Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wesley Morgan, Research Associate, Institute for Climate Risk and Response, UNSW Sydney

This week, the Federal Court found the Australian government has no legal duty to protect Torres Strait Islanders from climate change. The ruling was disappointing, but it’s not the end of the matter.

The plaintiffs, Uncle Paul Kabai and Uncle Pabai Pabai, hail from the low-lying islands of Saibai and Boigu, near Papua New Guinea. They argued the Commonwealth was negligent for failing to take strong action on climate change.

While the judge accepted the devastating effects climate change has wrought on the Torres Strait Islands, he found the Uncles did not prove their case of negligence.

However, the judge found previous Australian governments had not taken the best available science into account when setting emissions reduction targets. The finding tightens the screws on the Albanese government, which is due to announce Australia’s long-awaited targets to cut emissions out to 2035.

To protect communities in the Torres Strait, and across Australia, the government must set a 2035 target that is in line with the science.

And the court finding is unlikely to stem the tide of litigation seeking greater government accountability for climate change – especially for those most vulnerable to its harms.

Limitations of Australian law

The Uncles’ case did not fail because there was no merit in their allegations. It failed because Justice Michael Wigney ruled negligence law was not the appropriate vehicle to deal with climate change policy.

Justice Wigney found the Torres Strait Islanders proved much of their case, including that Australia’s emissions targets set in 2015, 2020 and 2021 were not consistent with the best available science. That science dictates national governments should set emissions reduction targets in line with international efforts to hold global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

The Coalition was in power during the period in question. Justice Wigney found the government of the day “did not engage with or give real or genuine consideration to the best available science” when setting its targets.

Looking ahead to our 2035 targets

The Labor government is currently weighing its 2035 emissions reduction target. The Climate Change Authority, which provides independent advice to government on climate policy, is expected to recommend a target between 65% and 75%.

But evidence suggests this may not be in line with the best available science.

For example, according to some scientists, emissions reduction of 90% by 2035, based on 2005 levels, would be required to stay in line with the 1.5°C goal.

Australia’s 2035 targets are not just crucial to the global effort to tackle climate change. They will also affect our standing in the Pacific at a time of deepening geostrategic competition.

Australia is bidding to host the UN climate talks next year in partnership with Pacific island countries. Our climate policy for the decade ahead will be a powerful signal to our Pacific neighbours about our commitment to the region, and to climate justice.

A shifting legal landscape

Tuesday’s court finding left open the possibility an appeal court may revisit the state of the law, and recognise the duty of care claimed by the Uncles.

This would require an appeal to the full court of the Federal Court. Wigney was a single judge and considered himself bound by past precedent set by the full court.

Around the world, courts and human rights bodies are holding governments accountable for climate inaction. It is possible for Australian law to do the same.

Courts in the Netherlands and Belgium, for example, have recognised government duties to heed the science to address foreseeable harms of climate change.

Next week, the International Court of Justice – the world’s highest court – will issue an historic legal opinion on the obligations of nations to tackle climate change.

This opinion will clarify the obligations of countries to prevent human rights harms caused by climate change, and to limit pollution of the Earth’s oceans and climate system. The opinion will be non-binding, but could influence future climate litigation.

What’s more, attribution science is improving all the time. This field of science examines how greenhouse gas emissions affect a particular weather event or climate pattern.

Clearer attribution science will provide courts an ever-stronger basis to consider how government policy decisions on emissions cause climate impacts – and resulting harms to people.

As the legal responsibilities of governments are clarified, further strategic litigation in Australia is likely.

Change is coming

In his judgement, Justice Michael Wigney said the law currently “provides no real or effective legal avenue” for people or communities to seek legal recourse for government inaction on climate change. That will remain the case until the law changes, he said.

To remain legitimate, legal norms must reflect changing social expectations. History shows laws can adapt when they are challenged repeatedly by those who are harmed by the status quo. Eventually, the dam wall breaks, and law is reinterpreted.

A clear example is the Mabo case of 1992. The High Court of Australia acknowledged the obvious fact that Indigenous peoples have lived on this continent for tens of thousands of years, and that the “terra nullius” (land belonging to no-one) concept was a legal myth.

The Mabo decision allowed common law to recognise native title. It was a departure from previous rulings which relied on the terra nullius concept to reject native title claims.

Australia’s legal norms largely pre-date the scientific consensus on climate change. They must evolve to better recognise climate impacts that are harming Australians. While this week might not have been the time, change is inevitable.

As Justice Wigney said, until the law adapts, the key avenue for change is public advocacy, protest and voter action at the ballot box.

Wesley Morgan is a fellow with the Climate Council.

Riona Moodley 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. Australia got off on a technicality for its climate inaction. But there are plenty more judgement days to come – https://theconversation.com/australia-got-off-on-a-technicality-for-its-climate-inaction-but-there-are-plenty-more-judgement-days-to-come-261305

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Faisal Hai, Professor and Head of School of Civil, Mining, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Wollongong

The kettle is a household staple practically everywhere – how else would we make our hot drinks?

But is it okay to re-boil water that’s already in the kettle from last time? While bringing water to a boil disinfects it, you may have heard that boiling water more than once will somehow make the water harmful and therefore you should empty the kettle each time.

Such claims are often accompanied by the argument that re-boiled water leads to the accumulation of allegedly hazardous substances including metals such as arsenic, or salts such as nitrates and fluoride.

This isn’t true. To understand why, let’s look at what is in our tap water and what really happens when we boil it.

What’s in our tap water?

Let’s take the example of tap water supplied by Sydney Water, Australia’s largest water utility which supplies water to Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra region.

From the publicly available data for the January to March 2025 quarter for the Illawarra region, these were the average water quality results:

• pH was slightly alkaline
• total dissolved solids were low enough to avoid causing scaling in pipes or appliances
• fluoride content was appropriate to improve dental health, and
• it was “soft” water with a total hardness value below 40mg of calcium carbonate per litre.

The water contained trace amounts of metals such as iron and lead, low enough magnesium levels that it can’t be tasted, and sodium levels substantially lower than those in popular soft drinks.

These and all other monitored quality parameters were well within the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines during that period. If you were to make tea with this water, re-boiling would not cause a health problem. Here’s why.

It’s difficult to concentrate such low levels of chemicals

To concentrate substances in the water, you’d need to evaporate some of the liquid while the chemicals stay behind. Water evaporates at any temperature, but the vast majority of evaporation happens at the boiling point – when water turns into steam.

During boiling, some volatile organic compounds might escape into the air, but the amount of the inorganic compounds (such as metals and salts) remains unchanged.

While the concentration of inorganic compounds might increase as drinking water evaporates when boiled, evidence shows it doesn’t happen to such an extent that it would be hazardous.

Let’s say you boil one litre of tap water in a kettle in the morning, and your tap water has a fluoride content of 1mg per litre, which is within the limits of Australian guidelines.

You make a cup of tea taking 200ml of the boiled water. You then make another cup of tea in the afternoon by re-boiling the remaining water.

On both occasions, if heating was stopped soon after boiling started, the loss of water by evaporation would be small, and the fluoride content in each cup of tea would be similar.

But let’s assume that when making the second cup, you let the water keep boiling until 100ml of what’s in the kettle evaporates. Even then, the amount of fluoride you would consume with the second cup (0.23mg) would not be significantly higher than the fluoride you consumed with the first cup of tea (0.20mg).

The same applies to any other minerals or organics the supplied water may have contained. Let’s take lead: the water supplied in the Illawarra region as mentioned above, had a lead concentration of less than 0.0001mg per litre. To reach an unsafe lead concentration (0.01mg per litre, according to Australian guidelines) in a cup of water, you’d need to boil down roughly 20 litres of tap water to just that cup of 200ml.

Practically that is unlikely to happen – most electric kettles are designed to boil briefly before automatically shutting off. As long as the water you’re using is within the guidelines for drinking water, you can’t really concentrate it to harmful levels within your kettle.

But what about taste?

Whether re-boiled water actually affects the taste of your drinks will depend entirely on the specifics of your local water supply and your personal preferences.

The slight change in mineral concentration, or the loss of dissolved oxygen from water during boiling may affect the taste for some people – although there are a lot of other factors that contribute to the taste of your tap water.

The bottom line is that as long as the water in your kettle was originally compliant with guidelines for safe drinking water, it will remain safe and potable even after repeated boiling.

Faisal Hai 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. Is it okay to boil water more than once, or should you empty the kettle every time? – https://theconversation.com/is-it-okay-to-boil-water-more-than-once-or-should-you-empty-the-kettle-every-time-260293

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Madeleine Perrett, PhD Candidate in Law, University of Adelaide

Armed with obscure legal jargon and fringe interpretations of the law, “sovereign citizens” are continuing to test the limits of the Australian justice system’s patience and power.

A few weeks ago, two Western Australians were jailed for 30 days after defying a Supreme Court order and refusing to acknowledge the court’s authority.

Weeks earlier, former AFL footballer Warren Tredrea told the Federal Court he could not pay his legal costs to his former employer, Channel 9, because he did not believe in Australian legal tender.

And former One Nation senator Rod Culleton is currently fighting the Australian Federal Police, arguing his court-declared bankruptcy is not legally binding and therefore should not affect his federal election nomination.

These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a growing trend known as “pseudolaw”.

What is ‘pseudolaw’?

Pseudolaw describes the practice of constructing legal arguments that sound convincing but are fundamentally wrong.

It often relies on real law or cases, twisting them through bizarre or inaccurate interpretations. It looks like law, but isn’t.

Common pseudolegal arguments include:

• governments have no authority over “natural persons”
• writing a legal name in all capital letters creates a separate legal entity (a “strawman”), which is not subject to state authority
• money is not real and anything can be legal tender
• tax laws only apply to federal entities, not individuals
• “natural rights” override statutes and court-made rules.

Not one of these arguments has ever succeeded in an Australian court.

What are ‘sovereign citizens’?

Those who believe and engage in pseudolaw are sometimes termed “sovereign citizens” or “SovCits”, a label imported from the United States during the 1970s.

The sovereign citizen “movement” reached Australia in the late 1990s.

As the Australian Federal Police explain, sovereign citizens believe they are morally and legally correct, and are quite open about their beliefs and plans.

They reject government authority, refuse to comply with laws and rely on complex but false legal theories to justify their actions.

Because many social media platforms ban their content, sovereign citizens frequently communicate through encrypted messaging apps or gather in person at protests and “common law courts” – unofficial tribunals based on a distorted reading of historical legal principles. These “courts” claim to operate outside state authority and often “try” public officials, file false claims against property and carry out other pseudolegal actions with no real legal force.

They claim to be peaceful and say they are acting in “self-defence” against perceived government overreach. But a small number turn violent.

The rise of pseudolaw in Australia

In the 1970s, WA farmer Leonard Casley labelled his farm the “Hutt River Province”, then attempted to secede from the Commonwealth of Australia and the State of Western Australia.

A curiosity back then, but a warning sign.

For years, fringe tax protesters and anti-government groups quietly pushed these ideas.

Then the COVID pandemic hit: lockdowns, mandates and rising distrust meant pseudolaw went more viral. Social media lit up with people claiming they weren’t subject to Australian law.

They spouted strawman theories, cited fake laws and filmed themselves refusing police orders.

Now it’s in the courts, on the streets and in online echo chambers.

It is not just noise. It is congesting the judicial system and putting people, including adherents, at risk.

A recent South Australian study highlights how pseudolaw is increasingly disrupting legal processes in that state.

The law, however, still stands, no matter what those on YouTube say.

What the ‘real’ law says

To be clear, pseudolaw looks real but isn’t; the real law is clear on many of the points raised by sovereign citizens.

For example, the federal government derives its authority to govern from the Commonwealth Constitution. This document clearly states the government has executive authority and can make laws that bind all Australians.

This includes tax laws and laws declaring Australian money as legal tender: in 2007, the Federal Court flatly rejected arguments that income tax and currency laws were invalid.

The “strawman theory” – which states someone has two personas, one of real flesh and blood and the other a separate legal personality, who is the “strawman” – has also been debunked by the courts countless times. The West Australian Supreme Court recently called it “fundamentally misguided”.

And does capitalising your name on official documents like your birth certificate or driver’s licence affect your rights? The courts have categorically said “no”.

Pseudolaw is, as one Victorian judge described it last year, nothing more than “nonsense”, “gibberish”, and “gobbledygook”.

Why sovereign citizens are a threat

While this might seem eccentric, or even harmless, pseudolaw poses real risks.

The Judicial Commission of New South Wales warns it’s not just a nuisance – it’s clogging up courts, wasting police resources and putting public officials at risk.

But the danger isn’t only to others – it is to the followers too.

Adherents lose more than arguments. Some have racked up massive legal bills fighting fines. Others have lost custody in family court or been imprisoned for ignoring court orders.

Pseudolaw is a dangerous ideology.

It is crucial all Australians recognise that pseudolaw not only threatens your credibility but can land you in hot water under the real law.

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 does Australian law have to say about sovereign citizens and ‘pseudolaw’? – https://theconversation.com/what-does-australian-law-have-to-say-about-sovereign-citizens-and-pseudolaw-260289

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Dahlen, Professor of Midwifery, Associate Dean Research and HDR, Midwifery Discipline Leader, Western Sydney University

A study published this week in the international obstetrics and gynaecology journal BJOG has raised concerns among women due to give birth in Australia’s public hospitals.

The study compared the outcomes of mothers and babies, as well as the costs, of standard public maternity care versus private obstetric-led care from 2016 to 2019 in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

It found women who gave birth in the public system were more likely to haemorrhage, sustain a third or fourth degree tear, and were less likely to have a caesarean than those who birthed in the private system. It found their babies were more likely to be deprived of oxygen, to be admitted to intensive care and to die.

But the study and subsequent media reports don’t tell the whole story. There are also several reasons to be cautious about this data.

And it’s important to keep in mind that while things sometimes go wrong during childbirth, the majority of women who give birth in Australia do so safely.

Birth options in Australia

Australia has a two-tiered system of health care:

• a publicly funded system that provides care for free, or limited out-of-pocket costs, to patients in public hospitals

• a private system where patients with private health insurance access care from doctors mainly in private hospitals. They face varying out-of-pocket costs.

There are multiple models of maternity care in Australia, but these can be grouped into:

• fragmented care models, where women see many different care providers. Fragmented models include medical and midwifery care, and GP shared care (shared between GPs, obstetricians and midwives)

• continuity of care models where one (or a small number of providers) provide the majority of the care throughout the antenatal, birth and postnatal period. This includes continuity of midwifery care in the public system, private obstetric care, or care from a privately practising midwife in the private system.

Women favour continuity of care and they and their babies experience better outcomes in these models, especially under midwifery continuity of care.

However, continuity of midwifery care can be difficult to access, despite calls to expand this model worldwide.

Digging into the data

The BJOG paper examined the outcomes for 368,292 births selected out of a bigger data set of 867,334 women who gave birth in NSW, Queensland and Victoria between January 2016 and December 2019.

It used publicly available data collected on each birth in three states in Australia, as well as Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) data linked to these cases to help examine cost.

The study grouped all the models of care together in the public system and compared them to one model of private obstetric care (excluding the privately practising midwifery model altogether).

A major problem with doing research with big data sets is they do not contain the many medical and social complexities that inform health outcomes. These complexities are much more prevalent in the public system and impact on health outcomes.

Only diabetes and blood pressure problems were included in medical complications controlled for in this paper.

But there are others that impact on outcomes. There was no controlling for drug and alcohol use, mental health, refugee status and many more significant factors impacting health outcomes for mothers and babies.

On the other hand, women who give birth in private hospitals are more likely to be socially advantaged (with higher incomes, more education, and greater access to health care, transport and safe housing), which also impacts on birth outcomes.

While the researchers attempted to “match” the population groups to be as similar as possible and reduce these differences, some of the variables were not included in the data sets. Data on artificial reproductive technology, body mass index and smoking, for example, were not available in all three states. These variables impact outcomes.

The study did not consider some key outcomes often used to measure maternity care, such as rates of episiotomies (surgical cuts to the perineum). Rates of episiotomies are higher in the private sector.

The findings of the study also differ from other research on some measurements, such as third and fourth degree perineal tears. The BJOG paper reports severe perineal tearing is lower in private hospitals, while other earlier research shows the opposite.

Severe perineal tearing does, however, occur more often among some ethnic groups who are more likely to have public health care.

More c-sections

The study found women in private hospitals were more likely to have a caesarean section (47.9%) than in the public system (31.6%). There were also higher rates of caesarean sections undertaken before 39 weeks in private obstetric-led care.

It was beyond the scope of the paper to examine the impacts of this on children, however previous research shows early births are linked to an increased risk of developmental problems, such as poorer school performance.

While caesarean sections are generally safe, past research as found c-sections can increase risks for women’s future pregnancies and births and can have long-term impacts on children’s health.

Our previous research showed low-risk women who gave birth in private hospitals had higher rates of intervention but earlier research showed no difference in the rate of deaths. Thankfully, baby deaths are very rare in Australia’s high-quality health system.

It’s important that women have a choice in how they give birth, and for that choice to be informed and supported. Australian women can also be reassured that Australia is one of the safest countries in which to give birth.

Hannah Dahlen receives funding from National Health and Medical Research Council, the Australian Research Council, and the Medical Research Future Fund. She is a member of the Australian College of Midwives.

Jenny Gamble receives funding from National Health and Medical Research Council. She is a member of the Australian College of Midwives. She is a co-author of the BJOG study.

– ref. Is childbirth really safer for women and babies in private hospitals? – https://theconversation.com/is-childbirth-really-safer-for-women-and-babies-in-private-hospitals-261179

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jo McDonald, Professor, Director of Centre for Rock Art Research + Management, The University of Western Australia

On Friday, the Murujuga Cultural Landscape in northwest Western Australia was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. We were in Paris to see Murujuga become Australia’s 21st world heritage property, but only our second property listed exclusively for its Indigenous cultural values.

Murujuga, meaning “hip bone sticking out”, is an ancient rocky landscape rising out of the Indian Ocean in northwest Australia.

Murujuga is shaped by the Lore and the presence of Ngarda-Ngarli – the collective term for the Traditional Owner groups of the coastal Pilbara – since Ngurra Nyujunggamu, when the earth was soft, the beginning of time.

Murujuga includes the Burrup Peninsula, the Dampier Archipelago’s 42 islands and the listed property covers almost 100,000 hectares of land and sea country. Across this cultural landscape are between one to two million petroglyphs – rock art – created by carving designs into rock surfaces. The petroglyphs record Ngarda Ngarli’s attachment and adaptation to a changing environment through deep time.

The UNESCO listing recognises the “outstanding universal value” of the Murujuga Cultural Landscape. This value lies in the traditional system governing it, in tangible and intangible attributes that attest to 50,000 years of Ngarda-Ngarli using and caring for the land and seascape.

The Ngarda-Ngarli have campaigned for World Heritage Listing of the Murujuga Cultural Landscape for more than 20 years.

A controversial nomination

While the outstanding universal values of this place were not in question, the nomination became mired with broader climate concerns.

Industrial development began at Murujuga in the 1950s and was established before Traditional Owners had decision-making authority. The Dampier Archipelago, as well as housing petroglyphs across 42 islands, is also home to one of the largest industrial hubs in the southern hemisphere.

The recent approval for the North-West Gas Hub has elevated climate change concerns and raised questions about whether the government is serious about protecting Murujuga.

The Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program (MRAMP) year two report was released around the same time as the north west gas hub announcement.

While acidic pollution has been suggested by some, our work on the monitoring program found rain and dust at the site was pH neutral, and there is no acid rain impacting on the petroglyphs.

Other criticism included that the air quality at the site is compromised by local gas production. The research found the air quality at Murujuga is “good” to “very good” by international standards. We also found average annual nitrogen dioxide levels − the emission under most scrutiny − is five times lower than World Health Organisation guidelines.

According to MRAMP research, Murujuga’s air quality is well within national standards. Nitrogen dioxide is 16 times lower than the national standard, and sulphur dioxide never exceeding 10% of the national standard.

Importantly, the research program is ongoing and will transition to monitoring led by the Ngarda-Ngarli with support and training from the scientists. And this ongoing monitoring will be part of the management regime in place to protect Murujuga as a world heritage listed site.

Ngard-Ngarli leadership

Traditional Owners and Custodians led the world heritage nomination, supported by State and Commonwealth governments.

Traditional Owners consider the listing will better protect Ngarda-Ngarli knowledge, lore and culture as expressed through the landscape and in the petroglyphs.

World heritage recognition will support Ngarda-Ngarli decision-making and ongoing management across the Murujuga Cultural Landscape.

This global recognition is a mechanism to help Ngarda-Ngarli do what they have always done: protect their culture and decide what is right for Country for future generations.

The inscription is a testament to the old people who started this quest decades ago, many of whom have not lived to celebrate this victory.

Australia’s deep time heritage

Australia now has two places on the World Heritage List which are exclusively listed as Indigenous sites of outstanding universal value to all humanity.

The Murujuga Cultural Landscape joins on the list the southwestern Victorian site Budj Bim, one of the world’s most extensive and oldest aquaculture systems.

By this listing, the world has recognised the deep time creative genius and ongoing connection of Ngarda-Ngarli to the Murujuga Cultural Landscape.

This international acclaim recognises the extraordinary resilience of Australia’s First Nations peoples and should be a source of pride and celebration for all Australians.

Jo McDonald is an employee of the University of Western Australia and receives funding from the Australian Research Council.The Centre for Rock Art Research and Management receives funding for its research and training operations from Rio Tinto. Jo was a member of the World Heritage committee and contributed to the writing of the dossier.

Amy Stevens is an employee of Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, which receives funding from the Australian Government, the WA Government and industry and was a lead author on the Murujuga Cultural Landscape World Heritage nomination.

Belinda Churnside serves as Deputy Chair. Board Directors are remunerated for their duties in accordance with community-approved sitting fees. These payments are made from MAC’s operational income.

All funding sources and expenditures are transparently reported in MAC’s annual financial report, which is audited each year by an independent external auditor.

Ben Mullins is the lead scientist on the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Project, which is funded by the Government of Western Australia.

Peter Hicks is the Chair of the Board of Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC). Board Directors are remunerated for their duties in accordance with community-approved sitting fees. These payments are made from MAC’s operational income.

All funding sources and expenditures are transparently reported in MAC’s annual financial report, which is audited each year by an independent external auditor.

Terry Bailey is a World Heritage advisor to Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and WA Government and was lead editor and co-author of Murujuga Cultural Landscape World Heritage nomination. His appointment is funded by the WA Government.

– ref. We were part of the world heritage listing of Murujuga. Here’s why all Australians should be proud – https://theconversation.com/we-were-part-of-the-world-heritage-listing-of-murujuga-heres-why-all-australians-should-be-proud-261066

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Hobbs, Associate Professor and Transforming Lives Fellow, Spatial Data Science and Planetary Health, Sheffield Hallam University

Ever felt like where you live is having an impact on your mental health? Turns out, you’re not imagining things.

Our new analysis of eight years of data from the New Zealand Attitude and Values Study found how often we move and where we live are intertwined with our mental health.

In some respects, this finding might seem obvious. Does a person feel the same living in a walkable and leafy suburb with parks and stable neighbours as they would in a more transient neighbourhood with few local services and busy highways?

Probably not. The built and natural environment shapes how safe, supported and settled a person feels.

We wanted to know to what extent a person’s mental health is shaped by where they live – and to what degree a person’s mental health determines where they end up living.

Patterns over time

Most research on the environmental influences on mental health gives us a snapshot of people’s lives at a single point in time. That’s useful, but it doesn’t show how things change over time or how the past may affect the future.

Our study took a slightly different approach. By tracking the same people year after year, we looked at patterns over time: how their mental health shifted, whether they moved house, their access to positive and negative environmental features, and how the areas they lived in changed when it came to factors such as poverty, unemployment and overcrowding.

We also looked at things like age, body size and how much people exercised, all of which can influence mental health, too.

To make sense of such complex and interconnected data, we turned to modern machine learning tools – in particular Random Forest algorithms. These tools allowed us to build a lot of individual models (trees) looking at how various factors affect mental health.

We could then see which factors come up most often to evaluate both their relative importance and the likely extent of their influence.

We also ran Monte Carlo simulations. Think of these like a high-tech crystal ball, to explore what might happen to mental health over time if neighbourhood conditions improved.

These simulations produced multiple future scenarios with better neighbourhood conditions, used Random Forest to forecast mental health outcomes in each, and then averaged the results.

A negative feedback loop

What we uncovered was a potential negative feedback loop. People who had depression or anxiety were more likely to move house, and those who moved were, on average, more likely to experience worsening mental health later on.

And there’s more. People with persistent mental health issues weren’t just moving more often, they were also more likely to move into a more deprived area. In other words, poorer mental health was related to a higher likelihood of ending up in places where resources were scarcer and the risk of ongoing stress was potentially higher.

Our study was unable to say why the moves occurred, but it may be that mental health challenges were related to unstable housing, financial strain, or the need for a fresh start. Our future research will try to unpick some of this.

On the flip side, people who didn’t relocate as often, especially those in lower-deprivation areas, tended to have better long-term mental health. So, stability matters. So does the neighbourhood.

Where we live matters

These findings challenge the idea that mental health is just about what’s inside us. Where we live plays a key role in shaping how we feel. But it’s not just that our environment affects our minds. Our minds can also steer us into different environments, too.

Our study shows that mental health and place are potentially locked in a feedback loop. One influences the other and the cycle can either support wellbeing or drive decline.

That has real implications for how we support people with mental health challenges.

In this study, if a person was already struggling, they were more likely to move and more likely to end up somewhere that made life harder.

This isn’t just about individual choice. It’s about the systems we’ve built, housing markets, income inequality, access to care and more. If we want better mental health at a population level, we need to think beyond the individual level. We need to think about place.

Because in the end, mental health doesn’t just live in the mind; it’s also rooted in the places we live.

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. Is our mental health determined by where we live – or is it the other way round? New research sheds more light – https://theconversation.com/is-our-mental-health-determined-by-where-we-live-or-is-it-the-other-way-round-new-research-sheds-more-light-260491

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne

Have you ever examined timber floorboards and pondered why they look the way they do? Perhaps you admired the super-fine grain, a stunning red hue or a swirling knot, and wondered how it came to be?

Or perhaps you don’t know what tree species your floorboards are made from, and how to best look after them?

Finely polished floorboards reveal detail about the timber that can be much harder to detect in unpolished boards or other sawn timbers.

“Reading” the knots, stubs and other characteristics of floorboards can reveal what type of tree produced it and how it grew. It can also reveal fascinating details about the lives of the trees they once were.

Telling soft from hard

A variety of tree species are used to make timber floors. Hardwood species include the pale cream of Tasmanian oak, the honeyed hues of spotted gum and the deep red of jarrah.

Other times, softwood such as pine or spruce is used. Such species are often fast-growing, and prized for their availability and affordability.

Hardwoods are, by definition, flowering trees, while softwoods are from cone-bearing trees. Paradoxically, not all softwoods are soft or hardwoods hard. The balsa tree, for example, is a fast-growing hardwood tree renowned for its soft wood.

It’s not always easy to tell if a floor is hardwood or softwood, but there are discernible differences in their appearance.

Tales in the grain

The real differences between softwood and hardwood lie in the anatomy and structure of the “xylem tissues” that make up the wood. These tissues transported water and nutrients from the roots to the rest of the plant when the tree was alive.

The arrangement of xylem tissue in the tree largely determines the “grain” in your floorboards. The grain is the appearance of wood fibres in the timber. The grain can be straight, wavy or spiralled.

In floorboards with straight grains, a tree’s growth history may be clear. As a tree trunk grows in diameter, it typically produces a layer of bark on the outside and a lighter layer of xylem tissue on the inside. When a tree is cut horizontally, the growth appears as rings. In a tree cut lengthwise (which happens when floorboards are milled) the growth appears as long lines in the timber.

If the lines in floorboards are very close together, this indicates the tree grew slowly. Wider lines suggest the tree grew rapidly.

Vessels in a tree’s xylem transport water from the roots to the rest of the plant. Hardwood tree species tend to have large vessels. This gives hardwood floorboards a coarser-grained and less uniform appearance. In contrast, softwood species such as conifers have smaller, dispersed vessels and produce more fine-grained, smoother timber.

Knotty histories

Knots in floorboards occur when a branch dies or is cut, then tissue grows over the stub. The bigger the missing branch, the more substantial the knot.

Knots in floorboards can reveal much about the source tree. Pine, for example, often features multiple small knots originating from a common point. This reflects the growth pattern of young plantation pines, where several branches grow out from the trunk at the same height from the ground.

Often, the distance between knots tells us how quickly the tree grew. The greater the distance between the knots, the faster the tree grew in height.

Clever chemical defence

The presence of a tree’s “defence chemicals”, known as polyphenols, can be seen clearly in some floorboards.

Polyphenols protect plants against stressors such as pathogens, drought and UV radiation.

The chemicals contribute to the red hue in some floorboards. Because polyphenols have a preservative effect, they can also make timber more durable.

Dark reddish or brown timbers containing a high concentration of polyphenols include mahogany, merbau, red gum, ironbark and conifers such as cedar and cypress.

In cases where a tree is burnt by fire, or attacked by insects or fungus, it produces a lot of polyphenols at the site of the damage.

In these cases, the presence of polyphenols in floorboards can be very obvious – sometimes appearing as a section that is dark brown verging on black.

Keeping your floorboards for longer

It’s widely known that living trees store carbon, and that this helps limit climate change. It’s less well known that timber floorboards also store carbon. And as long as that timber is preserved – and not destroyed by fire, decay or wood rot – that carbon will stay there.

If floorboards have to be removed, try to make sure the timber is reused or repurposed into other products.

And if you are installing a new polished timber floor, or already have one, there are steps you can take to make it last for a long time.

Softwood boards will benefit from a hard surface coating, especially in high-use areas.

Reducing the exposure of the floor to bright sunlight can preserve the colour of the floorboards and prolong the life of the coating and the timber itself.

Large knots in floorboards can twist and start to protrude from the surface. To ensure the floor remains even and safe, and to prevent the board from splitting, secure the knot to a floor joist with a nail or glue.

And take the time to understand the lessons embedded in your floorboards. They have much to teach us about biology and history, if we take the time to read them.

Gregory Moore 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 secret stories of trees are written in the knots and swirls of your floorboards. An expert explains how to read them – https://theconversation.com/the-secret-stories-of-trees-are-written-in-the-knots-and-swirls-of-your-floorboards-an-expert-explains-how-to-read-them-250776

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

The Albanese government remains in complicated territory on the international stage. It has to tread carefully with China, despite the marked warming of the bilateral relationship. It is yet to find its line and length with the unpredictable Trump administration.

Meanwhile, with the new parliament meeting for the first time next week, the federal Opposition remains in a tough spot, still reeling from a brutal election defeat. The Liberals have an untested leader and uncertainty over what policies they will keep and which they will scrap, with their future commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 yet to be reconfirmed.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has personally navigated the highs and lows of these issues, and joins the podcast today.

On AUKUS and national security, Turnbull says the debate has “never been dumber”.

The fundamental problem with our debate about national security is a profound lack of patriotism, because not enough people are putting Australia first. I mean I’m not saying that our politicians should be like Donald Trump, in terms of his bravado and braggadocio – you know all that sort of stuff he goes on with – but they should be like Trump in the sense of putting Australia first.

You know Donald Trump expects other countries to stand for themselves. Who is the foreign leader that is an ally that he respects the most? [Israel’s Prime Minister] Bibi Netanyahu. Bibi Netanyahu stands up for himself and brutally. And brutally. I mean, Netanyahu’s attitude is, if you’re in the Middle East, if you’re weak, you’re roadkill.

On defence spending, Turnbull calls a proper review on what Australia needs, rather then spending a certain percent on defence.

We’ve got to have a proper examination of what capabilities we need, and what capabilities we can afford. The point about submarines is, if you’re going have a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines – they’re literally the most expensive defence platforms in the world – then you’ve got to work out what else you need and then what that’s going to cost you. That will come to quite a lot more than [the current] 2% of GDP, I would estimate.

Turnbull also warns of a “reckless” degree of “delusion” in Canberra about the risk of not getting nuclear-powered submarines from the US.

On global affairs, Turnbull says the Albanese government has performed well in a time of uncertainty.

It’s complicated, but they’re managing this disrupted global environment well. The directions they’re going in are correct. The need plainly is to strengthen partnerships, alliances, relations with countries other than the United States.

[…] There’s a degree of anxiety about China because we don’t share the same political values. It clearly wants to displace the United States as the hegemon in this region […] I think the government and certainly most Australians would recognise that the days of American primacy in this region are over and the outcome for us that we want to have is, as [a former Japanese prime minister] Shinzo Abe used to say, a free and open Indo-Pacific, a balance between the two powers. Indeed as [Foreign Minister] Penny Wong said, a region where no one dominates, nobody is dominated.

On Albanese’s failure to meet yet with the US president, Turnbull says it doesn’t matter “a huge amount”.

It is very important for the prime minister of Australia to have a good personal relationship with Donald Trump. It really is. When I was prime minister, my relationship with him got off to a very stormy start, but it was a very good one, because by standing up to his bullying, I won his respect.

[…] When he does meet with Trump, it’s got to be in a situation where he can have an extended discussion, where it’s a substantive meeting and they can really get to know each other. So I think it’s not just the timing of the meeting, but the quality of the meeting.

On the Liberal Party, Turnbull is pessimistic about its chances of moderating its views, even with Sussan Ley, generally regarded as centrist, as leader,

[Ley’s] problem, even if she was centrist, and even if was genuine about moving the party back to the centre, I would question whether she can do it. Because there are not many moderates left in the party room in Canberra. How many moderates are left in the branches anymore? Has there been a sort of self-sorting now? Essentially the party […] has moved off into that right wing.

[…] The leader has a lot of authority. However, there is the right wing of the party and you cannot separate it from the right-wing media. From the Murdoch media in particular, they’re joined at the hip. I mean, they’re almost the same thing. They operate in the context of the Liberal Party almost like terrorists. Or like terrorists in this sense: they don’t kill people or blow things up, but they basically are prepared to burn the joint down if they don’t get what they want. I mean, I experienced that.

Despite reservations, Turnbull says quotas for women are the only way to the Liberal party to where it wants to be.

Everything else has been tried and it’s failed […] My view is that the party has got to say, well, we recognise this is contrary to grassroots tradition. But unless we do something fairly draconian and directive, then we’re not going to be able to get to the parity of men and women that we want, that we’ve said we wanted for years, and which the electorate clearly prefers.

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. Politics with Michelle Grattan: Malcolm Turnbull on Australia’s ‘dumb’ defence debate – https://theconversation.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-malcolm-turnbull-on-australias-dumb-defence-debate-261178

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ali Mamouri, Research Fellow, Middle East Studies, Deakin University

Conflict in Syria has escalated with Israel launching bombing raids against its northern neighbour.

It follows months of fluctuating tensions in southern Syria between the Druze minority and forces aligned with the new government in Damascus. Clashes erupted in the last few days, prompting Israeli airstrikes in defence of the Druze by targeting government bases, tanks, and heavy weaponry.

Israel Minister Amichai Chikli has called the Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa –

a terrorist, a barbaric murderer who should be eliminated without delay.

Despite the incendiary language, a ceasefire has been reached, halting the fighting – for now.

Syrian forces have begun withdrawing heavy military equipment from the region, while Druze fighters have agreed to suspend armed resistance, allowing government troops to regain control of the main Druze city of Suwayda.

What do the Druze want?

The Druze are a small religious minority estimated at over one million people, primarily concentrated in the mountainous regions of Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and Jordan.

In Syria, their population is estimated at around 700,000 (of around 23 million total Syrian population), with the majority residing in the southern As-Suwayda Governorate – or province – which serves as their traditional stronghold.

Since the 2011 uprising against the Assad regime, the Druze have maintained a degree of autonomy, successfully defending their territory from various threats, including ISIS and other jihadist groups.

Following Assad’s fall late last year, the Druze — along with other minority groups such as the Kurds in the east and Alawites in the west — have called for the country to be federalized.

They advocate for a decentralised model that would grant greater autonomy to regional communities.

However, the transitional government in Damascus is pushing for a centralised state and seeking to reassert full control over the entire Syrian territory. This fundamental disagreement has led to periodic clashes between Druze forces and government-aligned troops.

Despite the temporary ceasefire, tensions remain high. Given the core political dispute remains unresolved, many expect renewed conflict to erupt in the near future.

Why is Israel involved?

The ousting of the Assad regime created a strategic opening for Israel to expand its influence in southern Syria. Israel’s involvement is driven by two primary concerns:

1. Securing its northern border

Israel views the power vacuum in Syria’s south as a potential threat, particularly the risk of anti-Israeli militias establishing a foothold near its northern border.

During the recent clashes, the Israeli military declared

The Israeli Defence Forces will not allow a military threat to exist in southern Syria and will act against it.

Likewise, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has stated he will not allow Syrian forces south of Damascus:

We are acting to prevent the Syrian regime from harming them [the Druze] and to ensure the demilitarisation of the area adjacent to our border with Syria.

In line with these warnings, the Israeli Air Force has conducted extensive strikes against Syrian military infrastructure, targeting bases, aircraft, tanks, and heavy weaponry.

These operations are intended to prevent any future buildup of military capacity that could be used against Israel from the Syrian side of the border.

2. Supporting a federated Syria

Israel is backing the two prominent allied minorities in Syria — the Kurds in the northeast and the Druze in the south — in their push for a federal governance model.

A fragmented Syria, divided along ethnic and religious lines, is seen by some Israeli policymakers as a way to maintain Israeli domination in the region.

This vision is part of what some Israeli officials have referred to as a “New Middle East” — one where regional stability and normalisation emerge through reshaped borders and alliances.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar recently echoed this strategy, stating:

A single Syrian state with effective control and sovereignty over all its territory is unrealistic.

For Israel, the logical path forward is autonomy for the various minorities in Syria within a federal structure.

The United States’ role?

According to unconfirmed reports, Washington has privately urged Israel to scale back its military strikes on Syria in order to prevent further escalation and preserve regional stability.

The US is promoting increased support for Syria’s new regime in an effort to help it reassert control and stabilise the country.

There are also indications the US and its allies are encouraging the Syrian government to move toward normalisation with Israel. Reports suggest Tel Aviv has held talks with the new Sharaa-led regime about the possibility of Syria joining the Abraham Accords (diplomatic agreements between Israel and several Arab states), which the regime in Damascus appears open to.

US Special Envoy Tom Barrack has described the recent clashes as “worrisome”, calling for de-escalation and emphasising the need for

a peaceful, inclusive outcome for all stakeholders – including the Druze, Bedouin tribes, the Syrian government, and Israeli forces.

Given the deep-rooted political divisions, competing regional agendas, and unresolved demands from minority groups, the unrest in southern Syria is unlikely to end soon.

Despite another temporary ceasefire, underlying tensions remain. Further clashes are not only possible but highly probable.

Ali Mamouri 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. Why is Israel bombing Syria? – https://theconversation.com/why-is-israel-bombing-syria-261259

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mathieu Duval, Adjunct Senior Researcher at Griffith University and La Trobe University, and Ramón y Cajal (Senior) Research Fellow, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH)

Fossils are invaluable archives of the past. They preserve details about living things from a few thousand to hundreds of millions of years ago.

Studying fossils can help us understand the evolution of species over time, and glimpse snapshots of past environments and climates. Fossils can also reveal the diets or migration patterns of long-gone species – including our own ancestors.

But when living things turn to rock, discerning those details is no easy feat. One common technique for studying fossils is micro-computerised tomography or micro-CT. It’s been used to find the earliest evidence of bone cancer in humans, to study brain imprints and inner ears in early hominins, and to study the teeth of the oldest human modern remains outside Africa, among many other examples.

However, our new study, published today in Radiocarbon, shows that despite being widely regarded as non-destructive, micro-CT may actually affect fossil preservation and erase some crucial information held inside.

Preserving precious specimens

Fossils are rare and fragile by nature. Scientists are constantly evaluating how to balance their impact on fossils with the need to study them.

When palaeontologists and palaeoanthropologists (who work on human fossils) analyse fossils, they want to minimise any potential damage. We want to preserve fossils for future generations as much as possible – and technology can be a huge help here.

Micro-CT works like the medical CT scans doctors use to peek inside the human body. However, it does so at a much smaller scale and at a greater resolution.

This is perfect for studying small objects such as fossils. With micro-CT, scientists can take high-resolution 3D images and access the inner structure of fossils without the need to cut them open.

These scans also allow for virtual copies of the fossils, which other scientists can then access from anywhere in the world. This significantly reduces the risk of damage, since the scanned fossils can safely remain in a museum collection, for example.

Micro-CT is popular and routinely used. The scientific community widely regards it as “non-destructive” because it doesn’t cause any visual damage – but it could still affect the fossil.

How does micro-CT imaging work?

Micro-CT scanning uses X-rays and computer software to produce high-resolution images and reconstruct the fossil specimens in detail. Typically, palaeontologists use commercial scanners for this, but more advanced investigations may use powerful X-ray beams generated at a synchrotron.

The X-rays go through the specimen and are captured by a detector on the other end. This allows for a very fine-grained understanding of the matter they’ve passed through – especially density, which then provides clues about the shape of the internal structures, the composition of the tissues, or any contamination.

The scan produces a succession of 2D images from all angles. Computer software is then used to “clean up” these high-resolution images and assemble them into a 3D shape – a virtual copy of the fossil and its inner structures.

But X-rays are not harmless

X-rays are a type of ionising radiation. This means they have a high level of energy and can break electrons away from atoms (this is called ionisation).

In living tissue, ionising radiation can damage cells and DNA, although the level of damage will depend on the duration and intensity of exposure. X-rays and CT scans used in medicine generally have a very low risk since the exposure of the human body is reduced as much as possible.

However, despite what we know about the impact of X-rays on living cells, the potential impact of X-rays on fossils through micro-CT imaging has never been deeply investigated.

What did our study find?

Using standard settings on a typical micro-CT scanner, we scanned several modern and fossil bones and teeth from animals. We also measured their collagen content before and after scanning.

Collagen is useful for many analytical purposes, such as finding out the age of the fossils using radiocarbon dating, or for stable isotope analysis – a method used to infer the diet of the extinct species, for example. The collagen content in fossils is usually much lower than in modern specimens because it slowly breaks down over time.

After comparing our measurements with unscanned samples taken from the same specimens, we found two things.

First, the radiocarbon age remained unchanged. In other words, micro-CT scanning doesn’t affect radiocarbon dating. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that we did observe a significant decrease in the amount of collagen present. In other words, the micro-CT scanned samples had about 35% less collagen than the samples before scanning.

This shows micro-CT imaging has a non-negligible impact on fossils that contain collagen traces. While this was to be expected, the impact hasn’t been experimentally confirmed before.

It’s possible some fossil samples won’t have enough collagen left after micro-CT scanning. This would make them unsuitable for a range of analytical techniques, including radiocarbon dating.

What now?

In a previous study, we showed micro-CT can artificially “age” fossils later dated with a method called electron spin resonance. It’s commonly used to date fossils older than 50,000 years – beyond what the radiocarbon method can discern.

This previous study and our new work show that micro-CT scanning may significantly and irreversibly change the fossil and the information it holds.

Despite causing no visible damage to the fossil, we argue that in this context the technique should no longer be regarded as non-destructive.

Micro-CT imaging is highly valuable in palaeontology and palaeoanthropology, no doubt about that. But our results suggest it should be used sparingly to minimise how much fossils are exposed to X-rays. There are guidelines scientists can use to minimise damage. Freely sharing data to avoid repeated scans of the same specimen will be helpful, too.

Mathieu Duval receives funding from the Spanish State Research Agency (Agencia Estatal de Investigación). He is currently the recipient of a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC2018-025221-I) funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ‘‘ESF Investing in your future”. This work is also part of Spanish Grant PID2021-123092NB-C22 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, UE, and by ‘‘ERDF A way of making Europe”.

Laura Martín-Francés receives funding from Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions of the EU Ninth programme (2021-2027) under the HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01-Project: 101060482.

– ref. Scientists could be accidentally damaging fossils with a method we thought was safe – https://theconversation.com/scientists-could-be-accidentally-damaging-fossils-with-a-method-we-thought-was-safe-258827

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Riboldi, Lecturer in Social Impact and Social Change, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney

Political lobby group Advance has been back in the headlines this week. It was revealed an organisation headed by the husband of the Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, donated A$50,000 to the group.

The news prompted outcry, though Segal denied any personal involvement.

So what is Advance and what does it do?

What is Advance?

Advance (originally Advance Australia) is a digital campaigning organisation. It was formed in 2018 by a group of wealthy Australians, many with connections to the Liberal Party. The idea was to be a conservative counterpoint to progressive digital campaigning group GetUp!

At the time, political journalist Mungo McCallum described them as a “stratospherically elite clique of rich, bored men looking for a hobby.” He suggested they would have little, if any, impact.

Today the group has more than 330,000 members.

They also successfully led the “No” campaign in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament Referendum in 2023.

McCallum’s initial dismissal of Advance appears somewhat premature.

What does Advance want?

Advance’s stated aim is to “take the fight to the activists and elites” to “secure Australia’s freedom, security and prosperity”. They campaign against progressive taxation, immigration, the transition to renewable energy and even Welcome to Country ceremonies.

This positions Advance alongside other right-wing populist actors, including Donald Trump, in the modern “war on woke”. This comparison was welcomed by founding Advance director, major donor and hedge fund manager Simon Fenwick.

Read more:
Follow the money: the organisations that spent the most on social media during the election

These actors, which in Australia also include the Murdoch Press, construct elitism not along class lines, but along an urban/rural divide. In its view, Advance’s billionaire funders are apparently not elites. Instead, they attempt to foster divisions between urban “elites” and regional and suburban “mainstream Australians”.

Like the Trumpian model of “flood(ing) the zone with shit”, Advance has been accused of pursuing these aims by “unleashing a veritable fire hose of disinformation”. The hose is often aimed at progressive political candidates, climate change, immigrants or the Voice referendum.

Who runs and funds Advance?

Advance’s longtime Executive Director and “main man” is the somewhat enigmatic Matthew Sheahan. Their current spokesperson is Sandra Bourke, who has a background in law enforcement and national security. In 2024, Bourke claimed Advance was “the biggest grassroots movement in Australian political history”.

While Advance is structurally independent of any political party, a variety of Liberal Party figures have been closely connected to the organisation, including former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Early prominent members (and funders) of Advance included storage king Sam Kennard, far-right president of the Australian Jewish Association David Adler, and climate denier Maurice Newman.

Founding Director Simon Fenwick has donated at least $400,000 to the organisation through his family trust since its inception.

In 2023–24, Advance received a $500,000 donation from the Cormack Foundation, an investment fund created by the Liberal Party of Victoria.

The organisation reported income of more than $15.5 million in the same period. It claims their average donation received from supporters is $160.

What impact has Advance had?

The 2023 Voice Referendum “made” Advance (and arguably Matthew Sheahan) via their management of two prominent No campaigns.

Prior to this, Advance’s campaigning was arguably more nuisance than anything else.

Advance’s No campaign featured significant amounts of dis- and misinformation across multiple media channels, including phone banking (cold calling voters). The campaign was characterised by contradictory micro campaigns that sowed the confusion that fed the slogan of “if you don’t know, vote No”.

The Advance-led No campaigns also strongly embraced racism against leading First Nations voices. This included suggestions that media commentator Stan Grant had artificially darkened his skin, questioning the “blackness” of Victorian Senator Lidia Thorpe, and utilising “Jim Crow” style advertising against leading Yes campaigner Thomas Mayo.

The Jim Crow era of American history refers to a time in the late 19th and early-mid 20th centuries where laws enforced racial segregation and discrimination.

One of the key spokespeople for Advance’s No campaign was Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, a woman with Aboriginal and Anglo-Celtic heritage. She’s a former Advance staffer and current Liberal Party Senator and made the comments about Lidia Thorpe.

Why is Advance important?

Following their role in the Voice campaign, Advance have arguably “eclipsed” their inspiration and progressive rivals GetUp! as Australia’s leading digital campaigning organisation. Glen Berman, current GetUp! chair, has even admitted “there were things that GetUp! could learn” from Advance.

Advance appeared influential over Liberal Party strategy ahead of the 2025 federal election campaign. During the campaign, it was the highest spending third party group (non-party, non-candidate) on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) advertising. This saw it emerge as the conservative third party “opposition” to the Australian union movement.

However, following the Australian Labor Party’s landslide victory, Advance attempted to distance themselves from the Coalition’s campaign. While they claim to have been focused on “destroying” the Greens, analysis suggests Advance’s campaign was equally focused on framing Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as “weak, woke and sending us broke”.

Senior Liberal Party figures, for their part, have also “cast doubt on the effectiveness of Advance”, saying it may have cost them seats.

Generally, scholars Marian Sawer and Kurt Sengul argue Advance, along with the Murdoch media, have engaged in the “populist mobilisation of resentment which is likely to exacerbate the kind of divisions seen in the Voice referendum” since 2018.

Part of a worldwide trend towards right-wing populism, Advance will likely continue to be at the centre of conservative politics in Australia.

Mark Riboldi 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. Right-wing political group Advance is in the headlines. What is it and what does it stand for? – https://theconversation.com/right-wing-political-group-advance-is-in-the-headlines-what-is-it-and-what-does-it-stand-for-261164

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Winton, Senior Research Fellow in Climatology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Antarctica’s patterns of stark seasonal changes, with months of darkness followed by a summer of 24-hour daylight, prompted us to explore how a Māori lunar and environmental calendar (Maramataka) might apply to the continent and help us recognise changes as the climate continues to warm.

Maramataka represent an ancient knowledge system using environmental signs (tohu) to impart knowledge about lunar and environmental connections. It traces the mauri (energy flow) between the land (whenua), the ocean (moana) and the sky and atmosphere (rangi), and how people connect to the natural world.

Maramataka are regionally specific. For example, in Manukau, the arrival of godwits from the Arctic indicates seasonal changes that align with the migration of eels moving up the local Puhinui stream.

During matiti muramura, the third summer phase that aligns with the summer solstice, the environment offers tohu that guide seasonal activity. The flowering of pohutukawa is a land sign (tohu o te whenua), the rising of Rehua (Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius) is an atmospheric sign (tohu o te rangi), and sea urchins (kina) are a sea sign (tohu o te moana).

When these signs align, it signals balance in nature and the right time to gather food. But if they are out of sync (such as early flowering or small kina), it means something in the environment (te taiao) is out of balance.

These tohu remind us how deeply land, sea and sky are connected, and why careful observation matters. When they’re out of sync, they call us to pause, observe and adapt in ways that restore natural balance and uphold the mauri of te taiao.

Tracking a Maramataka in Antarctica

One of the key tohu we observed in Antarctica was the mass arrival of Weddell seals outside New Zealand’s Scott Base at the height of summer.

Guided by Maramataka authorities, we explored other local tohu using Hautuu Waka, an ancient framework of weaving and wayfinding to navigate a changing environment. Originally used for navigating vast oceans, wayfinding in this context becomes a metaphor for navigating the complexities of today’s environmental and social challenges.

During the Antarctic summer, the Sun doesn’t set. But we documented the Moon when visible in the day sky and observed the Sun, clouds, mountains and various forms of snow and ice. This included glacial ice on the land, sea ice in the ocean and snowflakes in the sky.

While the tohu in Antarctica were vastly different from those observed in Aotearoa, the energy phases of the Maramataka Moon cycles aligned with traditional stories (pūrākau) describing snow and ice.

We identified some of the 12 different forms of snow recorded by ethnographers, who described them as the “offspring of wind and rain”.

At Scott Base, we observed feather-like snow (hukapuhi) and floating snow (hukarangaranga). Further inland on the high-elevation polar plateau, we found “unseen” snow (hukakoropuku), which is not always visible to the naked eye but felt on the skin, and dust-like snow (hukapunehunehu), akin to diamond dust. The latter phenomenon occurs when air temperatures are cold enough for water vapour to condense directly out of the atmosphere and form tiny ice crystals, which sparkle like diamonds.

In te ao Māori, snow has a genealogy (whakapapa) that connects it to wider systems of life and knowledge. Snow is part of a continuum that begins in Ranginui (the sky father) and moves through the god (atua) of weather Tāwhirimātea, who shapes the form and movement of clouds, winds, rain and snow. Each type of snow carries its own name, qualities and behaviour, reflecting its journey through the skies and land.

The existence of the specific terms (kupu) for different forms of snow and ice reflect generations of observation, passed down through whakapapa and oral histories (kōrero tuku iho).

Connecting Western science and mātauranga Māori

Our first observations of tohu in Antarctica mark the initial step towards intertwining the ancient knowledge system of mātauranga Māori with modern scientific exploration.

Observing snow through traditional practices provided insights into processes that cannot be fully understood through Western science methods alone. Mātauranga Māori recognises tohu through close sensory attention and relational awareness with the landscape.

Drawing on our field observations and past and present knowledge of environmental calendars found in mātauranga Māori and palaeo-climate data such as ice cores, we can begin to connect different knowledge systems in Antarctica.

For example, just as the Maramataka contains information about the environment over time, so do Antarctic ice cores. Every snowflake carries a chemical signature of the environment that, day by day, builds up a record of the past. By measuring the chemistry of Antarctic ice, we gain proxy information about environmental and seasonal cycles such as temperature, winds, sea ice and marine phytoplankton.

The middle of summer in an ice core record is marked by peak levels in chemical signals from marine phytoplankton that bloom in the Ross Sea when sea ice melts, temperatures are warmer and light and nutrients are available. This biogenic aerosol is a summer tohu identified as a key environmental time marker in the Maramataka of the onset of the breading season and surge in biological activity.

The knowledge of Maramataka has developed over millennia. Conceptualising this for Antarctica opens a way of using Māori methods and frameworks to glean new insights about the continent and ocean. Grounded in te ao Māori understanding that everything is connected, this approach invites us to see the polar environment not as a remote but a living system of interwoven tohu, rhythms and relationships.

Holly Winton receives funding from Royal Society Te Apārangi (Rutherford Discovery Fellowship and Marsden Fast-Start) and Victoria University of Wellington (Mātauranga Māori Research Fund). Logistics support for Antarctic fieldwork was provided by Antarctica New Zealand.

Ayla Hoeta receives funding from Victoria University of Wellington (Mātauranga Māori Research Fund). Logistics support for Antarctic fieldwork was provided by Antarctica New Zealand.

– ref. We travelled to Antarctica to see if a Māori lunar calendar might help track environmental change – https://theconversation.com/we-travelled-to-antarctica-to-see-if-a-maori-lunar-calendar-might-help-track-environmental-change-239583

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Churchill, ARC Senior Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Sociology, The University of Melbourne

We often hear young people need to get a job – any job – but what if the problem isn’t whether they’re working or not, but the kind of job they end up in?

New research in the Australian Journal of Social Issues shows many young people who are in roles where they’re not working to their full capacity are also in low-quality jobs.

Drawing on more than a decade of data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, my research examines young workers between the ages of 20 and 34 who were underemployed in one of three ways:

• they wanted more hours (time-related underemployment)

• they were underpaid for the work they did (wage-related underemployment)

• they weren’t using their skills in their current job (skills-related underemployment).

Job quality matters

Research shows poor jobs are linked to worse mental health, psychological distress and low job satisfaction.

In my research, I focused on three aspects of job quality – how demanding and complex the work is, how much control a worker has over their work and how secure they feel in their job. Underemployment affects all three.

When young people are underemployed, they also report having less control over their work and feeling less secure. They found these jobs were also less demanding and complex. They were boring.

This applied to both men and women.

Low wages and job security

Overall, young people earning less than they should also felt less secure in their jobs. But underpaid young women also reported significantly lower job control. So, they faced a double disadvantage.

Gender also mattered when it came to working fewer hours than they wanted.

While young women who were underemployed reported lower job security, men who wanted more hours didn’t feel any less secure than men with sufficient hours.

This suggests that for young women, working fewer hours isn’t just about lost income – it’s tied to a deeper sense of job insecurity.

These patterns applied whether or not someone was in a casual job. Young people in permanent roles could still be underemployed or in bad jobs. In other words, underemployment and poor job quality aren’t just a feature of casual or gig work.

It can be harder for women

While similar proportions of young men and women experienced underemployment related to time and skills, young women were more likely to experience wage-related underemployment.

For example, casual, lower-paid work often occurred in feminised sectors such as care and hospitality. These jobs are more likely to be overlooked and undervalued, even when they require significant skill.

These gendered patterns reflect the kinds of jobs young women are often funnelled into.

For young women, this can compound existing disadvantages over the course of their lives, especially when they’re in roles that are consistently undervalued.

Youth unemployment is only part of the problem

Politicians have long pushed the idea that young people should be “earning or learning”, to avoid the scourge of unemployment. But this thinking focuses too narrowly on youth unemployment and ignores a crucial question: are these jobs any good?

My research challenges that idea.

Underemployment is often hidden in plain sight. Someone might be working full-time, but still be underemployed. This is true if they’re underpaid, working below their qualification level, or not getting the hours they want.

To fix this, we need to pay greater attention to underemployment and to the quality of the jobs young people are doing. Too often, economists and policymakers are focused on the youth (un)employment rate, but that only tells half the story.

Brendan Churchill receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

– ref. Why it’s important young, unemployed Australians get a good job instead of just ‘any’ job – https://theconversation.com/why-its-important-young-unemployed-australians-get-a-good-job-instead-of-just-any-job-260817

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Rinehart, Nicole Rinehart, Professor, Clinical Psychology, Director of the Neurodevelopment Program, School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects how people’s brains develop and function, impacting behaviour, communication and socialising. It can also involve differences in the way you move and walk – known as your “gait”.

Having an “odd gait” is now listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a supporting diagnostic feature of autism.

What does this look like?

The most noticeable gait differences among autistic people are:

• toe-walking, walking on the balls of the feet
• in-toeing, walking with one or both feet turned inwards
• out-toeing, walking with one or both feet turned out.

Research has also identified more subtle differences. A study summarising 30 years of research among autistic people reports that gait is characterised by:

• walking more slowly
• taking wider steps
• spending longer in the “stance” phase, when the foot leaves the ground
• taking more time to complete each step.

Autistic people show much more personal variability in the length and speed of their strides, as well as their walking speed.

Gait differences also tend to occur alongside other motor differences, such as issues with balance, coordination, postural stability and handwriting. Autistic people may need support for these other motor skills.

What causes gait differences?

These are largely due to differences in brain development, specifically in areas known as the basal ganglia and cerebellum.

The basal ganglia are broadly responsible for sequencing movement including through shifting posture. It ensures your gait appears effortless, smooth and automatic.

The cerebellum then uses visual and proprioceptive information (to sense the body’s position and movement) to adjust and time movements to maintain postural stability. It ensures movement is controlled and coordinated.

Developmental differences in these brain regions relate to the way the areas look (their structure), how they work (their function and activation) and how they “speak” to other areas of the brain (their connections).

While some researchers have suggested that autistic gait occurs due to delayed development, we now know gait differences persist across the lifespan. Some differences actually become clearer with age.

In addition to brain-based differences, the autistic gait is also associated with factors such as the person’s broader motor, language and cognitive capabilities.

People with more complex support needs might have more pronounced gait or motor differences, together with language and cognitive difficulties.

Motor dysregulation might indicate sensory or cognitive overload and be a useful marker that the person might benefit from extra support or a break.

How is it managed?

Not all differences need to be treated. Instead, clinicians take an individualised and goals-based approach.

Some autistic people might have subtle gait differences that are observable during testing. But if these differences don’t impact a person’s ability to participate in everyday life, they don’t require support.

An autistic person is likely to benefit from support for gait differences if they have a functional impact on their daily life. This might include:

• increased risk of, or frequent, falls
• difficulty participating in the physical activities they enjoy
• physical consequences such as tightness of the Achilles and calf muscles, or associated pain in other areas, such as the feet or back.

Some children may also benefit from support for motor skill development. However this doesn’t have to occur in a clinic.

Given children spend a large portion of their time at school, programs that integrate opportunities for movement throughout the school day allow autistic children to develop motor skills outside of the clinic and alongside peers. We developed the Joy of Moving Program in Australia, for example, which gets students moving in the classroom.

Our community-based intervention studies show autistic children’s movement abilities can improve after engaging in community-based interventions, such as sports or dance.

Community-based support models empower autistic children to have agency in how they move, rather than seeing different ways of moving as a problem to be fixed.

Where to from here?

While we have learnt a lot about autistic gait at a broad level, researchers and clinicians are still seeking a better understanding of why and when individual variability occurs.

We’re also still determining how to best support individual movement styles, including among children as they develop.

However there is growing evidence that physical activity enhances social skills and behavioural regulation in preschool children with autism.

So it’s encouraging that states and territories are moving towards more community-based foundational supports for autistic children and their peers, as governments develop supports outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

The authors thank the late Emeritus Professor John Bradshaw for his early input into this piece.

Nicole Rinehart receives funding from: Moose Happy Kids Foundation, MECCA M-Power, the Grace & Emilio Foundation, Ferrero Australia, as part of the global Kinder Joy of moving program, Aspen Pharmacare Australia Pty Ltd, Jonathan and Simone Wenig, Adam Krongold, the Grosman Family Foundation, the Shoreline Foundation, the Victorian Department of Education, the NSW Department of Education, and the Department of Social Services – Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) Program, and has worked in partnership with the Australian Football League.

Chloe Emonson works on projects that receive funding from: Moose Happy Kids Foundation, MECCA M-Power, the Grace & Emilio Foundation, Ferrero Australia, as part of the global Kinder Joy of moving program, Aspen Pharmacare Australia Pty Ltd, Jonathan and Simone Wenig, Adam Krongold, the Grosman Family Foundation, the Shoreline Foundation, the Victorian Department of Education, the NSW Department of Education, and the Department of Social Services – Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) Program, and has worked in partnership with the Australian Football League.

Ebony Lindor works on projects that receive funding from: Moose Happy Kids Foundation, MECCA M-Power, the Grace & Emilio Foundation, Ferrero Australia, as part of the global Kinder Joy of moving program, Aspen Pharmacare Australia Pty Ltd, Jonathan and Simone Wenig, Adam Krongold, the Grosman Family Foundation, the Shoreline Foundation, the Victorian Department of Education, the NSW Department of Education, and the Department of Social Services – Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) Program, and has worked in partnership with the Australian Football League.

– ref. Why do some autistic people walk differently? – https://theconversation.com/why-do-some-autistic-people-walk-differently-231685

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alain Guillemain, PhD Candidate in Philosophy, Deakin University

Philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about reality, knowledge, and values. One “does philosophy” when they respond to such questions in ways that engage critical thought and inquiry.

Many of us will often respond philosophically to the world around us without even realising it. We may do this, for instance, when we reflect on various aspects of culture and the arts.

But does going to the cinema really amount to doing philosophy? While you may have never thought about it this way, this is exactly what one famous French philosopher named Gilles Deleuze (1925–95) argued.

Deleuze’s movement-image

Deleuze presents a philosophical approach to cinema that treats films not merely as entertainment, but as a medium for thinking and creating philosophical concepts.

This creation of philosophical concepts is what he and his collaborator, Felix Guattari, prize as “doing philosophy” in their 1991 book What is Philosophy?.

For Deleuze and Guattari, the creation of concepts is not entirely mental. It is an embodied process that involves engaging the senses – which is what cinema demands of both filmmakers and viewers. To that end, filmmakers and film viewers can both be seen as special kinds of philosophers.

Deleuze suggests cinema is not simply leisure or culture. In his 1983 book Cinema 1: The Movement-Image, he highlights how cinema is a philosophical practice made possible though “movement-images” – cinematic images which can actively shape our perception and experience of the world.

Great film directors can create concepts through movement-images, just as great philosophers do so through language.

Deleuze identified three categories of movement-images: perception-images, affection-images and action-images.

The perception-image frames the world from a particular point of view, usually to establish context for an action. For example, at the start of a scene, the camera might pan across the contents of a room before resting on the protagonist.

The affection-image is the cinematic expression of pure emotion. Affection-images can evoke empathy, such as when we see a character’s face overcome with sadness in a close-up. These images usually sit between perception and action images.

The action-image embodies action and reaction within a defined situation, and usually links perception and affection images. In the horror genre, this may be the “jump scare” that suddenly reveals a killer, after a long buildup of tension.

Deleuze’s time-image

In his 1985 book Cinema 2: The Time-Image, Deleuze extends his film philosophy from that of movement-images to include time-images.

The time-image is one where the experience of time is prioritised over narrative. For instance, a time-image may make use of long takes, empty spaces and irrational cuts to depict time directly onscreen, rather than represent time through props.

Through masterfully crafting movement-images and time-images, directors can (knowingly or unwittingly) create the opportunity for audiences to think about philosophical concepts and themes.

For example, in the trailer for Get Out (2017), director Jordan Peele uses a range of movement-images and time-images to convey the concepts of racism, trauma, social isolation and social stratification.

Multiple closeups of main character Chris Washington’s face looking alarmed produce affection-images (a type of movement-image) that engage the viewer’s emotions.

Peele also strategically uses time-images to intensify the themes being conveyed, such as when Rose’s mother clinks the spoon on the teacup, both moving Chris back in time and freezing him in real time.

For Deleuze, it is these embodied, affective experiences that are the fundamental conditions for thought. By allowing the film to be sensed and felt, and by transmuting these feelings into the domain of thought, the cinemagoer can become philosophically engaged.

Repetition is another element that can bear philosophical fruits, according to Deleuze. The more one repeats a film, whether by re-watching, or repeating certain sequences, the more they allow themselves to be affected by it in different ways. This opens up different avenues for thought.

How to engage philosophically with films

Cinemagoers need not be familiar with Deleuze’s ideas to engage philosophically with a film. The only thing required is an openness to the film. But if you do want to consciously approach your next viewing like a philosopher, you might consider the following steps:

1. Feel as you watch. Open yourself up and allow cinematic moments to affect you on an emotional and bodily level, even if this is unpleasant or uncomfortable.

2. Allow for multiple interpretations. Resist the temptation to fall into black and white thinking about which characters are “good” or “bad”. Remain open to different readings of the film.

3. Reflect on what you felt. Allow what you experienced in your body guide your thoughts afterwards. For instance, if you experienced shock, rage, or confusion, ask yourself why.

4. Gently arrive at some conclusions based on your multiple readings of the film. Allow for perspectives that both contribute to and challenge your worldview.

5. Consider watching the film again, and repeating the above steps. This will likely help you feel and think new things that further enhance your understanding of the film, and your worldview.

Ruari Elkington has received funding from The Queensland Government Dept of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI), Screen Queensland, The Embassy of France in Australia and Cinema Association Australasia

Alain Guillemain 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 to approach going to the cinema like a philosopher – https://theconversation.com/how-to-approach-going-to-the-cinema-like-a-philosopher-259277

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Allen, Demographer, POLIS Centre for Social Policy Research, Australian National University

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will roll out a large-scale census test next month.

About 60,000 households will take part across the country to stress test the bureau’s collection processes and IT systems, ahead of next year’s full scale census. The survey questions change little, if at all, between the dry run and the census proper.

The population count will offer Australians an opportunity to reflect on who we are and the stories we share.

It comes at a time when traditional censuses are coming under threat worldwide.

Dying days of census

Census plays a significant part of the story of humanity. Jesus was born in a stable because a census ordered by Caesar Augusta had brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem.

They have changed down the centuries. But some things remain the same: the data collected is crucial for taxation, political representation and socio-economic indicators.

But national head counts are costly and cause enormous headaches for governments.

In other countries, censuses are being killed off, replaced with information compiled by other means, such as administrative government data and population surveys. Think of the overseas versions of Medicare, Centrelink and the Tax Office.

National statistical offices in the United Kingdom and New Zealand have both flagged the end of traditional censuses

The UK Office of National Statistics had been preparing for census replacement since 2011, only backtracking after a public backlash.

Devastating under-enumeration of Maori New Zealanders in 2013 and 2018 meant administrative data was needed to supplement the 2023 NZ census. National data agency, Stats NZ, has now called it quits on traditional census altogether.

Funding cuts in Canada saw dual short- and long-form questionnaires which resulted in the partial collection of crucial socio-economic data akin to a sample survey. Statistics Canada now uses administrative and survey data to help meet its official statistics program.

Do we still need the census?

Replacing the census was floated a decade ago when dwindling government funding saw the Australian Bureau of Statistics struggling to “keep the lights on”.

Worried after 2016’s “censusfail”, the agency sought to ensure legislatively required data could be achieved even in the absence of a census. The bureau collected population and housing data using experimental administrative data, proving a national census isn’t necessarily needed for population estimates.

Costs associated with running a five-yearly head count and the decline in the social licence to collect such data are routinely used as justifications for replacing the census. Why conduct a wartime-like undertaking when you don’t have to?

The threat to the traditional census comes as no surprise to data scientists. Data is now ubiquitous, covering nearly every aspect of our lives – loyalty rewards, public transport cards and even frequent flyer points.

But there’s so much heavy lifting only a census can do and it’s crucial to helping Australia understand its diverse population.

More than just numbers

Data helps contextualise our lives.

Data made me feel less alone as a young person. I could see I wasn’t the only person doing it tough. Poverty wasn’t my fault, rather a wider structural problem politicians and policymakers failed to understand.

Being missed by the 1996 census as a homeless teen drives me to ensure Australia’s national census snapshot reflects the needs of the country.

Data holds powerful truths and has the capability to heal through information. Who we are, how and where we live, our commonalities and differences, and what might come next.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is finding increasingly creative ways to communicate and bring Australians along for the ride.

Its outreach through social media makes data more accessible and fun.

The paraphernalia promoting previous censuses make it clear how much the agency is invested in ensuring complete coverage of all people. A significant departure from the stuffy practices of national statistical offices overseas.

Small solar powered census-at-school calculators have been given to pupils to help increase awareness among linguistically diverse communities. This is recognition children complete the census questionnaire in some families.

Desks of cards gifted to homeless people sleeping rough attests to the bureau’s dedication to ensuring all people are counted, no matter where or how they live

More inclusive family photograph

But it hasn’t always been plain sailing for the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Last year’s unprecedented government interference in the independent conduct of the bureau resulted in proposed questions on sexuality and gender diversity being dumped from the 2026 census.

Scheduled testing was cancelled and related printed materials were likely pulped.

A public outcry forced a government back down with the sorry saga clearly demonstrating a myriad of critical data cannot be collected by other means.

The upcoming census family photograph will be more inclusive – Australians will have the opportunity to have their gender identity and sexual orientation reflected in the tally.

Family ancestry information will be broadened, and the questionnaire itself will better reflect Australian households overall.

The alternative to a census is a private, behind-closed-doors collation of personal information by government.

The good news is Australia’s census is alive and well and keeping up with the times.

Liz Allen worked as a graduate at the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2006. She receives funding from the Australian Research Council for work examining grandparenting in Australia. Liz is a member of the National Foundation of Australian Women Social Policy Committee.

– ref. Australia’s census is getting a stress test – keeping it going is good for everyone – https://theconversation.com/australias-census-is-getting-a-stress-test-keeping-it-going-is-good-for-everyone-261077

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide

Last week, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) released its safety review of seven active ingredients commonly used in sunscreens.

It found five were low-risk and appropriate for use in sunscreens at their current concentrations.

However, the TGA recommended tighter restrictions on two ingredients – homosalate and oxybenzone – to reduce how much can be used in a product. This is based on uncertainty about their potential effects on the endocrine system, which creates and releases hormones.

This news, together with recent reports some products may have inflated their claims of SPF coverage, might make Australians worried about whether their sunscreen products are working – and safe.

But it’s not time to abandon sunscreens. In Australia, all sunscreens must pass a strict approval process before going on the market. The TGA tests the safety and efficacy of all ingredients, and this recent review is part of the TGA’s continuing commitment to safety.

The greatest threat sunscreen poses to Australians’ health is not using it.

Australia has the highest incidence of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer worldwide, and approximately 95% of melanoma cases in Australia are linked to ultraviolet (UV) exposure.

Still, it’s understandable people want to know what’s in their products, and any changes that might affect them. So let’s take a closer look at the safety review and what it found.

What are the active ingredients in sunscreen?

There are two main types of sunscreen: physical and chemical. This is based on the different active ingredients they use.

An active ingredient is a chemical component in a product that has an effect on the body – basically, what makes the product “work”.

In sunscreens, this is the compound that absorbs UV rays from the Sun. The other ingredients – for example, those that give the sunscreen its smell or help the skin absorb it – are “inactive”.

Physical sunscreens typically use minerals, such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, that can absorb the Sun’s rays but also reflect some of them.

Chemical sunscreens use a variety of chemical ingredients to absorb or scatter UV light, both long wave (UVA) or short wave (UVB).

The seven active ingredients in this review are in chemical sunscreens.

Why did the TGA do the review?

Our current limits for the concentrations of these chemicals in sunscreen are generally consistent with other regulatory agencies, such as the European Union and the US Food and Drug Administration.

However, safety is an evolving subject. The TGA periodically reexamines the safety of all therapeutic goods.

Last year, the TGA revised its method of estimating sunscreen exposure to more closely model how skin is exposed to sunscreens over time.

This model considers how much sunscreen someone typically applies, how much skin they cover (whole body versus face and hands, or just face) and how it’s absorbed through the skin.

Given this new model – along with changes in the EU and US approaches to sunscreen regulation – the TGA selected seven common sunscreen ingredients to investigate in depth.

Determining what’s safe

When evaluating whether chemicals are safe for human use, testing will often consider studies in animals – especially when there is no or limited data on humans. These animal tests are done by the manufacturers, not the TGA.

To take into account any unforeseen sensitivity humans may have to these chemicals, a “margin of safety” is built in. This is typically a concentration 50–100 times lower than the dose at which no negative effect was seen in animals.

The sunscreen review used a margin of safety 100 times lower than this dose as the safety threshold.

For most of the seven investigated sunscreen chemicals, the TGA found the margin of safety was above 100.

This means they’re considered safe and low-risk for long-term use.

However, two ingredients, homosalate and oxybenzone, were found to be below 100. This was based on the highest estimated sunscreen exposure, applied to the body at the maximum permitted concentration: 15% for homosalate, 10% for oxybenzone.

At lower concentrations, other uses – such as just the hands and face – could be considered low-risk for both ingredients.

What are the health concerns?

Homosalate and oxybenzone have low acute oral toxicity – meaning you would need to swallow a lot of it to experience toxic effects, nearly half a kilogram of these chemicals – and don’t cause irritation to eyes or skin.

There is inconclusive evidence about oxybenzone potentially causing cancer in rats and mice – but only at concentrations to which humans will never be exposed via sunscreens.

The key issue is whether the two ingredients affect the endocrine system.

While effects have been seen at high concentrations in animal studies, it is not clear whether these translate to humans exposed to sunscreen levels.

No effect has been seen in clinical studies on fertility, hormones, weight gain and, in pregnant women, fetal development.

The TGA is being very cautious here, using a very wide margin of safety under worst-case scenarios.

What are the recommendations?

The TGA recommends the allowed concentration of homosalate and oxybenzone be reduced.

But exactly how much it will be lowered is complicated, depending on whether the product is intended for adults or children, specifically for face, or the whole body, and so on.

However, some sunscreens would need to be reformulated or warning labels placed on particular formulations. The exact changes will be decided after public consultation. Submissions close on August 12.

What about benzophenone?

There is also some evidence benzophenone – a chemical produced when sunscreen that contains octocrylene degrades – may cause cancer at high concentrations.

This is based on studies in which mice and rats were fed benzophenone well above the concentration in sunscreens.

Octocrylene degrades slowly over time to benzophenone. Heat makes it degrade faster, especially at temperatures above 40°C.

The TGA has recommended restricting benzophenone to 0.0383% in sunscreens to ensure it remains safe during the product’s shelf life.

The Cancer Council advises storing sunscreens below 30°C.

The bottom line

The proposed restrictions are very conservative, based on worst-case scenarios.

But even in worst-case scenarios, the margin of safety for these ingredients is still below the level at which any negative effect was seen in animals.

The threat of cancer from sun exposure is far more serious than any potential negative effect from sunscreens.

If you do wish to avoid these chemicals before new limits are imposed, several sunscreens are available that provide high levels of protection with little or no homosalate and oxybenzone. For more information, consult product labels.

Ian Musgrave has received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council to study adverse reactions to herbal medicines and has previously been funded by the Australian Research Council to study potential natural product treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. He is currently a member of one of the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s statutory councils.

– ref. How safe are the chemicals in sunscreen? A pharmacology expert explains – https://theconversation.com/how-safe-are-the-chemicals-in-sunscreen-a-pharmacology-expert-explains-260802

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alyson Stobo-Wilson, Research Adjunct in Conservation Ecology, Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University

In remote central Arnhem Land, finding a northern brushtail possum is encouraging for the local Indigenous rangers. Though once common, such small native mammals are now rare. Many are threatened with extinction.

Over the past 30 years, small mammals have been disappearing from Australia’s tropical savannas. This landscape is among the nation’s most remote and seemingly untouched. But it is no longer safe from feral animals, overgrazing livestock, poor fire management and other threats.

Despite growing awareness of the problem, a lack of consensus on the most effective management actions has hindered efforts to reverse these losses. Our new research sought to overcome this hurdle and finally reach consensus on the best way forward.

We achieved this by working with experts from various land management groups and research institutes, including Traditional Owners and Indigenous rangers within the region.

Building on 15 years of targeted research

In 2010, the scale and severity of mammal declines in northern Australia became clear. Research in Kakadu National Park found the number of native mammal species at survey sites had halved, and the number of individual animals dropped by more than two-thirds.

This prompted a major review of the causes, and more research.

Advances in technology played a crucial role in efforts to gather further evidence. Motion-activated cameras known as camera traps enabled monitoring over vast areas.

Extensive surveys using camera traps provided data on the distribution and abundance of small mammals and feral cats. Meanwhile, collar-mounted GPS units and video cameras provided new information about feral cat behaviour.

What we did and what we found

Our new research concerns the higher-rainfall tropical savannas of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. This area covers 950,000 square kilometres from the Kimberley in the west to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the east.

First we reviewed the literature on the topic of small mammal declines in the region. We found more than 100 relevant studies had been published since 2010.

From these research papers, we identified 11 plausible threats to small mammals. Then we asked 19 experts to score and rank each threat according to severity and scale, and whether the threat could be effectively mitigated.

We found the most severe and widespread threat to small mammals was feral cats. But broad-scale cat control is not very effective.

Ranked second was the habitat destruction caused by livestock (buffalo, horses, donkeys and cattle) and by inappropriate patterns of fire.

Actions aimed at reducing feral livestock numbers and improving fire regimes would increase vital resources such as food and shelter. Such actions can also make it harder for cats to prey on small mammals.

Future threats and research priorities

Habitat loss from land clearing for urban, agricultural or industrial development currently affects only a small proportion of northwestern Australia. But proposed expansions — particularly for cotton and other intensive agriculture — are concerning. These developments overlap with high-rainfall areas in the Top End, where small mammal communities are still relatively intact.

Our expert group also expressed deep concern and uncertainty about the future as the climate changes. Rising temperatures and more intense rainfall events are expected to increase the frequency, extent and severity of fires. However, managing feral livestock and improving fire regimes can make the ecosystem more resilient to change.

Developing more effective tools to directly control feral cats remains a top research priority. It’s estimated cats kill around 452 million native mammals a year in Australia. About a third of these deaths occur in the tropical savannas. So while improved land management will alleviate some pressure, certain species will remain highly vulnerable unless cats can be better managed.

Support Indigenous leadership on Country

Globally, Indigenous stewardship is closely linked to improved biodiversity outcomes.

In Australia, the historic disruption of Indigenous customary responsibilities — especially fire management — has contributed to the loss of small mammals.

Fortunately, Indigenous ranger programs and Indigenous Protected Areas have expanded in recent years. Increasingly widespread recognition and application of Indigenous knowledge has deepened and broadened our understanding of mammal declines.

In northern Australia, Indigenous ranger groups are global leaders in fire management. They monitor and manage some of the most remote and inaccessible parts of the continent. The land management actions needed to conserve our small mammals rely in large part on the continued support and funding of these groups.

Unfortunately, these programs are under threat. The NT government recently cut A$12 million from its Indigenous ranger funding program.

While the federal government has committed funding to expand ranger programs nationally, ranger groups say the investment falls short of what’s needed. Mimal Land Management Aboriginal Corporation chief executive officer Dominic Nicholls told us:

Given the scale at which Indigenous ranger groups operate – and the critical role they play in protecting Australia’s biodiversity and leading innovation in the carbon industry – the level of allocated funding is insufficient to meet the basic delivery costs of these programs.

A clear path forward

Our research shows reducing feral livestock numbers and improving fire regimes in northern Australia currently offers the greatest benefit to small mammal populations — especially in the absence of effective cat controls.

But success will depend on sustained, long-term support for Indigenous rangers, who carry out much of this work. Investing in these programs is not just essential for conserving biodiversity — it also supports cultural connection, community wellbeing and climate resilience.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Traditional Knowledge offered by participants from Mimal Land Management Aboriginal Corporation and Warddeken Land Management Limited as part of this research.

This research was funded by CSIRO. The research benefited from the involvement of researchers and land managers from CSIRO, Charles Darwin University, Warddeken Land Management Limited, Australian National University, Mimal Land Management Aboriginal Corporation, Australian Wildlife Conservancy, the WA and NT governments, Kangaroo Island Landscape Board, Ground Up: Planning and Ecology Support, Dunkeld Pastoral Co Pty Ltd and Desert Support Services.

John Woinarski has previously received funding from the Australian government’s National Environment Science Program. He is affiliated with Charles Darwin University, a member of the Biodiversity Council and a director of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.

– ref. Control fire and ferals in Australia’s tropical savannas to bring the small mammals back – https://theconversation.com/control-fire-and-ferals-in-australias-tropical-savannas-to-bring-the-small-mammals-back-260813

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Dale, Research Fellow, the Pensions and Intergenerational Equity (PIE) research hub, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

Changes to KiwiSaver, global economic uncertainty and predictions house prices could drop by as much as 20% by 2030 all mean retirement is looking very different to how it once did.

A retirement strategy based on the equity held in a house is no longer as reliable as it has been in the past. Home ownership in Aotearoa New Zealand fell from 75% in 1991 to 60% in 2023 and is projected to fall to 48% in 2048.

The average age of a first-home buyer has also risen to 36, meaning an increasing number of New Zealanders (13%) are paying off their mortgages after they reach retirement age.

The number of retirees renting is also on the rise. By 2048, 40% of them will rent, placing pressure on New Zealand’s housing stock.

KiwiSaver is unlikely to replace the traditional housing nest egg. New Zealanders have, on average, NZ$37,079 in their KiwiSaver accounts, with thousands of people reaching close to retirement age with less than $10,000 saved.

Investing at the price peak

The prospect of retirement looks bleakest for those currently aged between 35 and 49 years old. A recent report from credit agency Centrix found this group was struggling the most financially.

A big part of the problem is that house prices skyrocketed just as they became first-time home buyers. The average asking price for residential property rose by 60.3% over the past decade, from $556,931 at the beginning of 2015 to $892,579 at the end of 2024.

While incomes have also increased, they have not matched housing prices. In 2000, houses cost about five times the median household income. But by 2025, the median price had risen to 7.5 times the median household income.

Those who bought their first home around the peak in 2021 are likely to be hit hardest by the forecast drop in house values. According to data insight firm Cotality (formerly Corelogic), nominal prices are expected to pass their 2021 peak by mid-2029. But when adjusted for inflation, prices in mid-2030 would be a fifth below the peak.

Working into retirement

Older New Zealanders are also facing significant housing pressures.

According to a 2022 report from Treasury, over half of superannuitants still paying off mortgages spent more than 80% of their superannuation income on housing costs. Those who are mortgage-free are spending less than 20% of their super on housing.

Between 2019 and 2024, the percentage of overdue mortgages for the 50+ age groups ranged between 2% and 2.5%, compared to a range of 1% to 1.5% for all mortgages.

People between the age of 55 and 64 are likely to have purchased their homes in the late 1990s and early 2000s, so are less likely to be hurt by the 2021 peak and subsequent trough.

Despite this apparent advantage, only 38% of people between 55 and 64 are mortgage free.

KiwiSaver issues

The possibility of using accumulated KiwiSaver funds to clear a mortgage is also diminishing. As a result of the 2025 Budget changes to KiwiSaver, employee and employer contributions will rise from April 2026 to 3.5% and from April 2028 to 4%, offsetting the reduced annual government contribution.

The end of employer contributions matters particularly to the 24% of those aged over 65 years who are still in the workforce. A rule change in 2021 means employers are not required to make contributions or to deduct employee contributions, unless the employee continues to make KiwiSaver contributions.

But current global crises are affecting KiwiSaver returns. Uncertain and volatile markets, especially for actively managed funds, mean fund managers reallocate money to try to minimise losses. Not all their bets pay off.

By 2030, Stats NZ projects that approximately 265,000 people aged 65 and over will be in the workforce.

The Office for Seniors notes that although older workers have challenges finding and staying in paid work, a third of the workforce is aged over 50 and 50% of people aged 60 to 69 are employed.

Importantly, as the Retirement Commission research found, a third of people over 65 were not working by choice. An increasing number, who neither own their home nor have significant retirement savings, have to continue working past 65 because they need the money to eat and pay the bills.

As New Zealand’s population ages, and more seniors have to work to pay for the essentials, it’s clear retirement is going to look different. Betting on the value of a house to fund life after 65 is less certain than it used to be. More than ever, New Zealanders need to consider how they will live well in their later years.

Claire Dale 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. As house prices drop, will the retirement nest egg still be such a safe bet? – https://theconversation.com/as-house-prices-drop-will-the-retirement-nest-egg-still-be-such-a-safe-bet-259380

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shannon Brincat, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the Sunshine Coast

We’re just a few months into US president Donald Trump’s second term but his rule has already been repeatedly compared to tyranny.

This may all feel very new to Americans, and to the rest of us watching on from around the world. But the threat of tyranny is an ancient one.

We can learn much from how people in ancient Greece and China dealt with this issue.

Where does tyranny come from?

The peoples of classical Greece were separated into city-states known as the polis.

A few of these, such as Athens and Argos, were democratic.

Others, such as Rhodes or Chios, had had democratic features such as civic participation in public life.

These city-states routinely faced external enemies but also the threat of tyrannical take-over from within.

Things came to a head in 510 BCE under the rule of an oppressive tyrant known as Hippias. He was ultimately expelled, leading eventually to the establishment of democracy through reforms made under an Athenian statesmen called Cleisthenes.

According to Plato, tyranny is the most degenerate political regime and emerges out of democracy’s excesses.

He argued that as democratic citizens become accustomed to living by pleasure rather than reason or duty to the public good, society becomes fragmented.

Demagogues – populist leaders who gain power by appealing to base desires and prejudices of the masses – promise the people more liberties. They turn citizens away from virtue and toward tyranny.

Aristotle, who was Plato’s student, defines tyranny as the corrupted form of monarchy. The tyrant perverts the constitutional order to bring about self-serving rulership – the rule of one. Tyranny, he argued, destroys law and justice, eroding all public trust.

The approach of Plato and Aristotle to combating tyranny was closely tied to their conception of the polis and the importance of citizenship.

For the classical Greeks, citizenship was a binding relationship of reciprocal duties and obligations owed to all other citizens. The law, they believed, was king.

It was these conventions that constrained political power, especially the arbitrary rule of one.

Civic education by participation in daily democratic life promoted virtue, they believed. All citizens and the ruler were subservient to the law – a bond that tyranny destroyed.

Aristotle said a strong middle class that could best prevent tyranny because they indicated a less unequal, and therefore more stable, society.

Plato’s view was more inward looking. He saw tyranny as a political manifestation of a disordered “enslaved soul” governed by appetites rather than reason. For him, philosophical guidance back to harmony was required for the tyrant and for the people.

Only through wisdom, he argued, could the people recognise and reject demagogues and populists.

Protecting democracy from tyranny

Some city-states learned from their institutional failings when tyranny had taken them over.

For example, after a coup of aristocrats overtook Athenian democracy in 411 BCE, Athenians began to swear the Oath of Demophantos. This was among the first attempts at a constitutional safeguard of democracy against tyranny.

It legally and morally obliged citizens to resist any attempt to overthrow democracy by force. The undertaking was a reciprocal duty; as other scholars have argued, each citizen could count on the support of all others to protect the democracy when a tyrant tried again.

This made it far more likely for people to take action against a would-be-tyrant; they knew every other citizen had sworn an oath to have their back.

The Greek historians of the time support these views. For example, Herodotus in the 5th century documented the rise of several tyrants across Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). He blamed the political vacuum created by the decline of aristocratic rule. Here, the personal ambition and luxury of elites laid the path to tyrannical behaviour.

Another famous historian named Thucydides, writing at the same time, analysed the power and political corruption behind tyranny. He observed how times of crisis exposed vulnerabilities within Athens, leading to factionalism, instability, and the erosion of democracy.

Tyranny in classical China

In classical China we see a complementary, yet unique view of tyranny.

During the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), when the Zhou Dynasty was divided amongst several competing states, preventing tyranny was a central concern.

These states were mostly hereditary monarchies rather than democracies but they still emphasised accountability to the people.

Mencius, a 4th-century BCE Chinese philosopher and Confucian scholar, argued the people’s welfare was the foundation of legitimate rule.

There is, he argued, a responsibility to all under the Mandate of Heaven (天命, tiānmìng). This ancient Chinese doctrine asserted that heaven grants legitimacy to just rulers. If a ruler became despotic or failed to uphold harmony and virtue, the mandate can be withdrawn, justifying rebellion and dynastic change.

Mencius famously said a ruler who oppresses the people is not a ruler but a “mere man” who could be violently overthrown.

Xunzi, another Confucian philosopher writing in the late 4th to 3rd Centuries BCE, believed humans were inherently selfish and chaotic.

To fend off tyranny he emphasised ritual, education, and rule of law. He believed in formal ceremonies and structured practices such as court etiquette, family rites, and daily ethical conduct. These, he believed, helped cultivate virtue, regulate behaviour, and maintain social harmony.

Mozi, writing mostly in the 5th to early 4th centuries BCE, was a Chinese philosopher who opposed Confucianism and founded Mohism, offered a different view.

Opposing all hierarchies, he emphasised jiān ài(兼爱) – universal obligation or care to all others – as a core ethical and political principle.

According to Mozi, tyranny arises when rulers act selfishly – favoring their own families, states, or interests over the common good. He advocated for strong moral conduct and competence of leaders, rather than their lineage, wealth or status.

Tyranny today

Viewed together, these traditions suggest preventing tyranny requires more than just moral leadership.

Rather, it requires a notion of reciprocity – of shared obligations between citizens – and systemic safeguards against the personal ambitions of rulers.

Ethical governance, civic education, legal frameworks, and shared responsibilities are essential.

Shannon Brincat 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. Tyranny is an ever-present threat to civilisations. Here’s how Classical Greece and China dealt with it – https://theconversation.com/tyranny-is-an-ever-present-threat-to-civilisations-heres-how-classical-greece-and-china-dealt-with-it-259680

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University

A person in Arizona has died from the plague, local health officials reported on Friday.

This marks the first such death in this region in 18 years. But it’s a stark reminder that this historic disease, though rare nowadays, is not just a disease of the past.

So what actually is “plague”? And is it any cause for concern in Australia?

There are 3 types of ‘plague’

The word “plague” is often used to refer to any major disease epidemic or pandemic, or even to other undesirable events, such as a mouse plague. Naturally, the word can evoke fear.

But scientifically speaking, plague is a disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.

Plague has three main forms: bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic.

Bubonic is the most common and is named after “buboes”, which are the painful, swollen lymph nodes the infection causes. Other symptoms include fever, headache, chills and weakness.

Bubonic plague is typically spread by fleas living on animals such as rats, prairie dogs and marmots. If an infected flea moves from their animal host to bite a human, this can cause an infection.

People can also become infected through handling an animal infected with the disease.

Septicemic plague occurs if bubonic plague is left untreated, or it can occur directly if the disease enters the bloodstream. Septicemic plague causes bleeding into the organs. The name comes from septicemia, which refers to a serious blood infection.

The recent death in the United States was due to a case of pneumonic plague, which is the most severe form. Bubonic plague can in some cases spread to the lungs, where it becomes pneumonic plague. However, pneumonic plague can also spread from person to person via tiny respiratory droplets, in a similar way to COVID. Symptoms are similar to the other forms but also include severe pneumonia.

Some 30–60% of people who contract bubonic plague will die, while the fatality rate can be up to 100% for pneumonic plague if left untreated.

Plague: a potted history

This disease is one of the most important in history. The Plague of Justinian (541–750CE) killed tens of millions of people in the western Mediterranean, heavily impacting the expansion of the Byzantine Empire.

The medieval Black Death (1346–53) was also seismic, killing tens of millions of people and up to half of Europe’s population.

Spread by the growing trade networks of the British empire, the third and most recent plague pandemic spanned the years 1855 until roughly 1960, peaking in the early 1900s. It was responsible for 12 million deaths, primarily in India, and even reached Australia.

It’s believed the bubonic plague was largely behind these pandemics.

Plague in the modern day

First introduced into the US during the third pandemic, plague infects an average of seven people a year in the west of the country, due to being endemic in groundhog and prairie dog populations there. The last major outbreak was 100 years ago.

Deaths are very rare, with 14 deaths in the past 25 years in the US.

Globally, there have been a few thousand cases of plague over the past decade.

The countries with the most cases currently include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar and Peru, with cases also occurring in India, central Asia and the US. Cases usually occur in rural and agricultural areas.

Plague can be treated

Plague can easily be treated with common antibiotics, typically a course of 10–14 days, which can include both oral and intravenous antibiotics. But it must be treated quickly.

The recent death is concerning, as it involves the airborne pneumonic form of the disease, the only form that spreads easily from person to person. But there’s no evidence of further spread of the disease within the US at this stage.

As Y. pestis is not found in Australian animals, there is little risk here. Plague has not been reported in Australia in more than a century.

But plague, like many diseases, is influenced by environmental conditions. The risk of climate change causing an expansion in the habitat of animal hosts means public health experts around the world should continue to monitor it closely.

The plague, though often perceived as a disease of history, is still with us and can pose a major health threat if not treated early.

Thomas Jeffries 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. A person in the US has died from pneumonic plague. It’s not just a disease of history – https://theconversation.com/a-person-in-the-us-has-died-from-pneumonic-plague-its-not-just-a-disease-of-history-261088

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Wardle, Professor of Public Health, Southern Cross University

Australians have long been some of the highest users of herbal and nutritional supplements that claim to boost mood or ease depression. These include omega-3s (found in fish oil), St John’s wort, probiotics and vitamin D.

In fact, among Australians with depression, these supplements are more popular than prescription medicines.

But do they actually work? And how do they compare to other treatments? A new review has assessed the evidence from 209 studies – here’s what it found.

Do these supplements work?

The new study aimed to assess the international evidence available for common over-the-counter products for depression in adults aged 18–60.

Despite their widespread popularity and availability, the study found there is surprisingly little research on these therapies, compared with psychological therapies and prescription antidepressants.

Only a few products had a relatively large body of evidence suggesting they were effective at treating symptoms. These were omega-3 supplements, St John’s wort, saffron, probiotics and vitamin D.

However, most products had only a single trial examining their use.

The researchers noted there was promising evidence for some herbal and nutritional supplements, where multiple studies did exist. These included folic acid, zinc, Rhodiola, lavender and lemon balm. But there is not enough evidence yet to recommend them, so more studies would be needed.

What does other research say?

These findings appear to support previous research assessing supplements for depression.

In 2024, the Australian government’s review of natural therapies also found moderate evidence that several herbal medicines can relieve symptoms in mild to moderate depression. These include curcumin (from turmeric), saffron and St John’s wort.

It also found moderate evidence St John’s wort was as effective as conventional antidepressants.

However, the major caveat is that much of the existing evidence relates to mild to moderate depression.

Mild to moderate depression usually means few symptoms beyond the minimum required for diagnosis (such as loss of pleasure and depressed mood). Major depression involves five or more symptoms along with significant distress and impact on day-to-day function.

While some products were found to have some effect in major depressive disorders – probiotics, for example – there is little evidence to suggest they’re effective where a large number of symptoms exist.

Dose and quality varies

The dose and quality of over-the-counter products can also vary significantly, which can make it difficult to identify appropriate products or assess which ones work.

In the United Kingdom, official advice for health-care practitioners acknowledges there is evidence St John’s wort can help with less severe forms of depression. But it also advises caution in recommending it, given how much the dose, preparation and quality can vary between different herbal products.

In Australia, guidelines for psychiatrists treating mood disorders such as depression note that good evidence exists for using omega-3 fatty acids (fish oils). But they highlight that there only seems to be a benefit when the product has 60% or more eicosapentaenoic acid (one of the main types of omega-3).

Whether folate supplements are effective for depression can depend on their form, which active ingredient is used, and how well the body can absorb it.

There may be other nuances in other supplements that we need more research to understand.

Are there any risks or downsides?

The study also concluded these products present few safety issues, whether used alone or in combination with other treatments. This is the reason most remain available over the counter.

However, herbal medicines and dietary supplements also contain chemicals that can work like drugs and interact with other medications.

For example, the way St John’s wort works on neurotransmitters (the body’s chemical messengers) is similar to many prescription antidepressants.

So taking it alongside antidepressants can lead to serotonin syndrome, a condition which can lead to fever and seizures in extreme instances. In rare cases, you may experience similar side effects to taking antidepressants.

However, many of these treatments are not only safe but more effective when used together with conventional treatments for depression.

For instance, some studies suggest omega-3 supplements used in addition to standard antidepressant therapy resulted in the best outcomes. But more research is needed to explore this link.

How do they stack up against other therapies?

Pharmaceutical medications, such as antidepressants, and talk therapies remain the gold standard in Australian guidelines for mood disorders. They are the most studied interventions for these disorders, which means we have the most evidence for how well they work.

However, emerging evidence is developing for other therapies too.

Lifestyle interventions to improve diet and exercise have been shown to be as effective in addressing symptoms of depression as receiving psychological treatment alone.

Nutrients are the building blocks of many body processes, and some nutrient deficiencies themselves (such as iron and B12) can cause depressive symptoms. So their potential role of nutritional supplements is perhaps unsurprising.

However, research – including our own – increasingly demonstrates eating nutrient-rich foods (rather than taking supplements) can be enough to improve symptoms in mood disorders such as depression.

The Australian government’s review of natural therapies also found the evidence for non-pharmacological treatments, such as yoga, was more certain than for herbal medicines and nutritional supplements in treating depression.

It’s also important to note that depressive symptoms rarely present alone. They can be secondary to other underlying health conditions (such as hypothyroidism) or present with other conditions.

Investigating and addressing these potential root causes and improving general health is essential in managing symptoms.

What are the key takeaways?

Some herbal and nutritional supplements do appear to have a potentially beneficial effect for less severe forms of depression. But for many of these therapies there is still not enough evidence to offer definitive recommendations.

While the Therapeutic Goods Administration regulates the safety and quality of supplements, there is still variation in product quality, dose and how well the body can absorb it.

If you’re thinking of using herbal or nutritional supplements, it’s important to consult a health professional, such as a GP, naturopath or even a psychologist.

If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Jon Wardle is Foundation Director of the National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine and the Maurice Blackmore Chair of Naturopathic Medicine at Southern Cross University, which undertakes training and research in nutritional and herbal therapies. He has received funding from multiple foundations and agencies to conduct research on nutritional and herbal medicines, including the National Health and Medical Research Council and Medical Research Future Fund. He was part of the both the National Health and Medical Research Council Natural Therapies Working Committee and the Department of Health Natural Therapies Review Expert Advisory Panel which supported Professor Kidd in conducting the reviews mentioned in this article. However, this article represents his personal academic opinion and does not represent the opinions of either of these organisations.

Carrie Thomson-Casey is affiliated with both major psychology professional associations the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and the Australian Association of Psychologists Inc (AAPi). Carrie is also the past convenor and now treasurer of an APS interest group Psychology and Integrative Mental Health.

Carrie is an author of one of the papers Jon has cited.

Jessica Bayes has received funding from several organisations to conduct research exploring diet and mental wellbeing, in addition to research investigating nutritional supplements. Jessica has also authored some of the articles referenced here.

– ref. Supermarket treatments for depression don’t require a prescription. But do they work? – https://theconversation.com/supermarket-treatments-for-depression-dont-require-a-prescription-but-do-they-work-261010

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shannon Brincat, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the Sunshine Coast

We’re just a few months into US president Donald Trump’s second term but his rule has already been repeatedly compared to tyranny.

This may all feel very new to Americans, and to the rest of us watching on from around the world. But the threat of tyranny is an ancient one.

We can learn much from how people in ancient Greece and China dealt with this issue.

Where does tyranny come from?

The peoples of classical Greece were separated into city-states known as the polis.

A few of these, such as Athens and Argos, were democratic.

Others, such as Rhodes or Chios, had had democratic features such as civic participation in public life.

These city-states routinely faced external enemies but also the threat of tyrannical take-over from within.

Things came to a head in 510 BCE under the rule of an oppressive tyrant known as Hippias. He was ultimately expelled, leading eventually to the establishment of democracy through reforms made under an Athenian statesmen called Cleisthenes.

According to Plato, tyranny is the most degenerate political regime and emerges out of democracy’s excesses.

He argued that as democratic citizens become accustomed to living by pleasure rather than reason or duty to the public good, society becomes fragmented.

Demagogues – populist leaders who gain power by appealing to base desires and prejudices of the masses – promise the people more liberties. They turn citizens away from virtue and toward tyranny.

Aristotle, who was Plato’s student, defines tyranny as the corrupted form of monarchy. The tyrant perverts the constitutional order to bring about self-serving rulership – the rule of one. Tyranny, he argued, destroys law and justice, eroding all public trust.

The approach of Plato and Aristotle to combating tyranny was closely tied to their conception of the polis and the importance of citizenship.

For the classical Greeks, citizenship was a binding relationship of reciprocal duties and obligations owed to all other citizens. The law, they believed, was king.

It was these conventions that constrained political power, especially the arbitrary rule of one.

Civic education by participation in daily democratic life promoted virtue, they believed. All citizens and the ruler were subservient to the law – a bond that tyranny destroyed.

Aristotle said a strong middle class that could best prevent tyranny because they indicated a less unequal, and therefore more stable, society.

Plato’s view was more inward looking. He saw tyranny as a political manifestation of a disordered “enslaved soul” governed by appetites rather than reason. For him, philosophical guidance back to harmony was required for the tyrant and for the people.

Only through wisdom, he argued, could the people recognise and reject demagogues and populists.

Protecting democracy from tyranny

Some city-states learned from their institutional failings when tyranny had taken them over.

For example, after a coup of aristocrats overtook Athenian democracy in 411 BCE, Athenians began to swear the Oath of Demophantos. This was among the first attempts at a constitutional safeguard of democracy against tyranny.

It legally and morally obliged citizens to resist any attempt to overthrow democracy by force. The undertaking was a reciprocal duty; as other scholars have argued, each citizen could count on the support of all others to protect the democracy when a tyrant tried again.

This made it far more likely for people to take action against a would-be-tyrant; they knew every other citizen had sworn an oath to have their back.

The Greek historians of the time support these views. For example, Herodotus in the 5th century documented the rise of several tyrants across Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). He blamed the political vacuum created by the decline of aristocratic rule. Here, the personal ambition and luxury of elites laid the path to tyrannical behaviour.

Another famous historian named Thucydides, writing at the same time, analysed the power and political corruption behind tyranny. He observed how times of crisis exposed vulnerabilities within Athens, leading to factionalism, instability, and the erosion of democracy.

Tyranny in classical China

In classical China we see a complementary, yet unique view of tyranny.

During the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), when the Zhou Dynasty was divided amongst several competing states, preventing tyranny was a central concern.

These states were mostly hereditary monarchies rather than democracies but they still emphasised accountability to the people.

Mencius, a 4th-century BCE Chinese philosopher and Confucian scholar, argued the people’s welfare was the foundation of legitimate rule.

There is, he argued, a responsibility to all under the Mandate of Heaven (天命, tiānmìng). This ancient Chinese doctrine asserted that heaven grants legitimacy to just rulers. If a ruler became despotic or failed to uphold harmony and virtue, the mandate can be withdrawn, justifying rebellion and dynastic change.

Mencius famously said a ruler who oppresses the people is not a ruler but a “mere man” who could be violently overthrown.

Xunzi, another Confucian philosopher writing in the late 4th to 3rd Centuries BCE, believed humans were inherently selfish and chaotic.

To fend off tyranny he emphasised ritual, education, and rule of law. He believed in formal ceremonies and structured practices such as court etiquette, family rites, and daily ethical conduct. These, he believed, helped cultivate virtue, regulate behaviour, and maintain social harmony.

Mozi, writing mostly in the 5th to early 4th centuries BCE, was a Chinese philosopher who opposed Confucianism and founded Mohism, offered a different view.

Opposing all hierarchies, he emphasised jiān ài(兼爱) – universal obligation or care to all others – as a core ethical and political principle.

According to Mozi, tyranny arises when rulers act selfishly – favoring their own families, states, or interests over the common good. He advocated for strong moral conduct and competence of leaders, rather than their lineage, wealth or status.

Tyranny today

Viewed together, these traditions suggest preventing tyranny requires more than just moral leadership.

Rather, it requires a notion of reciprocity – of shared obligations between citizens – and systemic safeguards against the personal ambitions of rulers.

Ethical governance, civic education, legal frameworks, and shared responsibilities are essential.

Shannon Brincat 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. Tyranny is an ever-present threat to civilisations. Here’s how Ancient Greece and China dealt with it – https://theconversation.com/tyranny-is-an-ever-present-threat-to-civilisations-heres-how-ancient-greece-and-china-dealt-with-it-259680