like the NRL, on current projections, won’t need him.

With the introduction of a new team in PNG in 2028 and a possible 19th outfit in Perth soon after, the NRL has showcased an impressive vision to take the game into new markets.

Even if a tiny proportion of the US market jumps on board rugby league, it can only help take the game closer to to its goal of being the undisputed number one sport in Australia.

Tim Harcourt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. First Vegas, then the world? Why the NRL is eyeing international markets – https://theconversation.com/first-vegas-then-the-world-why-the-nrl-is-eyeing-international-markets-250622

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ehsan Noroozinejad, Senior Researcher, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University

Australia is in the grip of a severe housing shortage. Many people are finding it extremely difficult to find a place to live in the face of rising rents and property price surges. Homelessness is rising sharply. Tent cities are becoming more common.

The federal government has pledged to encourage the building of about 1.2 million new dwellings over the five years from mid-2024. The problem is, conventional building techniques are unlikely to be able to respond to the scale of demand quickly. Conventional building is expensive and slow. Faster, cheaper construction methods are needed.

There might be a way to accelerate the build. In recent years, car manufacturers Ford, General Motors and Toyota have shuttered their Australian factories, due to intense global competition.

Before these factories fell silent, they were home to trained workers, advanced machinery and efficient production systems. In Australia, companies such as Hickory Group are working to turn car factories into house factories. In Japan, Toyota has been making modular housing for decades, by adapting car production line techniques.

Scaling this approach up in Australia could simultaneously address industrial decline and housing demand.

Can mothballed car factories really make houses?

After years of decline, Australia’s car manufacturing industry came to an end in 2017, when Toyota and General Motors’ factories stopped mass production. Ford’s local factories closed a year earlier. It was the end of 70 years of mass production, though companies such as Premcar are still making local versions of overseas cars.

Thousands of factory workers lost their jobs. But the effect rippled outward, as about 40,000 workers in the supply chain lost their jobs.

These automobile factories left behind more than just empty structures.

Most of them have not been demolished. Some still have advanced manufacturing lines. Their former workers with automation and precise engineering training might be working in different fields, such as caravan manufacturing.

Building a house in a factory has similarities to car manufacturing. Both use modular production, in which individual parts are manufactured and then assembled into a final product.

That’s not to say this would be easy – there would be regulatory hurdles to overcome and the factories would need an overhaul.

One tough part is figuring out how to use modern car-building tools (such as robotics) to make components of houses. While building cars and houses share some ideas, they’re not the same.

Bringing these factories back into production would boost the economies of states such as Victoria.

States such as South Australia have already started down this path, turning Mitsubishi’s defunct Tonsley Park factory into an innovation precinct hosting modular construction companies such as Fusco Constructions, which will begin operations next year.

Meanwhile, much work has been done in Australia and overseas to find ways to mass-produce housing using factories.

Imagine thousands of individual car parts were delivered to your front yard, where workers painstakingly put the car together. This seems crazy. But it’s essentially what we do with houses, especially freestanding ones. Advocates for modern methods of construction have pointed out the inefficiencies of transporting building materials to a site and assembling them there.

Some large-scale builders are already working to automate more of the home-building process. Besides making houses more cheaply, the benefits include centralising production around a factory, protection from weather delays, and the ability to use industrial robots.

Car assembly lines guarantee each component is manufactured to exacting specifications. Automobile manufacturing has been transformed by new technologies, including digital twin simulations, robotics and 3D printing. But the building industry has been slower to take these up. If we can bring these technologies to bear on how we make homes, we can accelerate construction, reduce errors and cut prices.

In fact, we are seeing some car manufacturers moving into home building. Mercedes-Benz, Bugatti, Bentley, Aston Martin and Porsche are all putting their names on high-end homes in some way, while Honda has explored manufacturing smart, low-energy homes.

Change is coming – but slowly

Advanced building techniques are not new to Australia. Prefab buildings are already being built on factory lines by companies such as Fleetwood, ATCO Structures and Logistics and Modscape.

Here, building components are produced in a controlled factory setting before being delivered to the construction site for prompt assembly. Dozens of companies are working in this space. To date, however, most of these buildings will be used as schools, police stations or temporary housing for mining workers.

Last year, the federal government set up a A$900 million fund as an incentive for state and territory governments to accelerate building approvals and take up prefab techniques. To date, the sector is struggling to scale up due to a lack of infrastructure and too few manufacturers.

Other countries are further along the path. In Sweden, up to 84% of detached homes are made with prefabricated components, compared with about 15% in Japan and 5% in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.

One option is to adopt yet more advanced techniques, such as lean manufacturing and automated assembly. Both of these are well established in car-making, and could be used to increase the speed and accuracy of prefab home construction.

What would it take to make this happen?

Australia’s housing crisis has been years in the making. To solve it, we may need bold solutions.

Converting old car factories into affordable home factories could help accelerate our response to the challenge – and reinvigorate industrial precincts.

It would take work and funding to make this happen. But there are commonalities. Making prefab homes depends on precise, modular production methods that work best when automated. Transitions like these can happen.

Dr. Ehsan Noroozinejad has received funding from both national and international organisations to support research addressing housing and climate crises. His most recent funding comes from the James Martin Institute for Public Policy. He has received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

– ref. Shuttered car factories in Australia could be repurposed to make houses faster and cheaper – https://theconversation.com/shuttered-car-factories-in-australia-could-be-repurposed-to-make-houses-faster-and-cheaper-249709

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia

We’ve probably all had a moment when we stopped taking the Oscars too seriously. For me, it was when Denzel Washington won best actor for Training Day (2001), a crime film in which he displays virtually none of his acting chops.

And as popular cinema becomes uglier (it’s mostly shot on digital video now, which almost never looks as good as film) and streamers (or logistics companies such as Amazon) take over film production, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to appreciate the point of the ceremony.

From this year’s ten nominees for best picture, The Brutalist, Conclave and I’m Still Here are good – while (most of) the other nominees are only okay.

Some well-made films, but nothing outstanding

Writer-director Sean Baker’s Anora is nominated for best picture this year, after already winning the Palme d’Or. It’s a moderately sweet film in the tradition of Pretty Woman – having more nudity and sex, and a disappointing ending, doesn’t automatically make it edgier. It’s too long by at least half an hour, with some okay performances.

It’s certainly not bad, but the idea that this is one of the “best pictures” of 2024 is alarming – or would be, if I wasn’t already so cynical. Most importantly, there’s nothing formally or aesthetically compelling about it, in which case I might have forgiven the silly (anti) Cinderella story.

Another nominee, A Complete Unknown, is similarly well-made. Timothée Chalamet gives a predictably moody performance as Bob Dylan, and it’s fun to learn something about the relationships between Dylan and musical legends Joan Baez and Pete Seeger.

But there’s also something fundamentally weird about watching a memoir about a person as iconic as Dylan. It veers too often into the terrain of impersonation, and this is even more off-putting given Dylan is still alive. Throw in Chalamet’s (certainly accomplished) singing of Dylan’s songs, and it feels like we’re watching someone do karaoke really well.

The Substance tries to shock and titillate the viewer with its caricature of celebrity in an era of body modification and mega-media corporations. Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid try hard to be funny, but the whole thing plays like an undergraduate essay that makes the same point ad nauseam. Though the actors surely had fun, there’s nothing compelling about their guffawing.

This is also the problem with messy hybrid musical-thriller Emilia Pérez, the other over-the-top genre film tipped by some to win the award.

The film, following a cartel leader who disappears and transitions into a woman, is overly dependent on making a point about the world outside of itself. This point is so obvious that it rapidly becomes tedious, with insufficient attention given to the formal and narrative tensions and ambiguities that compel an audience to engage with a film on a serious, visceral level.

Dune: Part Two sounds and looks good, but is more meandering than Part One in developing Herbert’s unwieldy epic. If you liked Part One, you’ll probably like Part Two, but it’s not exactly cutting-edge material.

Nickel Boys is a low-key, sentimental rendition of Colson Whitehead’s novel about two African American boys sent to a reform school in Florida in the early 1960s, and their coming of age as they survive myriad abuses. It’s watchable, if not particularly memorable.

Finally, Wicked is, well … Wicked. If you like the musical you may like the film (although the live aspect of musicals makes this one play better on the stage than on the screen, unlike The Wizard of Oz, which was made for the screen). In any case, it’s not ridiculously bad, even though it is too long.

A few top contenders

Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here – which traces the struggle of an activist in Brazil after the forced disappearance of her husband in 1970 – works well in its evocation of place and time, and should soften the heart of even the most cynical viewer.

Based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s 2015 memoir, the entire film is washed over with a faint scent of nostalgia that complements the idea of failing to find, and then remembering, that which is missing.

Conclave, adapted from Robert Harris’ novel, is another solidly made affair. It follows the political machinations of the Vatican as the Dean of Cardinals sets up a conclave to elect a new pope after the previous one dies of a heart attack.

Ralph Fiennes is as effective and sombre as usual in the lead role as Cardinal Lawrence and various twists and turns keep us watching throughout. But one suspects the primary pleasure of the film is that it seems to offer an insider’s view of the Vatican, including all the fetishistic processes and rituals.

Despite its serious tone, Conclave is a fun romp. And what a pleasure it is to watch Isabella Rossellini on the big screen once again.

The strongest nominee

The film that is most classically like a best picture nominee is The Brutalist – an epic, visually-magnificent study of the struggles of (fictional) architect László Toth, a Hungarian Jew who moves to America following the Holocaust.

Testament to the technical accomplishments of the film, and its superb creation of a coherent world, The Brutalist runs close to four hours (thankfully with an intermission) without becoming tedious. It chugs along with the relentless momentum of a steam engine.

Adrien Brody is charming as Toth, endowing the character with a roguish and playful quality, and the supporting cast are solid. Akin to one of Toth’s constructions (as we hear in the epilogue section), the film neither indicates nor tells us anything beyond itself.

There may be conclusions to be drawn regarding the relationship between art, power and capitalism, but the film gives you the space to devise these yourself. The film is, in a sense, beautifully mute.

Out of all the nominations, The Brutalist is the only one that feels like a genuine best picture contender (with something of the grandeur of classical Hollywood cinema about it). Although many critics are predicting Anora will win, The Brutalist is the strongest of the nominees.

That said, my pick for the best film of 2024 goes to a production that didn’t get a best picture nomination (as usual). Magnus von Horn’s The Girl With the Needle is a stunning Danish expressionistic nightmare that seamlessly integrates formal experimentation with a thrilling and horrific true crime narrative.

It is absolutely sensational – the kind of thing you never forget. Thankfully, it has been recognised through its nomination for best international feature film.

Ari Mattes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Oscars 2025: who will likely win, who should win, and who barely deserves to be there – https://theconversation.com/oscars-2025-who-will-likely-win-who-should-win-and-who-barely-deserves-to-be-there-250783