Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Askerud, PhD candidate, University of Otago

One in four New Zealanders have more than two chronic conditions, including both physical and mental health issues.

The COVID pandemic has highlighted how difficult it can be for people with multiple pre-existing conditions to access health services and receive the most suitable care. For those living in poverty or challenging family and social circumstances, it can be even harder.

We have evaluated a new model designed to provide care for people with multiple chronic health and social needs.

Our findings show it was less effective than anticipated in reducing health inequities. But it nevertheless delivered useful lessons to incorporate into New Zealand’s current health reform process.

Primary care has been endorsed as the best place to support people with chronic conditions, many of whom are older. It focuses on patient-centred care to avoid hospitalisations and provides regular disease screening.

But since the pandemic, staffing issues have limited access to face-to-face primary care services and increased demand on emergency departments, which are not structured to provide care for those with complex health and social needs.

Client Led Integrated Care (CLIC) is a model of care specifically for people with multiple chronic conditions. It is based on the principles of the global chronic care model and was envisaged as a proactive programme based on best-practice guidelines.

One of its goals was to reduce health inequities, particularly for Māori, Pacific people, vulnerable older adults and those living in poverty. Another significant aim was to provide appropriate levels of care to reduce demand on hospitals.

Our assessment during the four years since the programme was implemented in general practices in the southern district of Aotearoa, from 2018 to 2022, shows it has not been effective in reducing health inequities.

Read more:
Living with complex illness and surviving to tell about it: Anna Spargo-Ryan’s chronic optimism

What’s wrong with current care for chronic conditions?

CLIC and similar chronic conditions programmes developed over the past 20 years focus on trying to teach people how to change lifestyle factors which may have contributed to their illness.

CLIC is based on an annual one-on-one holistic assessment. Patients are prioritised depending on their likelihood of requiring hospitalisation. Support focuses on changing negative lifestyles and managing medications. The programme also aims to encourage regular engagement with health professionals to meet goals from mutually developed care plans.

Although this sounds good, the prioritisation process does not identify those with the greatest ability to benefit from change. Neither does it address the needs which may matter the most, such as not having enough money for healthy food or to regularly attend a general practice.

There is little or no consideration of the personal resources required for people to achieve their health goals and minimal understanding of the lack of funding in primary care to address poverty and associated issues.

Better outcomes for people with complex needs

The reason CLIC has not worked uniformly is because people’s ability to manage their health is complex. Social determinants of health – including income and job security, education, housing and food insecurity, social inclusion and non-discrimination – influence outcomes.

These determinants can either be protective or confer risk. Social factors that put people at higher risk are complex and involve power dynamics, such as the long-term impacts of colonisation and the influence of government policies that don’t consider social determinants.

Read more:
Disempowered, shut off and less able to afford healthy choices – how financial hardship is bad for our health

The ongoing health reforms must recognise the challenges of living with clinical complexity while also being negatively affected by these determinants. We need radical rethinking to provide more than standard models of care if Aotearoa is to improve health outcomes for a growing number of people.

Key changes include the removal of barriers such as patient fees for primary care services and providing alternatives to nine-to-five clinic consultations. Incorporating family, social and community connections to support people to improve their health and their social circumstances is also a valuable strategy.

New models of care for those with chronic conditions must consider social determinants and ensure health programmes work for both the people receiving them and those delivering them. Care must be provided across both primary and hospital facilities and be integrated with social services.

Most importantly, when developing (and appropriately funding) new models of care, it is vital to acknowledge people’s expertise in prioritising their own health. It is crucial such programmes consider individual life circumstances and people’s capability and access to resources (or the lack thereof) to manage their health.

The author would like to acknowledge the support of Fiona Doolan-Noble, Eileen McKinlay and Chrystal Jaye in writing this article.

Anna Askerud received PhD funding from WellSouth Primary Health Network, Southlink Education Trust and the HOPE Foundation through the University of Otago. She currently works as a senior lecturer at Otago Polytechnic Te Pūkenga School of Nursing.

– ref. Healthcare for New Zealanders with multiple chronic conditions needs ‘radical rethinking’ – here’s what should happen – https://theconversation.com/healthcare-for-new-zealanders-with-multiple-chronic-conditions-needs-radical-rethinking-heres-what-should-happen-193835

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney

The 2022 men’s FIFA World Cup, starting on Monday, promises to add to Qatar’s status as the Middle East’s sporting hub and a burgeoning global power in the business of sport.

The spectacular Aspire City regularly welcomes international teams and tournaments, while the 3-2-1 Olympic and Sport Museum features iconic artefacts from global sport.

Although Qatar is hardly renowned as a sports performer, it has brought the world of sport to its door. Indeed, sport – along with tourism – is expected to be a key part of Qatar’s economic future given its finite reserves of oil and gas.

Yet Qatar’s status as World Cup host has been highly controversial. Why is that so? And how have FIFA and Qatar manoeuvred to deflect criticism?

Bend it like FIFA

In 2010, Qatar was the surprise winner of a FIFA vote to stage the 2022 World Cup, a decision critics put down to nefarious influences beyond the bid itself.

It was difficult to reconcile how Qatar, with average daytime summer temperatures over 40℃, was an ideal environment for this tournament.

A few years later, in an unprecedented pivot, FIFA allowed Qatar to move the event to its winter, even though that would disrupt prestigious football schedules in the northern hemisphere.

So, despite some critics calling for the World Cup to be taken from Qatar, this spatially tiny Gulf country with an exceptionally rich economy from oil and gas, had defiantly retained the imprimatur of the FIFA family.

Renewed pressure

However, FIFA’s endorsement of Qatar was soon under renewed pressure, for two main reasons.

First, critics reasserted their dismay that the host nation is hostile to same-sex culture. In 2010, FIFA was well aware of Qatar’s position that homosexuality is an affront to Islam, but it also accepted that Qatar would not resile from its cultural norms.

In response, then FIFA president Sepp Blatter clumsily quipped that LGBTQI+ football fans might “refrain” from amorous activities while in Qatar.

Second, Qatar had allowed vulnerable foreign workers – who were central to building World Cup infrastructure – to be exploited, with employment and living conditions consistent with modern slavery.

While it’s difficult to procure precise figures, a February 2021 investigation by The Guardian estimated there were around 6,500 workplace fatalities in the decade after Qatar was awarded the World Cup. While not all were working specifically on tournament facilities, experts say most were employed on infrastructure developments that support the event.

FIFA was well aware that stadium construction would rely on the import of foreign labourers under the Middle East’s notorious “kafala system”, which empowers wealthy employers to oppress impoverished workers.

Human rights

The Western-led reticence towards Qatar being anointed World Cup host undoubtedly spurred an awakening of what has been described as “FIFA’s sensitivity to human rights”. Two developments stand out.

First, facing concerted pressure about human rights, the FIFA statutes were amended in 2013 to declare that discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation” is “strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion” from football.

However, World Cup hosts Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022) already held contracts to stage the event in accordance with their own laws and customs, which are hostile to homosexuality. FIFA, by choosing not to press the issue of sexual freedom with either scheduled host, was in effect delaying the application of the anti-discrimination measures embedded in its amended statute of 2013.

Indeed, for the 2026 World Cup, human rights were now a core element of the host city selection process, with candidates required to “develop detailed human rights plans”.

Second, facing concerted pressure from worker rights bodies, FIFA committed to upholding the conventions of the International Labour Organisation. FIFA’s inaugural 2017 Human Rights Policy therefore accorded with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Once again, though, this was a new position – bid agreements for Russia and Qatar were already signed.

FIFA could, if it chose, threaten to withdraw either host contract. But it had no appetite for logistical consequences or potential legal impacts. Instead, in the case of Qatar, FIFA comforted itself by advocating for reforms to the working conditions of foreign labourers.

Incremental improvements have indeed followed, notably a move away from the draconian kafala system.

However, according to a report by Equidem, a human rights and labour rights charity, the exploitation of migrant workers has continued, meaning that promised reforms have not been adequately implemented.

What’s more, Qatar has fiercely rejected claims by human rights bodies – along with FIFA – that it ought to compensate the families of foreign workers killed on World Cup infrastructure projects.

Extraordinary lengths

Qatar has gone to extraordinary lengths to stage the World Cup, spending an estimated US$100 billion on infrastructure. Daytime winter temperatures can often reach around 30℃, so all eight stadiums (seven of which are new) will be air-conditioned to at least 24℃.

To move patrons around venues, the Doha Metro railway has been created, supplemented by a new bus transit system.

Eleven luxury hotels opened just prior to the World Cup, with the volume of rooms across Qatar tripling over the past decade. Yet this will be insufficient to house the near three million fans who are slated to travel to Doha.

Adding to the mix are cruise ships and mini “floating hotels”, as well as tiny porta cabins and tents in the fan village.

Qatar claims the World Cup will be carbon neutral courtesy of renewable energies and carbon offsets, such as the ten-fold growth of green spaces around Doha, including over one million new trees.

Some climate experts have questioned the robustness of such claims.

But the deployment of recycled shipping containers in stadium construction, as well as the planned donation of temporary seating in several arenas, speak to Qatar’s rising commitment to sustainability.

Temporarily adjusting local norms

Qatar, though staging a global event, is doing so through a local prism. It’s the first Muslim country to host the World Cup, and therefore brings its own world view to FIFA’s showpiece.

Two issues are likely to test both the hosts and football fans.

First, the World Cup has long been associated with the demonstrative consumption of copious amounts of alcohol. Although alcohol is available in Qatar, drinking in public is against the law.

This position has been modified for the World Cup: alcohol will be sold in stadium compounds, but not during games. Fans will have to quench their thirst in a time frame of three hours before kick-off, and one hour after kick-off.

Meanwhile, though, Qatar’s 40,000 capacity Fan Zone allows the sale of alcohol from 6:30pm to 1:00am, so watching evening games on a big screen while chugging a beer is feasible. But those who drink too much risk being temporarily housed in “sobering tents”.

Second, Qatar has tried to assure football fans of any sexual orientation they will be safe and welcome, though with the caveat that public displays of affection – of any kind – are generally “frowned upon” locally.

As with alcohol, it now appears Qatar will temporarily accommodate different standards. According to a report by a Dutch news site, which said it had seen documents shared between tournament organisers and Qatari police, people from the LGBTQI+ community who “show affection in public will not be reprimanded, detained, or prosecuted. They may carry rainbow flags. Same-sex couples can share a hotel room”.

The world has come to Qatar and, for a time at least, it’s adjusting its local norms. A more enduring World Cup legacy has been incremental reforms to the treatment of foreign workers, though an absence of an effective remedy for the families of deceased workers continues to raise a bloody red card upon Qatar.

Daryl Adair 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 the Qatar FIFA World Cup so controversial? – https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-qatar-fifa-world-cup-so-controversial-192627

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Gibbs, Adjunct Professor, Queensland University of Technology

On Monday, residents of Eugowra in New South Wales had to flee for their lives. They had only minutes to get to higher ground – or their rooftops – to escape what’s been dubbed an “inland tsunami” of water. This week, many other towns across western NSW faced renewed floods. For many people affected, the real shock is how unexpected it was – and how fast the water came. Their houses and land had never flooded, as far as they knew. What had changed?

This is an important question with a number of answers. When we make these assessments, we’re drawing on two sources: local knowledge and, increasingly, what flood maps tell us.

While tremendously useful, local knowledge has limits. Human memory is fallible and written records do not stretch back far. Flood maps also have constraints. That’s because floods can differ greatly depending on where the rain falls, at what intensity, and over what period of time. We will also have to redraw flood maps more often, as climate change brings more extreme weather. As climate change progresses, the atmosphere can hold more water. This supercharges atmospheric rivers – huge torrents of water carried above our heads.

The result? You might think you’re safe if you drew on local knowledge and flood maps when choosing where to live. The reality is there always have been gaps in our knowledge, and homes built on floodplains once thought safe may not be any more.

This doesn’t mean we should ignore credible sources of information. But it does mean we have to remember every information source has some uncertainty.

What are the limits of our knowledge?

Local knowledge held by long-term residents, historical records and hearsay are tremendously useful sources.

But these only reach back a short way in terms of the history of flooding. Indigenous knowledge of flooding reaches back far further, with oral stories of the flooding of Port Phillip Bay and many other locations passed down over many generations.

Australia’s floodplains have periodically flooded for millennia, renewing ecosystems.

What’s new are the towns and cities built along their banks. Early European settlers were often taken by surprise by the size of the floods, and a number of rescues were undertaken by Indigenous peoples.

In our time, communities are increasingly turning to flood maps produced by local and state governments to take stock of their vulnerability. This is broadly a good thing, as these maps can drill down to which streets are more vulnerable.

But they aren’t perfect – and they’re mostly only updated every few years. Some councils are still relying on outdated maps.

Flood maps are generated from computer flood models and simulate how floods develop and spread. To do this, you need to consider a range of variables. How much rain falls? When? Where? For how long? Is the ground sodden already, or dry as a bone? What has changed in the catchment since the last flood modelling study that may alter the overland flows of water?

Read more:
Like rivers in the sky: the weather system bringing floods to Queensland will become more likely under climate change

Rain doesn’t fall evenly across catchment areas. Intense rain can carpet some areas and leave others all but untouched. In the devastating 2011 floods in South East Queensland, huge volumes of rain fell in the upper catchment of the Brisbane River, across foothills of the Great Dividing Range. Flash floods hit communities like Toowoomba and Grantham hard, while bayside Brisbane was experiencing light rain and sunshine – and had more time to prepare.

Many of this year’s floods, by contrast, have come from heavy rain falling on lower catchment areas, with repeated soaking priming the area for near-instant floods. That’s partly why cities like Forbes have been taken by surprise, with the worst floods in decades.

In short, every intense or extreme rainfall event is different – and that, in turn, means the resulting floods can differ dramatically.

What information should we rely on?

You can see the challenge for flood modellers. Which events do you model? You can’t model all of them, as it’s impractical to model all possible combinations of rainfall, location and so on. So you model the most likely combinations.

This is a major reason why major floods may not actually flood all of the houses in a designated flood zone in every flood, as it depends in part on where the rain is falling in the catchment.

In turn, this leads to confusion. People in affected communities may believe the flood models and warnings are wrong.

It’s been long understood this kind of information can be complicated and confusing for the people relying on it. Does the Annual Exceedance Probability mean the chance of a 1 in 100 year flood, or not? And if so, how can it flood twice in quick succession? There’s jargon galore.

When vital information is hard to understand, many people may give up and ignore the information. Others may make decisions based on their own interpretation or with social media.

It is hard to sift through complex information. We will need to continue to find ways to make clearer the likely risk for prospective home-owners as well as the danger from the more severe floods we can expect as the world warms.

For now, we need to stay as vigilant as possible on flood risk when choosing where to live. And we need to heed official warnings issued months ahead as seasonal outlooks as well as in the lead up to major rains. It hasn’t flooded here before? Unfortunately, it may be more accurate to say it hasn’t flooded here yet.

Read more:
Some councils still rely on outdated paper maps as supercharged storms make a mockery of flood planning

Mark Gibbs is a non-Executive Director of the Gold Coast Waterways Authority, the Morton Bay Foundation, and Reef Check Australia

– ref. As New South Wales reels, many are asking why it’s flooding in places where it’s never flooded before – https://theconversation.com/as-new-south-wales-reels-many-are-asking-why-its-flooding-in-places-where-its-never-flooded-before-190912

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hussein Dia, Professor of Future Urban Mobility, Swinburne University of Technology

If you’re shopping for an electric vehicle in Australia at the moment, your options are limited. Of more than 300 electric vehicle models on sale globally, only about 30 are available here.

What’s more, waiting lists for vehicles are long and the purchase cost is still higher than many consumers are willing to pay.

Australia might now have a federal government with stronger climate ambition than the last. But major new policies are still needed to accelerate the road transport transition.

There’s good news, however: Australian motorists have been promised more choice soon. So let’s take a look at the cars we might be driving in the next few years.

Why make the switch?

Transport is Australia’s third-largest – and fastest growing – source of greenhouse gas emissions. Cars are responsible for the greatest share of these emissions.

Most of Australia’s vehicle fleet uses polluting fossil fuels. A switch to electric vehicles, coupled with a transition to renewable energy, is vital if Australia is to meet its commitments to tackle climate change.

Electric vehicles are also cheaper to run than their traditional counterparts, and don’t rely on expensive imported fuel.

Despite all the benefits, electric vehicle uptake in Australia is still low. They accounted for just 3.39% of new vehicle sales (or 26,356 cars in total) to September this year, according to the Electric Vehicle Council of Australia.

It’s an increase on last year, but still well below other nations. In the UK, for example, 19% of new cars sold are electric.

The ACT buys the most electric vehicles (9.5% of new vehicles) followed by New South Wales (3.7%), Victoria (3.4%), Queensland (3.3%), Tasmania (3.3%), Western Australia (2.8%), South Australia (2.3%) and the Northern Territory (0.8%).

Read more:
A rapid shift to electric vehicles can save 24,000 lives and leave us $148bn better off over the next 2 decades

Which electric vehicles are we buying?

Almost 40% of new battery electric vehicle sales this year were Tesla Model 3 (8,647 sales) and 25% were Tesla Model Y (5,376 sales). Other top-selling models include the Hyundai Kona (897 sales), MG ZS EV (858 sales) and Polestar 2 (779 sales).

Less than 20% of vehicles sold had a purchase price below $65,000.

The Porsche Taycan, one of the most expensive electric vehicles on the market, was in 11th place with 401 sales. Its price ranges from $156,000 to more than $350,000, depending on the model grade.

Some buyers are yet to receive the cars they purchased. Supply shortages mean consumers can wait 11 months for their vehicle.

But despite the frequent delays, consumers keep placing orders. Hyundai recently offered 200 of its Ioniq 5 electric SUVs for sale online; they were snapped up within 15 minutes.

Price is a sticking point

Clearly, some Australians are willing to buy an electric vehicle despite the price tag. But the purchase cost remains a big concern for others.

In a recent survey, more than half of Australian respondents preferred electric vehicles over fossil fuel cars – but 67% said price was the main barrier preventing them from making the switch.

Only 13% were willing to spend between $45,000 and $54,999 on an electric car.

In another survey of around 1,000 Australians, about 72% said they would budget less than $40,000 for their next car purchase.

But few battery electric vehicles cost less than $55,000, and many cost more than twice this. Others are nearly 60% more expensive than their petrol-powered counterparts.

Choice coming soon

Carmakers have promised a suite of new battery electric vehicles will soon be available in Australia.

Two are expected to be the among the cheapest new battery electric vehicles available here: the Atto 3 by carmaker BYD and MG’s updated ZS compact SUV.

Both will be available for less than $50,000 including on-road costs. The MG model is the cheaper of the two, at $44,990 for the Excite variant.

Other models expected to arrive in the next two years include the Aiways U5 SUV, Fiat 500e, Kia Soul, Peugeot e-2008, Skoda Enyaq, Toyota bZ4x and Volkswagen ID series.

The Chinese LDV electric ute is already on sale in New Zealand and may be on Australian roads by the end of this year. It remains to be seen, however, if electric utes and vans will be embraced by Australia’s tradespeople.

What policy settings are needed?

Clearly, Australia needs more affordable mid- and low-end electric vehicles. But one key policy setting is holding us back: the lack of mandatory fuel efficiency standards for road transport vehicles.

Australia is the only country in the OECD without such a policy. The standards help drive demand for low-emissions vehicles – so electric vehicle manufacturers often prefer to sell into those markets.

Car importers also tend to promote top-end models first because they have higher profit margins.

Meanwhile globally, competition between manufacturers of cheaper battery electric vehicles is expected to intensifying. Multinational automakers in China have been gearing up. Their lineup of new models is already selling in international markets.

Heavy trucks are also ripe for electrification, and progress has been rapid in recent years. Broad deployment in Australian will accelerate emissions cuts and improve air quality.

The road ahead

Electric vehicles are not the total solution to cutting transport emissions. We also need strategies to change our travel behaviour, reduce the number of cars on the roads and improve walkability and access to public transport.

But electric vehicles are a crucial piece of the puzzle. To improve their uptake in Australia, policymakers can draw from a range of effective electric vehicle policies that can be adapted from other nations. They include investment in charging stations and providing financial incentives to buy and run electric vehicles.

Australians want to drive electric vehicles, and governments must respond. Without a variety of affordable electric vehicles, Australia’s dependence on fossil fuels will deepen, and reaching our emissions reduction goals will become harder.

Read more:
Four ways our cities can cut transport emissions in a hurry: avoid, shift, share and improve

Hussein Dia receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the iMOVE Cooperative Research Centre, Level Crossing Removal Authority, Transport for New South Wales, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, and Beam Mobility Holdings.

– ref. New electric cars for under $45,000? They’re finally coming to Australia – but the battle isn’t over – https://theconversation.com/new-electric-cars-for-under-45-000-theyre-finally-coming-to-australia-but-the-battle-isnt-over-191854

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aleryk Fricker, Lecturer, Indigenous Education, Deakin University

The federal government has recently released a draft plan to fix the teacher shortage.

The plan sets out ways to increase respect for the profession and ease teachers’ workloads. A key aspect of the plan also includes recruiting more First Nations teachers. This emphasis is welcome. But as it stands, the draft doesn’t include enough detail about how we achieve this.

Leer más:
Jason Clare has a draft plan to fix the teacher shortage. What needs to stay and what should change?

We need more First Nations teachers

First Nations teachers are under-represented in Australian schools. As of 2016 6.2% of Australian school students identified as First Nations, while just 2% of the teaching workforce identified as First Nations.

We know First Nations cultures are the oldest continuous cultures in the world. We also know culture is not innate. We are born into culture, not with it.

So First Nations peoples have the oldest teaching and learning techniques and knowledges in the world. This has the potential to benefit all students. Recruiting and retaining First Nations teachers is crucial to this becoming a reality.

What’s in the plan?

The plan includes a number of specific measures designed to recruit more First Nations people into teaching degrees and classrooms. This includes:

• A$10 million for a national campaign to increase respect for teachers, with a focus on First Nations teachers

• bursaries of up to $40,000 to study teaching, again with a focus on First Nations students

• a new national First Nations teachers’ strategy to apply from 2024. This will be co-designed by the federal government and First Nations education organisations

• as part of this, $14.1 million for teaching First Nations languages in schools. This will give potential First Nations teachers exposure to the classroom and potentially provide a pathway for more First Nations teachers.

More detail needed

But so far, there is limited detail about how these actions or measures will lead to increasing teacher numbers. We welcome the investment in First Nations languages in schools, but there are many barriers to growing a First Nations teacher workforce.

According to the 2022 Closing the Gap report, 63% of Indigenous Australians aged 20 to 24 had finished year 12. This compares with 88.5% of non-Indigenous Australians in that age group.

Research has identified Indigenous students doing teaching degrees at university then face racism, a lack of financial support, inflexible structures of university, limited access to technology, and isolation.

When First Nations teachers enter the profession, they often face overwhelming demands. It is not uncommon for First Nations teachers to be seen by non-Indigenous colleagues as the expert in everything Indigenous in a school.

So, if we are going to get more First Nations people teaching in schools, we first need to ensure they were successful as a school student. Then we need to help them find a pathway through teacher education at university and then ensure it is worth staying in the profession, once they make it into classrooms.

Decolonising classrooms

Another element missing from the plan is an agenda to decolonise classrooms. This requires teachers and schools to change their approaches to include First Nations contexts across all aspects of teaching and learning.

This means everything from what is taught to the way it is taught and the spaces they are taught in. This means including knowledge of First Nations cultures in the curriculum, using First Nations ways of teaching, Aboriginal flags and artworks on display, dedicated collections in school libraries, and spaces that allow for on-Country learning. It also needs to involve Elders and other community members in our schools.

Without these changes, schools themselves become barriers to First Nations teachers wanting to remain in the profession.

Two pathways into the profession

Broadly speaking there are two pathways for First Nations people into teaching – through teaching assistant jobs or through university.

In many remote and rural schools, there is a strong workforce of First Nations teacher assistants. Programs to help Indigenous teaching assistants into teaching degrees have suffered from funding cuts, although the Northern Territory government, has recently announced it will increase professional development opportunities for remote Aboriginal teacher education. This includes school-based traineeships, grants and mentoring.

Leer más:
‘Once students knew their identity, they excelled’: how to talk about excellence in Indigenous education

The federal government’s draft plan also touches on this – mentioning Queensland’s plan to build pathways for First Nations teacher assistants and classroom teachers, by talking to TAFEs and universities. There is also the commitment to a First Nations teachers’ strategy, and initiatives to build the cultural capabilities of the non-Indigenous teacher workforce.

This is a start, but it lacks detail and a sense of national cohesion.

And there is little detail about how First Nations school leavers – who mainly come from urban areas – can be encouraged to enter teaching degrees at university.

Bipartisanship is key

Lessons from past reviews highlight the merits of developing long-term, First Nations-led strategies and programs that provide real support for First Nations teachers.

They also note the importance of listening to, acting on and resourcing initiatives controlled by First Nations peoples. Consistency is vital for success. Bipartisanship is needed across education and Indigenous policy, so programs can be developed without the threat of funding being withdrawn if there is a change of government.

This is a crucial moment for Australia’s education system. The teacher shortage could lead to current and future generations missing out on the quality education they need.

We welcome the investment in First Nations teachers. But we also fear this won’t have the necessary impact unless there is system-wide reform and decolonisation that supports the recruitment, retention, and engagement of First Nations teachers – the oldest teachers in the world.

Las personas firmantes no son asalariadas, ni consultoras, ni poseen acciones, ni reciben financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y han declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado anteriormente.

– ref. The teacher shortage plan must do more to recruit and retain First Nations teachers – https://theconversation.com/the-teacher-shortage-plan-must-do-more-to-recruit-and-retain-first-nations-teachers-194526

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

In retrospect, there were various signposts pointing to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ice-breaking meeting with Anthony Albanese in Bali on Tuesday.

One of the more obscure, perhaps, was China’s ambassador to Canberra, Xiao Qian, seeking out Peter Dutton for a chat, which took place last week.

Why would the ambassador want a catch-up with the opposition leader, who in the former government had been one of the loudest voices warning of the danger posed by the increasingly assertive superpower?

One answer is that preparation for what has been dubbed Xi’s current broad “charm offensive” was comprehensive.

The meeting with Xi has been the showstopper of Albanese’s summit-season trip – including the East Asia and ASEAN-Australia summits, the G20 and APEC – from which he rerturns this weekend.

For the PM, having the bilateral relationship begin to stabilise and move to a more constructive footing, after China had relegated Australia to “the freezer” for years, culminates a very successful first six months on the world stage.

It will be all the more satisfying for Albanese personally, because December 22 marks the 50th anniversay of the Whitlam government establishing diplomatic relations with China. This was one of that government’s earliest acts, following Gough Whitlam’s ground-breaking visit to China as opposition leader and preceding a 1973 prime ministerial trip.

The new Australia-China rapport has to be seen in both multilateral and bilateral contexts.

China, for its own reasons, is lowering the temperature in its international relations. Its economic problems (fuelled by its COVID-zero policy) may be one factor driving this. Also Xi, now his leadership has been further strengthened by the recent 20th Party Congress, may feel he has more latitude to alter the tone of foreign policy.

Hence the very long meeting with Joe Biden, which the US president cast as positive, and Xi’s benign attitude to several other leaders in the past few days.

The change in stance towards Australia may partly be in the slipstream of this wider move.

Read more:
Word from The Hill: Albanese-Xi meeting is the first step on long march

Bilaterally, however, the defeat of the Morrison government has enabled and facilitated the recalibration of the relationship. If Scott Morrison were still PM, the fridge door would likely have remained shut for some time.

The Albanese government, from its first days, has handled adroitly the run-up to Tuesday’s meeting. It responded appropriately to China’s initial overtures for a rapprochement, sending positive signals while making it clear it would not give ground on substantive issues.

We now find ourselves in a somewhat paradoxical situation. While we look to better times with China, Australia’s defence preparations, which include a strategic review to report in March, are all about improving our preparedness (including our interoperability with the Americans) against a possible threat from that country.

Defence Minister Richard Marles, who was also acting prime minister this week, sought to square this circle when he addressed the Sydney Institute on Monday.

“A commitment to stabilising our relationship with China does not mean we won’t also maintain a clear-eyed focus on our security,” Marles said.

“The idea that Australia has to choose between diplomacy and defence – or as some critics would have it, between co-operation and confrontation – is a furphy, and a dangerous one at that.

“Speaking frankly about what we see in our region isn’t confrontation, it’s common sense. Improving our national security isn’t provocation, it’s prudence.”

On the threat side, Marles was blunt. “We must adapt to the world as it is, not as we would wish it to be. A world where post-Cold War optimism has been replaced by the reality of renewed major-power competition. A competition in which Australia is more relevant now than at any time in our history because its centre of gravity is in our region, the Indo-Pacific, where it is driving the biggest military build-up we have seen anywhere in the world over the last 70 years.

“The risk that this competition becomes confrontation, with all the destructive power of modern weapons, is a threat that we recognise and want to avoid.

“That’s why sober, responsible and clear-eyed statecraft has never been more important,” Marles said.

Read more:
The G20 may be a talk fest, but it’s a talk fest we need at a time of growing division

The Xi meeting was never expected to yield immediate “announceables”, whether the lifting of restrictions on $20 billion in Australian trade or the release of detained Australians, journalist Cheng Lei and writer Yang Hengjun.

There is some speculation an easing of the trade sanctions might begin around the anniversary of diplomatic recognition. Ambassador Xiao has been showing a keen interest in that milestone, talking to people with first-hand knowledge of Whitlam’s travel to Peking (now Beijing).

A cursory glance at history indicates it is important to put the Xi meeting into a longer-term, cautionary context. It was only in 2014-15, under the Abbott government, that Xi addressed the Australian parliament, and the two countries signed and celebrated their free trade agreement.

Then things went quickly downhill. During Malcolm Turnbull’s prime ministership, China was riled by Australia legislating against its actual and potential interference. In particular it was infuriated at the rejection of Huawei’s participation in the 5G network.

The climate (on both sides) grew colder under Morrison. China progressively ramped up trade restrictions. It was angered by the Australian government’s call for an inquiry into the origins of COVID, which began in Wuhan. Australian ministers could not get calls returned.

Now we have the defrost, with Xi declaring at the start of his talks with Albanese: “China-Australia relations had been at the forefront of China’s relations with developed countries for a long time, which is worth cherishing. In the past few years, China-Australia relations have encountered some difficulties, which we didn’t want to see.”

It is worth recalling that the ups and downs of recent years have come within Xi’s presidency. It is not as though there was regime change; rather, it has been changes of stance during one man’s leadership, prompted often by Australia’s push-back against China’s behaviour (or the perceived risk of it).

Relieved as we are to be out of the freezer, we have to remember circumstances can always see us returned there.

That’s where Canada is at present, following its reaction to China’s meddling and pressure. At the G20, Xi did not accord PM Justin Trudeau a bilateral meeting. After Trudeau grabbed him for a “pull aside” (as such brief encounters are termed) and the Canadian media were briefed on the discussion, Xi publicly upbraided Trudeau.

Read more:
Albanese-Xi meeting won’t resolve Australia’s grievances overnight. But it is a real step forward

As the bilateral relationship unfolds in coming days, Dutton should have the opposition maintain, as far as possible, a solid front with the government.

After his session with the ambassador, he tweeted: “We had a constructive meeting where we discussed security, trade and human rights issues. I will continue to engage in an open and honest dialogue in matters relating to the safety, security and prosperity of our region.”

It’s important that government and opposition present a united face to China.

Australia should take full advantage of the new rays of sunshine in the relationship. But Australians should, and probably do, understand that this is a relationship where clouds can quickly gather, brought about by both the actions of China and the reactions that an Australian government may consider (rightly or wrongly) to be necessary in the national interest.

Dennis Richardson, who has formerly headed the defence department and the foreign affairs department, captures the moment succinctly.

“We’ve reached the end of the first phase of the Albanese government’s efforts to improve Australia’s relationship with China. The substantive challenge of turning that into real outcomes in trade now begins. But whatever happens on that front, Australia and China’s strategic perspectives remain at odds.”

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

– ref. Grattan on Friday: A lot may be changing in China-Australia relations, but a lot is staying the same – https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-a-lot-may-be-changing-in-china-australia-relations-but-a-lot-is-staying-the-same-194817

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Simpson, Senior Lecturer, International Studies, University of South Australia

In one of the few positive developments to come out of Myanmar in recent times, the military junta announced on Thursday it would be releasing almost 6,000 prisoners in an amnesty to mark Myanmar’s National Day.

Included in the announcement were four foreign nationals being held in Myanmar’s jails: Australian academic Sean Turnell; former UK Ambassador to Myanmar and Myanmar resident Vicky Bowman; Japanese documentary filmmaker Toru Kubota; and US citizen Kyaw Htay Oo.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong reacted cautiously to the announcement, clearly waiting for further confirmation before celebrating the news.

Turnell had been in jail for more than 21 months, and in September had been sentenced to three years in jail for violating the country’s official secrets act. He was a close adviser to former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whom the military deposed in a February 2021 coup.

At the time of Turnell’s sentencing, Suu Kyi had been sentenced to a total of 23 years in jail. It appeared likely that, with the 77-year old Suu Kyi removed from any role in the military’s next election charade, Turnell would be released soon afterwards. Suu Kyi has since been sentenced to a further three years’ detention.

However, the most likely prod towards the amnesty that included the foreign nationals was the politics surrounding the ASEAN-led round of summits over the previous weeks.

The ASEAN leaders statement was suitably bland, due to the need for consensus among all member states. But it did call for “concrete, practical and measurable indicators with a specific timeline” to achieve the five-point peace plan it has developed to tackle the country’s political crisis.

However, the important messaging came from ASEAN powerhouse Indonesia, outside of the formal channels.

The week before the summit, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi stated in no uncertain terms that the military junta was solely responsible for the failing peace process.

On the sidelines of the summit, Indonesian President Joko Widodo then proposed broadening the ban on political representatives at ASEAN events, arguing “we must not allow the situation in Myanmar to define ASEAN”.

The Indonesian proposal drew support from Malaysia and Singapore, but pushback from the more authoritarian member countries Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

This division in the organisation means statements and actions are necessarily limited in their scope.

Nevertheless, the unusually strong statements from Indonesia, in addition to the persistence of the empty Myanmar chair at these events, will be causing concern within the junta.

Myanmar’s military – and other militaries in the region such as Thailand’s – can normally count on ASEAN eventually falling into line whenever they supplant elected governments with military regimes.

The fact that this time, 21 months after the coup, powerful ASEAN members seem to be digging in their heels in vehement hostility towards the military may have led the junta to reassess its situation.

As with previous military juntas in Myanmar, the current regime’s playbook is chequered with amnesties that are deployed strategically to ease diplomatic and domestic pressure, and it appears that is what has happened here.

While we should be extremely thankful that some political prisoners are being released from Myanmar’s jails, we should also recognise they should never have been there in the first place.

As a friend and colleague of Sean Turnell and Vicky Bowman, I will be relieved to see them return to safety.

However, there will remain thousands of other political prisoners in Myanmar’s jails even after this amnesty, not including those who have already been tortured to death.

Read more:
As killings, beatings and disappearances escalate, what’s the end game in Myanmar?

The international community’s focus understandably remains on Ukraine, but we need stronger action from our political leaders on Myanmar.

An inexpensive and relatively risk-free diplomatic manoeuvre would be to formally intervene to support the Gambia in the Rohingya genocide case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice.

While 23 mostly-Western countries have intervened to support Ukraine’s genocide case against Russia, not a single country has intervened to support the case against Myanmar. Low hanging fruit indeed.

Adam Simpson 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. Relief as Australian Sean Turnell to be released from prison in Myanmar, but more needs to be done – https://theconversation.com/relief-as-australian-sean-turnell-to-be-released-from-prison-in-myanmar-but-more-needs-to-be-done-194814

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Veen, Senior Lecturer and DECRA Fellow, University of Sydney

Deliveroo’s decision to quit the Australian market, after what have been boom times for food delivery platforms, may seem surprising. But the writing has been on the wall for some time.

The British-based platform – one of the first to start operating in Australia – announced yesterday it was going into voluntary administration.

It cited “challenging economic conditions” and an inability to achieve “a sustainable position of leadership in the market” as key reasons for its decision.

Creditors must now await decisions by the appointed administrator, KordaMentha, about how much of the money they are owed will be paid.

Crucially, those potentially out of pocket include up to 15,000 couriers who worked for the platform as independent contractors.

They are not officially employees, so they are not covered by the federal government’s Fair Entitlement Guarantee, which ensures workers left in the lurch by an employer declaring insolvency can receive some of their unpaid wages, annual leave and other entitlements.

Read more:
Guilt, shame, dissatisfaction: workers and customers on the gig economy (and how to make it better)

Challenging economic conditions

Globally, Deliveroo has been exiting countries where it is not in a “sustainable position of leadership” — that is, effectively being one of the two largest players in the food delivery market.

It has already shut its operations in Germany (2019), Spain (2021), and the Netherlands (2022).

Deliveroo’s Australian operations were also considered a drag on the UK company’s stock price. Despite being among the first app-based food delivery platforms in Australia, beginning in 2015, it has not been in a market leading position since 2016-17.

It sought to differentiate itself as a niche player, working only with “high-quality” restaurants while promising quick deliveries to consumer. In Australia, though, this model struggled against competitors delivering from a greater variety of restaurants with more couriers making deliveries.

Cutthroat market dynamics

Deliveroo’s exit highlights the cutthroat market dynamics of the on-demand gig economy.

COVID-19 restrictions were a heyday for it and its fellow food delivery platforms (Uber, DoorDash, Foodora and Menulog).

Demand for food deliveries boomed during lockdowns. So did the supply of labour, as those laid off from other jobs — especially temporary migrants excluded from JobKeeper and JobSeeker benefits — sought alternative work.

But profits in boom times aren’t guaranteed to continue. Inflation is hitting consumers’ discretionary spending and the era of “cheap money” is ending.

Platforms have often had to offer their services at a loss to increase or sustain market share. This is in part because consumers of food delivery services are highly price-sensitive, as our research has found.

Greater regulation coming

Another key local factor likely to have influenced Deliveroo’s decision is the prospect of greater regulation.

The Albanese government has promised to improve conditions for gig workers. This includes legislation to give the federal industrial relations umpire, the Fair Work Commission, the power to regulate “employee-like” forms of work.

Read more:
How Australia’s gig workers may remain contractors under Labor

Currently the commission can only adjudicate on matters affecting employees. The government’s approach is to avoid the seemingly endless classification debates and instead provide all workers with greater protections.

Read more:
An employee, not a contractor: unfair dismissal ruling against Deliveroo is a big deal for Australia’s gig workers

Giving platform workers greater benefits and protections as employee-like workers – in whatever form this takes – will increase costs. But Deliveroo’s exit highlights just why greater protection for workers in the “gig” economy is needed.

It’s now up to the Albanese government to make meaningful, innovative reforms.

Alex Veen is part of a research team that received a University of Sydney Business School Industry Partnership grant. Uber Technologies is a Partner Organisation on this grant and provided a minority financial contribution to the project. He further receives funding from the Australian Research Council in the form a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) for his project entitled ‘Algorithmic management and the future of work: lessons from the gig economy.’

Caleb Goods is part of a research team that received a University of Sydney Business School Industry Partnership grant. Uber Technologies is a Partner Organisation on this grant and provided a minority financial contribution to the project.

Tom Barratt has been awarded a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award from the Australian Research Council to investigate Work Fragmentation and the Gig Economy, commencing in 2023.

Tom Barratt is part of a research team that received a University of Sydney Business School Industry Partnership grant. Uber Technologies is a Partner Organisation on this grant and provided a minority financial contribution to the project.

– ref. Deliveroo’s exit from Australia shows why gig workers need more protection – https://theconversation.com/deliveroos-exit-from-australia-shows-why-gig-workers-need-more-protection-194743

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

Victorians go to the polls on November 26, with the Andrews government seeking a third term.

Labor is the clear favourite, but it is under pressure in a number of seats.

The premier is a polarising figure, especially (although not only) as a result of the trials Melburnians endured with the prolonged harsh lockdowns during COVID.

Victoria will be a fresh test of what we saw in the federal poll – the disillusionment of many voters with the major parties.

There are only several “teal” candidates but their fate will be watched carefully as a measure of whether the movement continues to have momentum.

Main issues in the election include the cost of living, health, and integrity.

In this podcast, we talk with Tim Colebatch, former economics editor of The Age and a keen election watcher, Kos Samaras, a director of the Redbridge Group and former deputy campaign director for Vic Labor, and Sumeyya Ilanbey, state political reporter for The Age and author of Daniel Andrews: The Revealing Biography of Australia’s Most Powerful Premier.

While Colebatch believes this election will be closer than 2018, he can’t see Labor losing its majority. “Labor will govern as an absolute majority unless they lose 12 seats and it’s very hard to see them losing 12 seats.”

He does however, think that the minor parties and the Greens will have a very good night. “Voting for Greens, minor parties and independents has jumped from 22% to 34% and all the evidence suggests it’ll be something like that this time as well.”

Colebatch is scathing of Daniel Andrews’ suburban rail loop project. “It’s a 26 kilometre tunnel in an arc well out of the way from Melbourne. Something like 20, 25 kilometres out of town and it basically links up a number of marginal Labor seats”.

Samaras says “there’s this sizeable portion of the voters out there who have an issue with the premier as an individual, but equally have the same issue with the opposition leader [Matthew Guy]. So I think it’s going to be a contest of who do they hate the most. And that will then obviously influence their vote […] You’ve got an electorate that is extremely fatigued, suffering what I would define as a form of PTSD that is going to have an impact on the election.”

RedBridge polling suggests cost of living is the major issue, he says. “[In] a recent poll that we just did, for example, we asked people who are experiencing mortgage stress how many more interest rate rises can they cope with before they have to sell their home. 35% of those who are experiencing mortgage stress said ‘one more’ […] We expect the major party vote come Saturday week to be the lowest it has been in Victorian history”.

Ilanbey says the campaign has been “very stage managed and very lacklustre”. She believes “people have got a better insight into Daniel Andrews [compared to 2018], particularly because of those pandemic press conferences. You know, his ruthlessness, his work ethic, his drive, his relentlessness.”

But she doesn’t think the Murdoch media’s attacks have had an effect on him, citing the negative coverage of the government in 2018. “And we saw Labor not only get re-elected but win in a landslide.”

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: Tim Colebatch, Kos Samaras and Sumeyya Ilanbey on the Victorian Election – https://theconversation.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-tim-colebatch-kos-samaras-and-sumeyya-ilanbey-on-the-victorian-election-194811

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne

The Victorian election will be held in nine days, on November 26. A Redbridge poll for The Herald Sun, conducted October 31 to November 6 from a sample of 1,189, gave Labor a 53.5-46.5 lead. Primary votes had an initial 10.4% undecided.

The Poll Bludger calculated primary votes using who the undecided were “leaning towards”, resulting in 36.7% Labor, 35.5% Coalition, 13.2% Greens, 8.5% independents and 6.0% others.

This poll was not released until November 14, and was reported on Twitter by Redbridge director Kos Samaras.

By 73-15, voters thought the health system was in crisis and Matthew Guy and the Coalition were best to fix the health crisis by 55-24 over Daniel Andrews and Labor. This question is right-skewed; it would be better to ask which party is best for the health system without the first question on a health crisis.

By 65-19, voters agreed with the Coalition’s policy to delay the construction of stage one of the Suburban Rail Loop and divert all funds saved to hospitals and the health system.

This poll was conducted in the first week of November and was already a week past its last fieldwork date when released. The Labor lead is similar to the 54-46 Labor lead in the Victorian Newspoll conducted about the same time, and worse for Labor than in two polls released last week.

Read more:
Victorian Newspoll has Labor’s lead down, but would still win with three weeks until election

Group voting tickets for upper house released

Owing to Victorian Labor’s failure to even attempt to reform the upper house in their eight years in government, everyone who votes above the line in the upper house will have their preferences decided by their party’s group voting ticket (GVT). All GVTs were released Sunday.

Read more:
How Victorian Labor’s failure on upper house electoral reform undermines democracy

The only way to avoid GVTs is to vote below the line: only five numbers below the line are required for a formal vote, though you can continue numbering beyond five.

The Poll Bludger has a detailed analysis of the GVTs. There is a clear ideological split, with left-wing parties assisting other left-wing parties, while right-wing to far-right parties assist the right. In the middle, there are some micro parties who swap preferences with each other and put the biggest parties last (the Glenn Druery approach).

The ideological split in parties’ GVTs makes it more likely that the upper house result will roughly reflect a left-right split within each five-member electorate, although parties that do not deserve to win could still win on GVTs.

In the Redbridge poll above, Labor’s primary vote was 6.2% below what it received in the lower house at the 2018 election. If that swing were replicated in the upper house on Election Day, Labor would likely lose more seats than they would had GVTs been scrapped.

Federal Essential poll: Albanese’s ratings improve

In this week’s federal Essential poll, conducted in the days before November 15 from a sample of 1,035, 60% approved of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s performance (up two since October) and 27% disapproved (up one), for a net approval of +33, up one point.

By 46-34, respondents thought Australia was heading in the right direction, but were more pessimistic about other countries. The United Kingdom was at 40-33 wrong track, the United States at 49-28 wrong, China at 66-13 wrong and Russia at 79-10 wrong.

Essential’s question on proposed industrial relations laws is left-skewed because it gives arguments in favour of the reforms: “Key aims of this legislation include reducing the gender pay gap, encouraging flexible working arrangements and allowing workers from different companies to collectively negotiate pay rises.” However, there is no argument against the reforms.

By 50-36, respondents thought the outcomes of the COP27 climate conference can make a meaningful difference on climate change. Note “can” not “will”.

By 70-21, respondents thought the government should do more to ensure multinational companies pay their fair share of tax, over the alternative that multinational companes will always find loopholes in the tax system.

On Twitter usage, 62% said they had never used Twitter, 16% several times a month or less, 13% several times a week and 9% every day. On politicians using Twitter, 43% thought it inappropriate for them to use Twitter at all, 41% that they should use Twitter but also other media, and 16% that Twitter is a vital channel.

Federal Morgan poll: 53.5-46.5 to Labor

This week’s Morgan federal poll gave Labor a 53.5-46.5 lead, unchanged from the previous week but a two-point gain for the Coalition since last fortnight. Polling was conducted November 7-13.

US Republicans win House as Trump announces 2024 campaign

CNN has projected Republicans will win 218 of the 435 US House of Representatives seats at the November 8 midterm elections, enough for a majority. Democrats have won 210 and seven seats are still undecided. If undecided contests go to current leaders, Republicans will win the House by 222-213, an exact reversal of Democrats’ 222-213 win at the 2020 elections.

Republicans currently lead the national House popular vote by 51.2-47.3 according to the Cook Political Report (a 3.9% margin), while Democrats won it by 50.8-47.7 (a 3.1% margin) in 2020. The current popular vote swing is 7.0% to Republicans, but much of that swing was wasted on seats that were safe for either party, leading to limited seat gains.

Former president Donald Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT). Trump has been blamed for Republicans’ underwhelming performance at these midterms. Party nominating contests for president will begin in early 2024, with the general election in November 2024.

Read more:
Trump announces he’ll run for president again as Murdoch turns on him – and it could be politically expensive for both

While Democrats have already held the Senate, there is one more contest left: the Georgia Senate runoff on December 6. Democrats will hope that Trump’s announcement will galvanise their voters.

Adrian Beaumont 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. Nine days from Victorian election, a new poll gives Labor a modest lead; US Republicans win House – https://theconversation.com/nine-days-from-victorian-election-a-new-poll-gives-labor-a-modest-lead-us-republicans-win-house-194514

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darren Roberts, Conjoint Associate Professor in clinical pharmacology and toxicology, St Vincent’s Healthcare Clinical Campus, UNSW Sydney

Poisonous poppy seeds have sent a number of people around Australia to hospital with severe symptoms – from muscle cramping and spasms to seizures and cardiac arrests – prompting a nationwide recall of certain batches and brands of this common pantry item.

We work for two major poisons information services (New South Wales and Queensland), where we have been advising and caring for people with poppy seed poisoning. There have also been cases in Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.

To date, there have been around 32 cases of poppy seed toxicity reported in Australia over the past month, all in adults.

This is what we know about what’s behind these cases and what you need to do if you’ve consumed poppy seeds recently, or have poppy seeds in your kitchen cupboards.

Read more:
People want to use bleach and antiseptic for COVID and are calling us for advice

How could these poppy seeds be dangerous?

The poppy seeds involved in the latest national recall are non-food grade seeds that are not intended for human consumption and are not safe to consume. Investigations are under way to determine how non-food grade seeds ended up in the shops.

Food-grade poppy seeds – the type that you’d usually see sprinkled on cake or bread – are not dangerous.

Poppy seeds come from the poppy plant Papaver somniferum. This plant produces a number of chemicals called alkaloids. Some, like morphine and codeine, have been used medicinally for thousands of years to treat pain and other conditions.

Other naturally occurring poppy alkaloids – such as thebaine, noscapine, laudanosine and papaverine – are less-well described in terms of their effects on humans, but they can have a wide range of toxic effects.

Different varieties of poppy plants contain different amounts of these alkaloids.

Some have very low amounts, which tend to be used to produce food-grade poppy seeds. Varieties with higher amounts are used to produce medicines, such as morphine and codeine.

Read more:
Weekly Dose: codeine doesn’t work for some people, and works too well for others

What happened recently then?

The non-food grade poppy seeds that incorrectly entered the human food supply contain high amounts of the alkaloid thebaine.

Thebaine has very different effects to morphine. In large doses it causes severe and prolonged muscle cramps, spasms, seizures and cardiac arrests, as seen in the recent cluster of poisonings.

High concentrations of thebaine have been identified in the blood of affected people in this latest cluster.

To our knowledge, this is the first time that thebaine has entered the food chain in Australia. However, there are a couple of reports of people who have had severe toxicity after consuming non-food grade poppy seeds in recent decades.

Read more:
‘Indian Viagra’ – herbal drug Kamini contains morphine and can quickly lead to dependence

How many poppy seeds are we talking about?

All reported cases in the current cluster at the time of the recall occurred after people consumed poppy seeds as part of a drink – similar to a brewed tea.

Most people had consumed more than 100g poppy seeds (about 11 tablespoons). Although, 50g (5-6 tablespoons) may be sufficient to cause poisoning. Thebaine can build up in the body if you ingest it several times over the same day.

There have been no reports to date of people being poisoned after eating poppy seeds in baked goods. However, the investigation is ongoing. Owing to the nature of the contamination, we’d recommend avoiding poppy seeds from affected brands in any form.

What if I have poppy seeds at home?

The non-food grade poppy seeds we’re currently concerned about likely entered the food supply in the past two months. So, if you bought poppy seeds before September 2022, these are likely to be safe.

If you’ve bought poppy seeds in the past two months and these are listed as part of the national recall, you may be at risk.

You can throw them in the bin or return them to where you bought them for a refund.

What if I’ve eaten these poppy seeds or drunk the tea?

If you or someone you know develops the following symptoms after consuming poppy seeds, seek urgent medical assistance by calling triple zero:

• severe muscle cramping, muscle spasms and abnormal movements
• seizures
• collapses or is unresponsive.

If symptoms are mild, or you’re not sure if these are because of consuming poppy seeds, call the Poisons Information Centre for advice (details below).

If you’ve consumed poppy seeds more than four hours ago and you feel fine, you can be reassured. That’s because these poisoning symptoms typically happen quickly, within four hours.

If you’ve consumed a large number of poppy seeds as a drink, especially from an affected batch of seeds, in the past four hours, go to the emergency department regardless of symptoms.

If this article raises health concerns for you or for someone you know about consuming poppy seeds, call the Poisons Information Centre from anywhere in Australia on 131 126. This evidence-base advice is available 24 hours a day. For life-threatening symptoms, call 000.

Darren Roberts is the Medical Director of the NSW Poisons Information Centre and a clinical Toxicologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney.

Jared Brown is a Senior Poisons Specialist in Toxicovigilance at NSW Poisons Information Centre.

Katherine Isoardi is the Director of the Clinical Toxicology Unit, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, and Medical Director of Queensland Poisons Information Centre, Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia

– ref. Toxic poppy seeds are sending people to hospital. 3 experts explain what’s behind the latest food scare – https://theconversation.com/toxic-poppy-seeds-are-sending-people-to-hospital-3-experts-explain-whats-behind-the-latest-food-scare-194716

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqueline Peel, Director, Melbourne Climate Futures, The University of Melbourne

Short of a miracle, it seems unlikely the COP27 climate change negotiations in Egypt will deliver any concrete action on loss and damage.

“Loss and damage” refers to the harms of climate change on human society and the natural environment that can’t be avoided by bringing down emissions or adapting. The costs of recovering from these harms, such as intensifying disasters, are climbing, and poor countries have been calling on wealthy countries to foot the bill.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has emerged as the leading advocate for loss and damage finance at COP27. She argues climate-vulnerable nations like hers “have a moral and just cause”.

At the start of COP27, she praised the inclusion of loss and damage on the negotiating agenda as a recognition that countries who have barely contributed to global warming shouldn’t be “choosing between the financing of education and health or the reconstruction of our societies”.

As we near the end of the summit, it looks like wealthy countries will be letting these vulnerable nations down. But negotiations are expected to drag on over the weekend, and surprise agreements might still emerge.

Read more:
Famine should not exist in 2022, yet Somalia faces its worst yet. Wealthy countries, pay your dues

Ending in a fizz

Although billed as an “implementation” rather than an “ambition” conference, the inclusion of loss and damage on COP27’s negotiating agenda raised hopes progress might yet be achieved on this thorny issue.

Powerful speeches calling for climate justice from leaders such as Motley, as well as the Prime Minister of flood-ravaged Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, saw a deal on loss and damage emerge as one of the main tests for success at this summit.

Yet rather than the hoped-for action, the negotiations seem more likely to reach a dead-end discussion. In a draft text setting out possible “elements” of a decision on loss and damage released on Monday in Egypt, two “options” were on the table: establishing a loss and damage fund by late 2024, or two years of technical work on whether the issue should ultimately be addressed through a “mosaic” of funding arrangements.

The first option would be difficult for developed countries to accept. The United States and European Union have indicated they’re opposed to any language on “reparations”, which might suggest they bear liability and must compensate for the damage caused by past emissions.

Within Europe, one of the biggest opponents on this seems to be Sweden, land of climate activist Greta Thunberg, which is putting the brakes on broader action.

With Sweden’s controversial Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson recently elected, the country’s environment minister queried the need for a loss and damage fund (earning Thunburg’s ire on Twitter).

Likewise, major emerging economy emitters, China and India, are resisting calls from the US and some climate-vulnerable nations such as Mauritius to also contribute money to a loss and damage fund. China and India argue that the first to take on this responsibility should be the biggest historical and per capita emitters in the developed world.

We haven’t yet heard any Australian commitments on loss and damage funding or new commitments on climate finance more generally.

But energy minister Chris Bowen is now on the ground in Egypt and leading, with India, the broader negotiations on climate finance for energy transition and adaptation. So Australia is at least regarded as playing a more constructive role, compared to past COPs.

There were hopes for the German-led Global Shield announcement, which would give vulnerable countries funding for insurance and disaster protection support.

But this received strong push back from some vulnerable countries including Barbados and others in the Alliance of Small Island States, who questioned the effectiveness of the Global Shield as an insurance mechanism. Climate activist Mohamed Adow of Powershift Africa noted:

We can’t insure our way to climate protection. After all, climate change is getting so bad some communities will likely be uninsurable unless we see much more drastic emissions cuts.

The G77 – a group of more than 130 developing nations – together with China, have put forward a draft proposal for a loss and damage fund. Their proposal would see finance provided to countries hit by climate disasters, and would be set up before the next COP in Dubai in 2023. Some developed countries, however, want to move slower than the G77’s timeline.

Disappointment and bitterness

As calls for loss and damage finance continue, there will be a lot of disappointment and bitterness if nothing substantial comes out of Egypt.

Progress on loss and damage is regarded as the litmus test for COP27’s success by many climate-vulnerable nations. But if nothing eventuates, other options are being explored.

For example, Vanuatu is spearheading a campaign to get UN General Assembly support for putting an Advisory Opinion request. This could generate an authoritative statement by the International Court of Justice about who takes responsibility for climate damage.

It might break any stalemate in negotiations on a loss and damage fund, or lead to further litigation asking high-emitting rich countries to pay compensation for loss and damage.

Read more:
It’s the big issue of COP27 climate summit: poor nations face a $1 trillion ‘loss and damage’ bill, but rich nations won’t pay up

UN climate conferences are always a roll-a-coaster ride with negotiations down to the wire and possibilities for twists and surprise endings.

Although the prospects for agreement on loss and damage finance at this COP seem remote at this point, it may not be the end of the story. And while the urgency of dealing with the unfairly distributed costs of climate disasters is only growing, at the very least this COP has started the conversation on solutions.

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

– ref. Once again, wealthy nations are letting down poor nations at the Egypt climate talks – https://theconversation.com/once-again-wealthy-nations-are-letting-down-poor-nations-at-the-egypt-climate-talks-194719

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Shaw, PhD Candidate – Astrometallurgy, Swinburne University of Technology

NASA has just launched its first rocket in the Artemis program, which will, among other things, take scientific experiments to produce metal on the Moon.

In recent years, a number of businesses and organisations have ramped up efforts to establish technologies on the Moon. But doing work in space is expensive. Sending just one kilogram of material to the Moon can cost US$1.2 million (A$1.89 million).

What if we could save money by using the resources that are already there? This process is called in-situ resource utilisation, and it’s exactly what astrometallurgy researchers are trying to achieve.

Why the Moon?

The Moon has amazing potential for future space exploration. Its gravity is only one-sixth as strong as Earth’s, which makes it much easier to fly things from the Moon to Earth’s orbit than to fly them direct from Earth! And in an industry where every kilogram costs a fortune, the ability to save money is extremely attractive.

Although people have been looking at making oxygen and rocket fuel in space for decades, the Artemis program marks the first time we have solid plans to make and use metal in space.

Read more:
The Moon’s top layer alone has enough oxygen to sustain 8 billion people for 100,000 years

A number of companies are looking at extracting metals and oxygen from Moon dirt. At first these will be demonstrations, but eventually Moon metal will be a viable option for construction in space.

As a researcher in this field, I expect that in about 10 to 20 years from now we’ll have demonstrated the ability to extract metals from the Moon, and will likely be using these to construct large structures in space. So exactly what will we be able to extract? And how would we do it?

What’s out there?

There are two main geological regions on the Moon, both of which you can see on a clear night. The dark areas are called the maria and have a higher concentration of iron and titanium. The light areas are called the highlands (or terrae) and have more aluminium.

In general, the dirt and rocks on the Moon contain silicon, oxygen, aluminium, iron, calcium, magnesium, titanium, sodium, potassium and manganese. That might sound like a mouthful, but it’s not really that much to choose from. There are some other trace elements, but dealing with those is a spiel for another day.

We know metals such as iron, aluminium and titanium are useful for construction. But what about the others?

Well, it turns out when you have limited options (and the alternative is spending a small fortune), scientists can get pretty creative. We can use silicon to make solar panels, which could be a primary source of electricity on the Moon. We could use magnesium, manganese and chromium to make metal alloys with interesting properties, and sodium and potassium as coolants.

There are also studies looking at using the reactive metals (aluminium, iron, magnesium, titanium, silicon, calcium) as a form of battery or “energy carrier”. If we really needed to, we could even use them as a form of solid rocket fuel.

So we do have options when it comes to sourcing and using metals on the Moon. But how do we get to them?

Read more:
Artemis 1: how this 2022 lunar mission will pave the way for a human return to the Moon

How would extraction work?

While the Moon has metals in abundance, they’re bound up in the rocks as oxides – metals and oxygen stuck together. This is where astrometallurgy comes in, which is simply the study of extracting metal from space rocks.

Metallurgists use a variety of methods to separate metals and oxygen from within rocks. Some of the more common extraction methods use chemicals such as hydrogen and carbon.

Some such as “electrolytic separation” use pure electricity, while more novel solutions involve completely vaporising the rocks to make metal. If you’re interested in a full rundown of lunar astrometallurgy you can read about it in one of my research papers.

Regardless of the method used, extracting and processing metals in space presents many challenges.

Some challenges are obvious. The Moon’s relatively weak gravity means traction is basically nonexistent, and digging the ground like we do on Earth isn’t an option. Researchers are working on these problems.

There’s also a lack of important resources such as water, which is often used for metallurgy on Earth.

Other challenges are more niche. For instance, one Moon day is as long as 28 Earth days. So for two weeks you have ample access to the Sun’s power and warmth … but then you have two weeks of night.

Temperatures also fluctuate wildly, from 120℃ during the day to -180℃ at night. Some permanently shadowed areas drop below -220℃! Even if resource mining and processing were being done remotely from Earth, a lot of equipment wouldn’t withstand these conditions.

That brings us to the human factor: would people themselves be up there helping out with all of this?

Probably not. Although we’ll be sending more people to the Moon in the future, the dangers of meteorite impacts, radiation exposure from the Sun, and extreme temperatures mean this work will need to be done remotely. But controlling robots hundreds of thousands of kilometres away is also a challenge.

Read more:
So a helicopter flew on Mars for the first time. A space physicist explains why that’s such a big deal

It’s not all bad news, though, as we can actually use some of these factors to our advantage.

The extreme vacuum of space can reduce the energy requirements of some processes, since a vacuum helps substances vaporise at lower temperatures (which you can test by trying to boil water on a tall mountain). A similar thing happens with molten rocks in space.

And while the Moon’s lack of atmosphere makes it uninhabitable for humans, it also means more access to sunlight for solar panels and direct solar heating.

While it may take a few more years to get there, we’re well on our way to making things in space from Moon metal. Astrometallurgists will be looking on with keen interest as future Artemis missions take off with the tools to make this happen.

Matthew Shaw 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. Artemis 1 is off – and we’re a step closer to using Moon dirt for construction in space – https://theconversation.com/artemis-1-is-off-and-were-a-step-closer-to-using-moon-dirt-for-construction-in-space-191852

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mike Webster, Senior lecturer, University of Auckland

Three years after a scathing report into bullying and harassment in parliament, a new review of workplace culture in the Beehive is due to land before the end of this year.

Speaker Adrian Rurawhe has asked consultant Debbie Francis to investigate whether there’s less bullying and harassment in parliament since Francis delivered her first report in May 2019.

The first Francis report included accounts from 100 written submissions, 200 interviews and 42 focus groups. Francis made more than 80 recommendations to improve the workplace, including suggesting a new review three years after the fact.

In announcing the review, Rurawhe said significant improvements had been made. But allegations of bullying have continued, including against Labour MP Anna Lorck and former Labour MP Gaurav Sharma.

Of course, parliament is not unique in having to tackle this issue. New Zealand in general has a problem with workplace bullying. Research in 2009 found almost one in five people had experienced bullying in the workplace, ranking New Zealand second-worst in the developed world.

However, I would argue there are distinct factors in parliament that foster a culture of bullying. The new review, and the “Parliamentary Culture Excellence Horizon” being developed, must address these factors to create a healthy work environment and set an example for other industries.

Bullying in parliament and elsewhere

In the 2019 report, one parliamentary staffer reported:

My MP would just scream at me, asking for something one minute and then turning around and demanding it five minutes later, when it was clearly a two hour job.

Verbal abuse also came from peers, as another respondent wrote:

Colleagues would belittle me, yell at me in front of others, undermine my work. I had peers telling me if I didn’t agree with them, they would make my life miserable, and they did.

Francis found bullying and harassment were systemic in the parliamentary workplace and unacceptable conduct was too often tolerated or normalised. And the behaviours she identified certainly fit within accepted definitions of the problem.

Read more:
What makes someone more likely to be bullied at work and how companies can help them

Employment New Zealand defines workplace bullying as:

Repeated and unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or a group of workers that can cause physical or mental harm. Bullying can be physical, verbal, psychological or social. This may include victimising, humiliating, intimidating or threatening a person.

Physical bullying could be slamming a door in someone’s face. Frequently, workplace bullying is verbal abuse. It can also include isolating someone socially, overloading people with work, and unfair monitoring – also known as micromanaging.

Constant criticism of work is one step further. Spreading malicious rumours behind someone’s back is also bullying. People targeted can become clinically depressed. Some may attempt self-harm or suicide.

Calls to “toughen up” are entirely misplaced and may add to emotional distress. Workers may think they are to blame for causing the bullying because of personal vulnerabilities.

Read more:
Workplace bullying should be treated as a public health issue

Leadership and accountability

The 2019 review focused on two related risk factors specific to the parliamentary environment: a lack of ethical leadership and organisational confusion.

Ethical leadership is central to a culture of wellbeing. But serious leadership deficiencies exist in parliament. One respondent to the Francis review noted:

I’d never speak out about any bad stuff to anyone under any circumstance. As soon as I do, I get branded a troublemaker and branded as disloyal to my boss and the party. Next time the music starts up at election time, there won’t be a chair for me.

Ensuring ethical leadership in parliament requires specific actions. Empathy – leaders putting themselves in the shoes of subordinates – is vital. Candidates for leadership positions must demonstrate that commitment before their appointment. Only then, and in stages, will parliamentary culture change for the better.

As ethical leadership is established, parliament can look at the second risk factor. As the review noted, staff are faced with a “triangular relationship” – the parliamentary service is their legal employer, but the MP they serve
is the day-to-day “boss” directing their work.

In effect, parliamentary staffers may report to two managers. One major challenge in addressing parliament’s workplace culture is that MPs are not accountable themselves to the Parliamentary Service. As one staffer observed:

Parliamentary Services won’t stand up to members even when they’re in the right on an employment matter. They’re too intimidated by MPs’ status and by the ego of some of them.

This mixed accountability can compound workplace bullying. And the review also identified a core problem of low accountability, particularly for MPs, who face few sanctions for harmful behaviour. Ethical leadership actively seeks accountability to reveal blind spots.

According to Speaker Rurawhe, most of Francis’ recommendations in the 2019 report have been completed, including appointing an Independent Commissioner, establishing new confidential channels to report issues and progressing a safer work programme.

But to make further progress, the review should plainly establish a new hierarchy, ensuring that parliamentary staffers are no longer accountable to MPs. Instead, staffers should report only to Parliamentary Service managers. In turn, those managers should be explicitly tasked to provide safe spaces by which collusion with bullying will be challenged case by case and eliminated.

Streamlining the managerial hierarchy will raise the flag of intentional cultural change. Statements of intent would then be replaced by tangible organisational actions. It is the minimum parliament can do to prove its commitment to staff wellbeing.

Mike Webster 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. Parliament is not a normal workplace – anti-bullying policy must start with ethical leadership and accountability – https://theconversation.com/parliament-is-not-a-normal-workplace-anti-bullying-policy-must-start-with-ethical-leadership-and-accountability-193196

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kristy Hess, Professor (Communication), Deakin University

As residents in the small Victorian city of Portland voiced concerns about the loss of vital healthcare services in their area, the local newspaper – The Portland Observer – was there to cover the story. It produced a series of reports highlighting the impact on residents (including a baby being born in a carpark), eventually attracting broader media attention and putting pressure on politicians to act.

This is just one example of how rural and regional newspapers can play an important role in serving their communities.

Small, local newspapers can campaign and advocate on key issues such as roads, telecommunications infrastructure, or improved mental health services. In many ways, they are an essential service for rural communities.

But the future of rural newspapers is uncertain. Advertising revenue is declining and they face tough competition from tech giants. Several closed their doors during the pandemic, leaving many areas without local news services.

Read more:
Print isn’t dead: major survey reveals local newspapers vastly preferred over Google among country news consumers

An uncertain future

Portland, in the Glenelg Shire Council, is in the bottom third of the list of Australia’s disadvantaged local government areas. Across Australia, the top ten regions for socio-economic disadvantage are based in rural and regional areas. This means local newspapers are especially important in such communities.

Our research team examined the future of local, independently owned newspapers across country Australia. Of the 180 newspapers across the Country Press Australia network, a considerable proportion serve disadvantaged populations.

Other areas, such as the mining town of Lightning Ridge in the Walgett shire (ranked 39 in the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ disadvantaged local government area list) have no local newspaper, and rely on an intermittent Facebook page. Research reveals local residents here feel they lack important information about civic, social and political affairs.

The role of local media in rural and regional areas is especially highlighted in times of hardship, such as during floods or drought.

When disaster strikes, local newspapers can promote community cohesion and resilience. A local printed newspaper is especially important in areas with poor digital connectivity (in other words, much of rural Australia).

It takes time, effort and money

Of course, local media can also generate inequalities. They can end up ignoring marginalised voices and privileging the powerful.

But here, we argue, the benefits of independent public interest journalism in local communities outweigh the negatives when it comes to spotlighting issues about disadvantage. They are, despite their imperfections, a fundamental essential service for disadvantaged rural and regional areas.

Practicing local journalism, however, takes time, effort and money. Many newsrooms operate, as one small newspaper proprietor put it, “on the smell of an oily rag”.

Our research has looked at some of the sector’s structural issues especially, in an effort to find ways to maintain or improve resources for rural media.

This has included, for example:

• stemming loss of revenue from local, state and federal government advertising spend, which has been redirected to social media

• alternative business models

• collaboration

• drawing more on community contributed content.

Read more:
The government’s regional media bailout doesn’t go far enough — here are reforms we really need

A role for government

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews recently announced an election pledge to guarantee his government would pay for a full-page public notice “every single week in every single regional newspaper”. This move, he said, would “bring some certainty to your business model”.

Subject to ironing out the finer details, this is an important and necessary step to securing the future of local news. The Victorian government recognises the importance of this type of expenditure more than any other government in the country, according to the latest government inquiry.

A further challenge is to prioritise support for small independent media in the country’s most disadvantaged areas, where the commercial advertising dollar is arguably scarce.

In recent years, two rounds of federal government funding packages have been open to media outlets to apply for help, employ new journalists and purchase digital equipment or online services.

However, new start-ups did not qualify for the funding, even when they play a vital role in keeping communities informed in the interests of democracy.

Any public money granted to private media entities must benefit community, so any
rural and regional newspapers receiving government funding will need to be monitored. With the right policy settings, we can support them to ensure they are producing quality, local, public interest journalism that represents their diverse communities.

Kristy Hess receives funding from the Australian Research Council Linkage program to examine the civic value of country newspapers with support of Country Press Australia. She also receives funding from the Australian Research Council Discovery program and the Victorian Drought Resilience, Adoption and Innovation Hub. This article is part of The Conversation’s Breaking the Cycle series, which is supported by a philanthropic grant from the Paul Ramsay Foundation.

Alison McAdam receives funding from the Australian Research Council Linkage program to examine the civic value of country newspapers with support of Country Press Australia.

– ref. Local newspapers are vital for disadvantaged communities, but they’re struggling too – https://theconversation.com/local-newspapers-are-vital-for-disadvantaged-communities-but-theyre-struggling-too-194540

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Kelly, Senior Lecturer in Interaction Design, Queensland University of Technology

The Pacific nation of Tuvalu is planning to create a version of itself in the metaverse, as a response to the existential threat of rising sea levels. Tuvalu’s minister for justice, communication and foreign affairs, Simon Kofe, made the announcement via a chilling digital address to leaders at COP27.

He said the plan, which accounts for the “worst case scenario”, involves creating a digital twin of Tuvalu in the metaverse in order to replicate its beautiful islands and preserve its rich culture:

The tragedy of this outcome cannot be overstated […] Tuvalu could be the first country in the world to exist solely in cyberspace – but if global warming continues unchecked, it won’t be the last.

The idea is that the metaverse might allow Tuvalu to “fully function as a sovereign state” as its people are forced to live somewhere else.

There are two stories here. One is of a small island nation in the Pacific facing an existential threat and looking to preserve its nationhood through technology.

The other is that by far the preferred future for Tuvalu would be to avoid the worst effects of climate change and preserve itself as a terrestrial nation. In which case, this may be its way of getting the world’s attention.

What is a metaverse nation?

The metaverse represents a burgeoning future in which augmented and virtual reality become part of everyday living. There are many visions of what the metaverse might look like, with the most well-known coming from Meta (previously Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Read more:
What is the metaverse, and what can we do there?

What most of these visions have in common is the idea that the metaverse is about interoperable and immersive 3D worlds. A persistent avatar moves from one virtual world to another, as easily as moving from one room to another in the physical world.

The aim is to obscure the human ability to distinguish between the real and the virtual, for better or for worse.

Kofe implies three aspects of Tuvalu’s nationhood could be recreated in the metaverse:

1. territory – the recreation of the natural beauty of Tuvalu, which could be interacted with in different ways

2. culture – the ability for Tuvaluan people to interact with one another in ways that preserve their shared language, norms and customs, wherever they may be

3. sovereignty – if there were to be a loss of terrestrial land over which the government of Tuvalu has sovereignty (a tragedy beyond imagining, but which they have begun to imagine) then could they have sovereignty over virtual land instead?

Could it be done?

In the case that Tuvalu’s proposal is, in fact, a literal one and not just symbolic of the dangers of climate change, what might it look like?

Technologically, it’s already easy enough to create beautiful, immersive and richly rendered recreations of Tuvalu’s territory. Moreover, thousands of different online communities and 3D worlds (such as Second Life) demonstrate it’s possible to have entirely virtual interactive spaces that can maintain their own culture.

The idea of combining these technological capabilities with features of governance for a “digital twin” of Tuvalu is feasible.

There have been prior experiments of governments taking location-based functions and creating virtual analogues of them. For example, Estonia’s e-residency is an online-only form of residency non-Estonians can obtain to access services such as company registration. Another example is countries setting up virtual embassies on the online platform Second Life.

Yet there are significant technological and social challenges in bringing together and digitising the elements that define an entire nation.

Tuvalu has only about 12,000 citizens, but having even this many people interact in real time in an immersive virtual world is a technical challenge. There are issues of bandwidth, computing power, and the fact that many users have an aversion to headsets or suffer nausea.

Nobody has yet demonstrated that nation-states can be successfully translated to the virtual world. Even if they could be, others argue the digital world makes nation-states redundant.

Tuvalu’s proposal to create its digital twin in the metaverse is a message in a bottle – a desperate response to a tragic situation. Yet there is a coded message here too, for others who might consider retreat to the virtual as a response to loss from climate change.

The metaverse is no refuge

The metaverse is built on the physical infrastructure of servers, data centres, network routers, devices and head-mounted displays. All of this tech has a hidden carbon footprint and requires physical maintenance and energy. Research published in Nature predicts the internet will consume about 20% of the world’s electricity by 2025.

Read more:
The internet consumes extraordinary amounts of energy. Here’s how we can make it more sustainable

The idea of the metaverse nation as a response to climate change is exactly the kind of thinking that got us here. The language that gets adopted around new technologies – such as “cloud computing”, “virtual reality” and “metaverse” – comes across as both clean and green.

Such terms are laden with “technological solutionism” and “greenwashing”. They hide the fact that technological responses to climate change often exacerbate the problem due to how energy and resource intensive they are.

So where does that leave Tuvalu?

Kofe is well aware the metaverse is not an answer to Tuvalu’s problems. He explicitly states we need to focus on reducing the impacts of climate change through initiatives such as a fossil-fuel non-proliferation treaty.

His video about Tuvalu moving to the metaverse is hugely successful as a provocation. It got worldwide press – just like his moving plea during COP26 while standing knee-deep in rising water.

Yet Kofe suggests:

Without a global conscience and a global commitment to our shared wellbeing we may find the rest of the world joining us online as their lands disappear.

It is dangerous to believe, even implicitly, that moving to the metaverse is a viable response to climate change. The metaverse can certainly assist in keeping heritage and culture alive as a virtual museum and digital community. But it seems unlikely to work as an ersatz nation-state.

And, either way, it certainly won’t work without all of the land, infrastructure and energy that keeps the internet functioning.

It would be far better for us to direct international attention towards Tuvalu’s other initiatives described in the same report:

The project’s first initiative promotes diplomacy based on Tuvaluan values of olaga fakafenua (communal living systems), kaitasi (shared responsibility) and fale-pili (being a good neighbour), in the hope that these values will motivate other nations to understand their shared responsibility to address climate change and sea level rise to achieve global wellbeing.

The message in a bottle being sent out by Tuvalu is not really about the possibilities of metaverse nations at all. The message is clear: to support communal living systems, to take shared responsibility and to be a good neighbour.

The first of these can’t translate into the virtual world. The second requires us to consume less, and the third requires us to care.

Read more:
Ending the climate crisis has one simple solution: Stop using fossil fuels

Nick Kelly receives research funding from the Australian Research Council.

Marcus Foth receives research funding from the Australian Research Council and the Future Food CRC. He is a member of the Queensland Greens.

– ref. An entire Pacific country will upload itself to the metaverse. It’s a desperate plan – with a hidden message – https://theconversation.com/an-entire-pacific-country-will-upload-itself-to-the-metaverse-its-a-desperate-plan-with-a-hidden-message-194728

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eleanor K. Sansom, Research Associate, Curtin University

At about 10 o’clock on the night of February 28 2021, a fireball streaked through the sky over England. The blazing extraterrestrial visitor was seen by more than 1,000 people, and its descent was filmed by 16 dedicated meteor-tracking cameras from the UK Fireball Alliance and many dashboard and doorbell cams.

With the time difference to Australia, the Global Fireball Observatory team at Curtin University were the first to dig into their cameras’ data, quickly realising there may be very special meteorites to find around the town of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire.

The next morning’s news told people in the area to look out for black rocks in their garden. The Wilcock family discovered a pile of dark powder and small rocky pieces on their driveway. They called in specialists from the Natural History Museum who confirmed it was a meteorite and collected the space rubble for further analysis, all within 12 hours of it landing.

More fragments were collected from the surrounding area over the next month. All told, the samples added up to around 600 grams of exceptionally pristine asteroid rock from the outer Solar System.

We have been studying this precious find with colleagues from around the world for the past 18 months. As we report in a new paper in Science Advances, it is a very fresh sample of an ancient rock formed in the early years of the Solar System, rich in the water and organic molecules that may have been crucial in the origin of life on Earth.

How to catch a fireball

Meteorites are rocks from space that have survived the fiery descent through our atmosphere. They are the remnants of our (very) distant past – around the time the planets were formed, holding clues to what our Solar System was like billions of years ago.

There are more than 70,000 meteorites in collections around the world. But the Winchcombe meteorite is quite a special one.

Read more:
Where do meteorites come from? We tracked hundreds of fireballs streaking through the sky to find out

Why? Well, of all the meteorites ever found, only around 50 have ever been seen falling with enough precision to calculate their original orbit – the path they took to impact the Earth. Figuring out the orbit is the only way to understand where a meteorite came from.

The Global Fireball Observatory is a network of cameras on the lookout for falling meteorites. It is a collaboration of 17 partner institutions around the world, including Glasgow University and Imperial College in the UK. This collaboration grew out of Australia’s Desert Fireball Network, run by Curtin University. Of the few meteorite samples with known origins, more than 20% have now been recovered by the Global Fireball Observatory team.

Tracking the Winchcombe meteorite

The Winchcombe meteorite was one of the most well observed yet. All these observations helped us determine this special sample came from the main asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter.

Observing a fireball from a network of cameras means we can recreate the rock’s path through the atmosphere and not only calculate its orbit, but also its fall to the ground.

In an email to the UK team seven hours after the fireball, my colleague Hadrien Devillepoix pointed out the unusual amount of fragmentation, and the orbit, could mean we would be looking for a less common type of meteorite.

A space rock generally stops burning by the time it reaches about 30km altitude. The rest of the fall is affected by high-altitude winds, so predicting where the meteorite will land is not always easy.

The team at Curtin played a major role in predicting the fall area from the fireball data. We recreated the flight path of the space rock to tell people where to search for meteorite fragments.

Although many samples were found in Winchcombe town, the largest whole piece was recovered in a field during a dedicated search, found within 400 metres of the predicted position.

The building blocks of life

Winchcombe is a very rare type of meteorite called a carbonaceous chondrite. It is similar to the Murchison meteorite that fell in Victoria in 1969. They contain complex carbon-based molecules called amino acids, which are regarded as the “building blocks of life”.

Read more:
What are asteroids made of? A sample returned to Earth reveals the Solar System’s building blocks

These meteorites are thought to have formed in the early Solar System, billions of years ago. They formed far enough from the Sun that water hadn’t completely evaporated, and was around to be incorporated into these meteorites. They may have been responsible for bringing water to Earth later on.

Carbonaceous chondrites are known to contain water, though most samples have been contaminated by long contact with Earth’s atmosphere. Some pieces of the Winchcombe meteorite are hardly contaminated at all because they were recovered within hours of its fall. These samples are incredibly pristine, and contain almost 11% water by weight.

A home-delivered space rock

Space agencies go a long way to find space rocks this fresh. In 2020, Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission delivered a few grams of material from a carbonaceous asteroid called Ryugu back to Earth. Next year, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx will bring home a somewhat larger chunk from asteroid Bennu.

The speed with which samples of the Winchcombe meteorite were discovered, combined with the precise observations which let us determine its original orbit in the asteroid belt, make it similar to materials returned by space missions.

The triangulation of the Winchcombe fireball, orbital analysis, recovery, and the geochemical techniques used to investigate this space rock’s history required a huge amount of teamwork.

Alongside the scientific secrets it will unlock, the story of the Winchcombe meteorite is a fantastic demonstration of the power of collaboration in unravelling the mysteries of our Solar System.

Eleanor K. Sansom receives funding from the Australian Research Council as part of the Australian Discovery Project scheme (DP200102073).

– ref. A pristine chunk of space rock found within hours of hitting Earth can tell us about the birth of the Solar System – https://theconversation.com/a-pristine-chunk-of-space-rock-found-within-hours-of-hitting-earth-can-tell-us-about-the-birth-of-the-solar-system-194725

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Martiniuk, Professor of Epidemiology, University of Sydney

The latest COVID wave is with us, with its viral subvariants BQ.1 and XBB. Once again, our health system will be stretched.

That’s not just hospitals. A stretched health system affects the interaction between you and your GP, the availability of medicines, the policies of the aged care home your mother is in, the research that brought you vaccines, the mental health-care provider, Medicare and more.

The situation is very different to earlier COVID waves. Now, we have fewer public health measures in place. Health staff are also exhausted from almost three years of the pandemic.

Here’s what needs to happen next for our health systems to cope with the latest COVID wave.

Read more:
What can we expect from this latest COVID wave? And how long is it likely to last?

First, the good news

The current COVID wave (Australia’s fourth) is being fuelled by ever-more “pushy” Omicron subvariants such as BQ.1 and XBB, waning immunity from past infection and vaccination, and fewer public health measures. Luckily it appears the new subvariants don’t cause more severe disease.

What we’ve learned from past waves, plus widespread availability of vaccines and treatments, should keep more people from getting severely ill and needing to go to hospital.

Read more:
Previous COVID infection may not protect you from the new subvariant wave. Are you due for a booster?

But health workers are burnt out

However, health professionals are burnt out.

Globally, health-care systems are seeing more-complex cases compared with before the pandemic, for a number of reasons. This includes increased complexity of conditions due to our ageing population, delayed care over the pandemic and because COVID is complicating existing conditions and care processes.

Globally, health systems have also had to deal with surges in other viruses – such as influenza and, especially in children, respiratory syncytial virus.

During this latest COVID wave, more health staff will likely become infected. This will result in workforce absences, which will be difficult to fill over the coming summer period. Nursing shortages continue.

Health-care staff feel isolated, and lonely. Some feel the care they provide is not safe. Some are leaving their professions.

Read more:
Health worker burnout and ‘compassion fatigue’ put patients at risk. How can we help them help us?

We know what works

Health systems will revisit what we know has worked during past COVID waves.

As case numbers climb, hospitals may need to cancel elective surgeries. They may need to boost their intensive care unit (ICU) capacity, by redeploying staff and facilities. They can assess COVID patients outside to minimise the risk of viral transmission, as they’ve done before.

Telehealth services could be expanded, we could see more use of existing community fever and respiratory clinics.

Read more:
Omicron is overwhelming Australia’s hospital system. 3 emergency measures aim to ease the burden

But these old measures may not be enough. The health system is bursting at the seams in multiple places simultaneously. It’s like we had an old pair of shorts, COVID came along, and is causing holes in multiple places where things were already worn.

That includes primary care (patients’ first contact with the health system, such as general practice), the ambulance system and hospitals.

Read more:
Ambulance ramping is a signal the health system is floundering. Solutions need to extend beyond EDs

Here’s what we need to do next

Here are three things that would help an already stretched health system during this current wave and beyond.

1. Reduce COVID transmission

The World Health Organization and Australian experts agree, a clear priority is to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID.

We also need infection control trials that mimic the real world and new approaches to infection control not only in the health system but in education and in workplaces too.

As policies about wearing masks, testing or isolating after testing positive have been diluted, improvements such as improving indoor air quality, take on increased importance.

2. Strengthen primary care

World leaders have agreed the bedrock of resilient and cost-effective health systems is a strong primary health care base.

So we need to bolster existing services, and to continue to address the aged care, disability and mental health care sectors to help with timely support of patients through the hospital system and out into other types of care.

3. Gather and share information for decision making

We should strive for better national data on health and the health system, building on existing valuable information held nationally and by state and territory health departments.

We could access and analyse data on individuals from across primary care and hospitals, public and private – other countries do.

This would allow us to better and more efficiently understand resource strengths and gaps across the health system (for instance improving wait-times for surgery). It would also help us to better understand needs (for instance, workforce needs) and to respond quicker, to ultimately improve people’s health.

We all play a role

COVID is here to stay. So we all play a role in reducing the impact on our health systems. Reduce the number of times you are infected. Get vaccinated. Wear a good quality mask in crowded, closed, close-contact settings.

Test often and stay home when unwell. Find out if you are eligible for antiviral medications and plan how you would get them if COVID positive.

Vote well. Politics are playing a hefty hand in our response to COVID locally and globally.

There will be more COVID waves. We need to focus on equity and social determinants of health, reducing the need for people to access the health system in the first place.

Health care is the pointy end of COVID. We need to aim to build stronger and fairer systems for the years ahead.

Read more:
First, COVID hit disadvantaged communities harder. Now, long COVID delivers them a further blow

Alexandra Martiniuk receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

– ref. Our health system is like a ‘worn pair of shorts’. This latest COVID wave will stretch it even thinner – https://theconversation.com/our-health-system-is-like-a-worn-pair-of-shorts-this-latest-covid-wave-will-stretch-it-even-thinner-194253

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anya Phelan, Lecturer, The University of Queensland

This week the federal government joined an international agreement to recycle or reuse 100% of plastic waste by 2040, putting an end to plastic pollution. But major obstacles stand in the way.

The most recent is the collapse of Australia’s largest soft plastic recycling program, REDcycle. The program was suspended after it was revealed soft plastic items collected at Woolworths and Coles had been stockpiled for months in warehouses and not recycled.

The abrupt halt to the soft plastics recycling scheme has left many consumers deeply disappointed, and the sense of betrayal is understandable. Recycling, with its familiar “chasing arrows” symbol, has been portrayed by the plastics industry as the answer to the single-use plastics problem for years.

But recycling is not a silver bullet. Most single-use plastics produced worldwide since the 1970s have ended up in landfills and the natural environment. Plastics can also be found in the food we eat, and at the bottom of the deepest oceans.

The recent collapse of the soft plastics recycling scheme is further proof that plastic recycling is a broken system. Australia cannot achieve its new target if the focus is on the collection, recycling and disposal alone. Systemic change is urgently needed.

Recycling is a market

Australia has joined the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, a group of more than 30 countries co-led by Norway and Rwanda, and also including the United Kingdom, Canada and France.

It aims to deliver a global treaty banning plastic pollution by setting global rules and obligations for the full life cycle of plastic. This includes setting standards to reduce plastic production, consumption and waste. It would also enable a circular economy, where plastic is reduced, reused or recycled.

The idea behind recycling is simple. By reprocessing items into new products, we can conserve natural resources and reduce pollution.

Read more:
Local efforts have cut plastic waste on Australia’s beaches by almost 30% in 6 years

Unfortunately, the recycling process is much more complex and entwined in the economic system. Recycling is a commodities market. Who buys what is usually determined by the quality of the plastic.

Sitting in the middle of the chasing arrow symbol is a number. If it’s a one or a two, it’s high value and will most likely be sold on the commodities market and recycled. Numbers three to seven indicate mixed plastics, such as soft plastics, which are considered low value.

Sadly, it often costs more to recycle most plastics than to just throw them away. Up until 2018, low value plastics were exported to China. The reliance on the global waste trade for decades precluded many countries, including Australia, from developing advanced domestic recycling infrastructure.

What are the biggest problems?

One of the biggest problems with plastics recycling is the massive diversity of plastics that end up in the waste stream – foils, foams, sachets, numerous varieties of flexible plastic, and different additives that further alter plastic properties.

Most plastics can only be recycled in pure and consistent form, and only a limited number of times. What’s more, municipal plastic waste streams are very difficult to sort.

Read more:
If the UN wants to slash plastic waste, it must tackle soaring plastic production – and why we use so much of it

Achieving high levels of recycling in the current system requires the mixed plastic waste stream to be sorted into hundreds of different parts. This is unrealistic and particularly challenging for remote, low-income communities, which are typically far away from a recycling facility.

For example, throughout the developing world, single-use “sachet” size products are often directed towards low socio-economic communities and low-income families, who may buy most of their food in small daily portions.

Waste from small single-use packaging is notoriously difficult to recycle and is particularly prevalent in remote and rural communities which have less sophisticated waste management infrastructure.

Furthermore, high transportation costs associated with shipping plastic waste to a reprocessing facility make recycling a difficult issue for remote communities everywhere, including Outback Australia.

Failing corporate responsibility

Worldwide production and consumption of plastic per capita continues to increase, and is expected to triple by 2060. For many consumer-packaged goods companies, recycling remains the dominant narrative in addressing the issue.

For example, a study this year examined how companies in the food and beverage sector address plastic packaging as part of their wider, pro-active, sustainability agenda. It found the sector’s transition to sustainable packaging is “slow and inconsistent”, and in their corporate sustainability reports most companies focus on recyclable content and post-consumer initiatives rather than solutions at the source.

Although producer responsibility is growing, most companies in the fast-moving consumer goods sector are doing very little to reduce single-use plastic packaging. Special consideration should be given to products sold in regions lacking waste management infrastructure, such as in emerging economies.

Like a band aid on a bullet wound

The Australian government’s new goal to end plastic pollution by 2040 is encouraging to see. But putting the onus on recycling, consumer behaviour, and post-consumer “quick fix” solutions will only perpetuate the problem.

In the context of the global plastic crisis, focusing on recycled content is like putting a band aid on a bullet wound. We need better and more innovative solutions to turn off the plastic tap. This includes stronger legislation to address plastic waste and promote sustainable packaging.

One such approach is to establish “extended producer responsibility” (EPR). This involves laws and regulations requiring plastics producers and manufacturers to pay for the recycling and disposal of their products.

For example, in 2021, Maine became the first US state to adopt an EPR law for plastic packaging. Maine’s EPR policy shifts recycling costs from taxpayers and local government to packaging producers and manufacturers. Companies that want to sell products in plastic packaging must pay a fee based on their packaging choices and provide easily recyclable product options.

Read more:
We have international laws to stop plastic pollution from fishing vessels now. Why are we not enforcing them?

Currently, the burden of managing plastic disposal typically lies with local councils and municipalities. As a result, many municipalities worldwide are championing EPR schemes.

It’s the responsibility of everyone in the value chain to limit the use of single-use plastic and provide sustainable packaging alternatives for consumers. We need better product design and prevention through legislation.

The exciting thing is that businesses transitioning towards a more sustainable way of producing, distributing, and re-using goods are more likely to improve their competitive position.

Anya Phelan 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. REDcycle’s collapse is more proof that plastic recycling is a broken system – https://theconversation.com/redcycles-collapse-is-more-proof-that-plastic-recycling-is-a-broken-system-194528

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Goodwin, Lecturer, The University of Melbourne

In 1997, consulting firm McKinsey & Company coined the term “the war for talent” to define increasing labour shortages that had significant potential to impact organisational performance.

The war for talent significantly impacted corporations at the time, creating a scarcity mindset and encouraging a wave of employee-focussed initiatives designed to attract and retain staff.

For the most part, the arts and cultural sector have been sheltered from the war for talent over past decades. Global growth in creative oriented higher education coupled with the “romance of being creative” has led to a steady stream of workers willing to enter the sector on low pay.

However, in 2022 things have changed.

Faced with labour shortages, arts and cultural organisations increasingly find it challenging to operate. In 2021, it was reported screen productions in Australia were being jeopardised due to lack of technical skills.

Now, summer festivals are struggling to find frontline workers, including security, stage crew, ticketing and transport.

It’s not just entry-level positions that remain empty.

After a decade of funding cuts and policy neglect, followed by the stresses induced by COVID-19, I am observing arts leaders leaving to find secure, better paid and sustainable work elsewhere.

In Australia’s increasingly tight labour market, the arts are finally facing a war for talent.

A culture of burnout

If we consider the role of the “arts manager”, it becomes easy to recognise why arts leaders are abandoning the industry.

Arts leaders do not just support the creation of art. They are marketers, customer service specialists, supply chain and logistics experts, grant writers, human resources managers and – increasingly – risk managers.

They are trying to bring back audiences post-COVID while juggling a contentious funding landscape that balances the need for revenue with audience, staff and artist expectations arts organisations do not partner with corporations that fail to align with organisational values.

I am increasingly seeing young people leaving arts jobs for opportunities that recognise their skills and provide secure, better paid work. Art workers are highly valuable in today’s economy where creativity and innovation are seen as keys to success.

This lack of younger workers increases the workloads of senior staff, causing them to be burnt out and leave the sector, too.

Staff shortages jeopardise the sector’s ability to get back on its feet after the brutal impact of COVID-19. Those that remain in our arts companies are exhausted, left trying to rebuild programs and audiences with fewer resources.

While “quiet quitting” gets media airtime, others in the sector are asking arts workers to embrace the mantra of “less is necessary”.

Individuals need to take action to address their wellbeing. Still, it is also necessary to consider the systems and structures that underpin our arts organisations and how they impact workers.

Read more:
Quiet quitting: why doing less at work could be good for you – and your employer

Structural issues

One way to address the war for talent is to increase the labour supply.

Higher education providers who develop creative talent are lobbying for more resources to expand programs and are pushing for changes to the Job Ready graduate scheme that imposes higher costs on arts and humanities graduates.

The latest Graduate Outcome Survey shows that the employment outcomes of creative arts and arts and humanities graduates have increased over 20% since 2019. The high rates of graduate employability aligns with Australia’s historically low unemployment rate, but also demonstrates the value creative skills now hold in the broader economy.

Read more:
The inequity of Job-ready Graduates for students must be brought to a quick end. Here’s how

What these positive statistics do not tell us, however, is the working conditions of those employed.

The arts are the original gig economy. Of the over 80% of arts and humanities graduates employed six months after graduation, how many earn a living wage? How many work in the arts? How many recent creative arts graduates are juggling multiple short-term contracts simultaneously to build skills, grow networks and cope with cost of living increases?

As Australia’s labour market tightens, arts workers are realising they can take their skills to better paid jobs with secure contracts, in fields such as health, technology and management consulting.

Unless arts organisations respond by providing similar security and career paths, the departure of talented workers will only continue.

This loss of staff will not only impact the ability of organisations to operate today, but will also influence the make-up of arts organisations in the future.

When only those who can afford to work under precarious conditions remain, the ability of the sector to attract and retain leaders from diverse communities decreases.

Decent work

Arts leaders eagerly await the launch of a new National Cultural Policy, hoping for significant change in how the arts are valued.

Yet arts organisations need to also get their own house in order.

Sustainable arts careers mean decent work. This means structural changes in how arts workers are employed, a shift away from the reliance on volunteers and incorrect appointment of unpaid interns, low-wage casual or fixed-term roles to more secure and fairly paid employment.

Many in the sector are championing change. The National Association for the Visual Arts is campaigning to recognise artists as workers, highlighting the need for an award to support this group that often falls under the industrial relations radar. The music sector has made similar calls for minimum wages for artists, yet face critics.

The pandemic showed us how important the arts are to our lives. For the arts to continue to play a vital role in our national identity and represent our diverse communities, the sector must be funded appropriately.

It is also essential organisations create safe, secure and viable jobs for arts workers.

If the industry can only exist by systematically exploiting workers, then the war for talent will be lost.

Read more:
Tony Burke’s double ministry of arts and industrial relations could be just what the arts sector needs

Kim Goodwin 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. Junior staff are finding better contracts, senior staff are burning out: the arts are losing the war for talent – https://theconversation.com/junior-staff-are-finding-better-contracts-senior-staff-are-burning-out-the-arts-are-losing-the-war-for-talent-194174

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew S. Flies, Senior Research Fellow in Immunology, University of Tasmania

Tasmanian devils are tough little creatures with a ferocious reputation. Tragically, each year thousands of Tasmanian devils suffer and die from contagious cancers – devil facial tumours.

We have discovered that a modified virus, like the attenuated adenovirus used in the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, can make devil facial tumour cells more visible to the devil immune system.

We have also found key immune targets on devil facial tumour cells. These combined advances allow us to move forward with a vaccine that helps the devil immune system find and fight the cancer.

And we have a clever way to deliver this vaccine, too – with edible baits.

A puzzling cancer

Tasmanian devils mainly suffer from the original devil facial tumour, or DFT1. A second type of devil facial tumour (DFT2) has begun emerging in southern Tasmania that further threatens the already endangered devil population.

DFT1 and DFT2 are transmissible cancers – they spread living cancer cells when the devils bite each other.

Read more:
Deadly disease can ‘hide’ from a Tasmanian devil’s immune system

This has presented a puzzle: a cancer cell that comes from another animal should be detected by the immune system as an invader, because it is “genetically mismatched”. For example, in human medicine, tissue transplants need to be genetically matched between the donor and recipient to avoid the immune system rejecting the transplant.

Somehow, DFT1 and DFT2 seem to evade the immune system, and devils die from tumours spreading throughout their body or from malnutrition due to the facial tumours disrupting their ability to eat.

On the bright side, the immune systems of a few wild devils have been able to overcome DFT1. Furthermore, previous vaccine and immunotherapy trials showed the devil immune system can be activated to kill DFT1 cells and clear away sizeable tumours.

Read more:
Genome map project uncovers first Tasmanian devil to fight off face tumour

This good news from both the field and the laboratory has allowed our team to zoom in on key DFT protein targets that the devil immune system can attack. This helps us in our quest to develop a more effective and scalable vaccine.

How can we vaccinate wild animals?

Even if we succeed in producing a protective DFT vaccine, we can’t trap and inject every devil.

Luckily, clever researchers in Europe in the 1970s figured out that vaccines can be incorporated into edible food baits to vaccinate wildlife across diverse landscapes and ecosystems.

In 2019, we hypothesised an oral bait vaccine could be made to protect devils from DFT1 and DFT2. Fast forward to November 2022 and the pieces of this ambitious project are falling into place.

Read more:
Bones and all: see how the diets of Tasmanian devils can wear down their sharp teeth to blunt nubbins

First, using samples from devils with strong anti-tumour responses, we have found that the main immune targets are major histocompatibility proteins. These are usually the main targets in transplant rejection. This tells us what to put into the vaccine.

Second, we tested a virus-based delivery system for the vaccine. We used a weakened adenovirus most of the human population has already been exposed to, and found that in the lab this virus can enter devil facial tumour cells.

Importantly, the weakened adenovirus can be modified to produce proteins that can stimulate the devil immune system. This means it forces the devil facial tumour cells to show the major histocompatibility proteins they normally hide, making the cells “visible” to cancer-killing immune cells.

This vaccine approach is much like the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine that uses a weakened chimpanzee adenovirus to deliver cargo to our immune system, getting it to recognise SARS-CoV-2. Adenoviral vaccines have also been widely used in oral bait vaccines to protect raccoons from the rabies virus.

Edible protection

But there were additional challenges to overcome. Our collaborators in the USA who research and develop other wildlife vaccines suggested that developing an effective bait for devils might be as challenging as making the vaccine itself.

Our first studies of placebo baits in the wild confirmed this. Contrary to previous studies which showed devils eating most of the baits, we found the baits were also readily consumed by other species, including eastern quolls, brushtail possums, and Tasmanian pademelons.

This led us to test an automatic bait dispenser supplied by our collaborators at the US Department of Agriculture National Wildlife Research Center. The dispensers proved quite effective at reducing the amount of “off target” bait consumption and showed devils could successfully retrieve the baits with their dexterous paws.

Encouragingly, a recent mathematical modelling study suggests an oral bait vaccine could eliminate DFT1 from Tasmania.

Successful delivery of the vaccine would be a demanding and long-term commitment. But with it, we could prevent the suffering and deaths of thousands of individual devils, along with helping to reestablish a healthy wild devil population.

Can’t stop now

A bit of additional good news fell into place in late 2022 with the announcement that our international team was awarded an Australian Research Council Linkage Project grant to develop better baits and ways to monitor wildlife health in the field.

These oral bait vaccine techniques that eliminate the need to catch and jab animals could be applied to future wildlife and livestock diseases, not just Tassie devils.

Building on this momentum, we are planning to start new vaccine trials in 2023. We don’t know yet if this new experimental vaccine can prevent devils from getting devil facial tumours.

However, the leap we have made in the past three years and new technology gives us momentum and hope that we might be able to stop DFT2 before it spreads across the state. Perhaps, we can even eliminate DFT1.

Read more:
Tasmanian devils look set to conquer their own pandemic

Andrew S. Flies receives funding from the Australian Research Council through a Linkage Project grant with industry partners Wildcare Tasmania, Animal Control Technologies, Fortifyedge, and the department of Natural Resources and the Environment Tasmania. He receives funding from the Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal. He receives funding from a Charitable organisation from the Principality of Liechtenstein. He is affiliated with Wildcare Tasmania.

Ruth Pye receives funding from Save The Tasmanian Devil Appeal.

Chrissie Ong 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. Thousands of Tasmanian devils are dying from cancer – but a new vaccine approach could help us save them – https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-tasmanian-devils-are-dying-from-cancer-but-a-new-vaccine-approach-could-help-us-save-them-194536

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Kingham, Professor of Human Geography, University of Canterbury

It seems New Zealand is about to slow down, with proposals to reduce urban speed limits right across the country, as well as on state highways. And while there has been some resistance, the evidence suggests it’s the right move.

The changes are part of Waka Kotahi’s Road to Zero project, which tasked local councils with developing speed management plans to reduce transport-related deaths. Generally, those plans will set 30 kilometre per hour (km/h) limits around schools and 40km/h limits in many residential areas of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

There’s no doubt speed is a major factor in the number of deaths and injuries on New Zealand roads. It causes more injuries than alcohol and drugs, and it’s estimated that 87% of current speed limits are incorrectly set.

But there’s a counter argument that speed limits should only be reduced in “high-risk areas”, with school environs being the most common example. Widespread speed limit reduction, the argument goes, will waste drivers’ time and damage the economy.

But this assumes the only way speed limits affect society is through crash-related deaths and injuries, and through time lost travelling. So it’s important we recognise the other significant benefits that come from slowing traffic down.

Death and injury

The risk of injury or death if you are hit by a vehicle is substantially lower at speeds below 50km/h. At 40km/h, for example, the risk of dying drops from around 90% to around 10%. For injuries, the greater reductions are seen at speeds of 20 or 30km/h.

Research in the UK found the introduction of 20 miles per hour (mp/h) zones resulted in a 42% reduction in road casualties, and the reduction was greatest in younger children. There was also no evidence of more people moving to drive on adjacent streets with higher speed limits.

Read more:
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Recent research in Wales, a country with a population of 3.1 million that implemented a default urban speed limit of 20mp/h (30km/h), found the economic value of savings from lower accident rates to be in the region of NZ$180m in the first year alone. The total value is far greater if other benefits are included.

What statistics don’t show is the reality of the suffering road crash deaths and injuries cause. But survivors’ stories, such as those recorded by transportation consultant Jeanette Ward, also powerfully demonstrate how lower speeds can save lives.

Economics and emissions

But what of the argument that slowing drivers down and prolonging trips mean the economy will suffer? There are two answers to this.

The first is that evidence shows lower speed limits in urban areas add virtually no time to journeys. You can see why in this simple simulation that compares traffic with different speed limits.

The second is that people don’t always productively use the time saved by faster travel. In fact, research suggests people often choose to travel further, especially for their daily commute. Making journeys faster can also encourage people to travel more often. This is called induced demand and it adds to congestion.

Read more:
Climate explained: does building and expanding motorways really reduce congestion and emissions?

Furthermore, there is a reasonably established relationship between the speed a vehicle travels and greenhouse gas emissions, with the lowest emissions being produced when a vehicle travels at around 55-80km/h.

However, this assumes a vehicle is moving smoothly, without stops and starts. Higher emissions are created when a vehicle has to repeatedly brake and accelerate. While individual driver behaviour can be a factor, the road environment and volume of traffic play a role too.

Research has actually found that in urban areas the optimum speed limit to minimise emissions for small petrol cars is 28.2km/h. For larger vehicles, diesels and SUVs, CO₂ emissions are minimised with a maximum speed of 20km/h.

Read more:
Climate explained: does your driving speed make any difference to your car’s emissions?

Pollution, noise and health

Nitrogen dioxide from traffic is estimated to cause 2,000 deaths each year in New Zealand. Emissions are lowest with 20km/h speed limits.

The World Health Organization estimates traffic noise is the second-biggest environmental stressor on public health after air pollution. Lower speeds significantly reduce noise, with research finding that “in urban areas with speeds of between 30 and 60kp/h, reducing speeds by 10kp/h would cut noise levels by up to 40%”.

Lower speed limits have also been shown to reduce health inequalities. One of the UK’s most eminent experts, Oxford University’s Professor Danny Dorling, said a 20 mile per hour (30km/h) speed limit was “the most effective thing a local authority can do to reduce health inequalities”.

This is particularly important, given rates of road injury and death in New Zealand disproportionately affect Māori, younger people and low-income communities.

A range of other benefits from reducing speed limits are identified by Paul Tranter and Rod Tolley in their book Slow Cities. These include more physical activity from walking and cycling, time saved from not having to earn the money necessary to own and operate a car, and broader economic benefits for individuals and businesses.

Overall, reduced speed limits in urban areas would not only reduce injuries and deaths, they would also make our towns and cities better places to live.

Simon Kingham is seconded two days a week to the New Zealand Ministry of Transport as Chief Science Advisor.

– ref. Lower speed limits don’t just save lives – they make NZ towns and cities better places to live – https://theconversation.com/lower-speed-limits-dont-just-save-lives-they-make-nz-towns-and-cities-better-places-to-live-194448

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Peel, Senior Research Fellow in Wildlife Disease Ecology, Griffith University

Bats have lived with coronaviruses for millennia. Details are still hazy about how one of these viruses evolved into SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID in humans. Did it go directly from bats to humans or via another animal species? When? And why? If we can’t answer these questions for this now-infamous virus, we have little hope of preventing the next pandemic.

Some bat species are hosts for other viruses lethal to humans, from rabies to Nipah to Hendra. But their supercharged immune systems allow them to co-exist with these viruses without appearing sick.

So what can we do to prevent these viruses emerging in the first place? We found one surprisingly simple answer in our new research on flying foxes in Australia: protect and restore native bat habitat to boost natural protection.

When we destroy native forests, we force nectar-eating flying foxes into survival mode. They shift from primarily nomadic animals following eucalypt flowering and forming large roosts to less mobile animals living in a large number of small roosts near agricultural land where they may come in contact with horses.

Hendra virus is carried by bats and can spill over to horses. It doesn’t often spread from horses to humans, but when it does, it’s extremely dangerous. Two-thirds of Hendra cases in horses have occurred in heavily cleared areas of northern New South Wales and south-east Queensland. That’s not a coincidence.

Now we know how habitat destruction and spillover are linked, we can act. Protecting the eucalyptus species flying foxes rely on will reduce the risk of the virus spreading to horses and then humans. The data we gathered also makes it possible to predict times of heightened Hendra virus risk – up to two years in advance.

What did we find out?

Many Australians are fond of flying foxes. Our largest flying mammal is often seen framed against summer night skies in cities.

These nectar-loving bats play a vital ecosystem role in pollinating Australia’s native trees. (Pollination in Australia isn’t limited to bees – flies, moths, birds and bats do it as well). Over winter, they rely on nectar from a few tree species such as forest red gums (Eucalyptus tereticornis) found mostly in southeast Queensland and northeast NSW. Unfortunately, most of this habitat has been cleared for agriculture or towns.

Flying foxes are typically nomadic, flying vast distances across the landscape. When eucalypts burst into flower in specific areas, these bats will descend on the abundant food and congregate in lively roosts, often over 100,000 strong.

Read more:
It’s wrong to blame bats for the coronavirus epidemic

But Australia is a harsh land. During the severe droughts brought by El Niño, eucalyptus trees may stop producing nectar. To survive, flying foxes must change their behaviour. Gone are the large roosts. Instead, bats spread in many directions, seeking other food sources, like introduced fruits. This response typically only lasts a few weeks. When eucalypt flowering resumes, the bats come back to again feed in native forests.

But what happens if there are not enough forests to come back to?

Between 1996 and 2020, we found large winter roosts of nomadic bats in southeast Queensland became increasingly rare. Instead, flying foxes were forming small roosts in rural areas they would normally have ignored and feeding on introduced plants like privet, camphor laurel and citrus fruit. This has brought them into closer contact with horses.

In related research published last month, we found the smaller roosts forming in these rural areas also had higher detection rates of Hendra virus – especially in winters after a climate-driven nectar shortage.

An early warning system for Hendra virus

Our models confirmed strong El Niño events caused nectar shortages for flying foxes, splintering their large nomadic populations into many small populations in urban and agricultural areas.

Importantly, the models showed a strong link between food shortages and clusters of Hendra virus spillovers from these new roosts in the following year.

This means by tracking drought conditions and food shortages for flying foxes, we can get crucial early warning of riskier times for Hendra virus – up to two years in advance.

Biosecurity, veterinary health and human health authorities could use this information to warn horse owners of the risk. Horse owners can then ensure their horses are protected with the vaccine.

How can we stop the virus jumping species?

Conservationists have long pointed out human health depends on a healthy environment. This is a very clear example. We found Hendra virus never jumped from flying foxes to horses when there was abundant winter nectar.

Protecting and restoring bat habitat and replanting key tree species well away from horse paddocks will boost bat health – and keep us safer.

Flying foxes leave roosts in cities or rural areas when there are abundant flowering gums elsewhere. It doesn’t take too long – trees planted today could start drawing bats within a decade.

SARS-CoV-2 won’t be the last bat virus to jump species and upend the world. As experts plan ways to better respond to next pandemic and work on human vaccines built on the equine Hendra vaccines, we can help too.

How? By restoring and protecting the natural barriers which for so long kept us safe from bat-borne viruses. It is far better to prevent viruses from spilling over in the first place than to scramble to stop a possible pandemic once it’s begun.

Planting trees can help stop dangerous new viruses reaching us. It really is as simple as that.

Read more:
Bats are hosts to a range of viruses but don’t get sick – why?

Alison Peel has received funding from Australian Research Council (DE190100710), the US National Science Foundation (DEB1716698) and the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (D18AC00031). She is a member of the Wildlife Health Australia Bat Health Focus Group and the Human Animal Spillover and Emerging Diseases Scanning (HASEDS) working group.

Peggy Eby has received funding from the US National Science Foundation (DEB1716698) and the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (D18AC00031).

Raina Plowright has received funding from the US National Science Foundation (DEB1716698), the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (D18AC00031) and the U.S. National Institute of Food and Agriculture (1015891)

– ref. To stop new viruses jumping across to humans, we must protect and restore flying fox habitat. Here’s why – https://theconversation.com/to-stop-new-viruses-jumping-across-to-humans-we-must-protect-and-restore-flying-fox-habitat-heres-why-194634

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gwilym Croucher, Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne

On Wednesday evening, Education Minister Jason Clare announced key details for the universities accord.

Clare wants to make a “long-term plan” for universities with the terms of reference covering funding, affordability, employment conditions for staff and how universities and TAFEs can work together.

This will be the first broad review of the system since the 2008 Bradley Review.

If the government’s aspirations are met, it will likely mean the most significant changes to Australian higher education in a generation.

It could reshape universities in ways as dramatic as those by former Labor education minister John Dawkins in the 1980s. This saw HECS introduced, and many higher education institutions merged and remade.

What will it look at?

Like the Hawke Government’s Prices and Incomes Accord in 1983, the universities accord is billed as a way to seek consensus around the purpose of Australian higher education, and the policy settings needed to enable this.

Under the terms of reference, the “key areas” for review by the accord include:

• meeting Australia’s knowledge and skills needs

• boosting enrolments for First Nations people, people with disability and rural and regional student

• student fees and government contributions, including a review of the Job-ready Graduates program

• workplace relations settings with universities

• the connection between the vocational education and training (which includes TAFEs) and universities

• the impact of COVID-19 and the role of international students in Australia

• the research system, which will “synchrnoise” with a current review of the Australian Research Council.

The process will be led by the former University of Adelaide Vice-Chancellor Professor Mary O’Kane, who was the first woman to lead an engineering faculty in Australia. An interim report is due in June 2023, with the final report due in December 2023.

Much at stake

There is lot at stake for students, their communities and the academics and professional staff who educate them with this accord.

Australia’s universities are successful by many measures. Students have been happy overall with the quality of education and Australia remains a popular destination for international students. There are seven Australian universities in the world’s top 100, thanks to the quality and quantity of the research they produce.

However, there is no doubt real challenges lie ahead and are growing more urgent. These include a confused and messy system for domestic student charges, an over reliance by the universities on international fee revenue and a politicised research grants scheme.

The big challenges

Each year, tens of thousands of Australians apply to university, just at the undergraduate level.

The previous government’s Job-ready Graduates program has made this harder for many students, such as for those studying humanities, who are now saddled with a much larger debt. The Coalition claimed the large increase in charges would steer students into courses it said had better job prospects, such as nursing.

Read more:
University fees are poised to change – a new system needs to consider how much courses cost and what graduates can earn

There is little evidence this has or will work.

The accord presents a chance to fix some of these issues. The Innovative Research Universities lobby group is among those and suggesting we need to rebalance what domestic students contribute to their studies.

This is particularly important, as many groups are still underrepresented in higher education, including First Nations people and those from regional Australia.

Many academics have tenuous careers

But reevaluating what students pay, and the Job-ready Graduates policies, is only one challenge for the accord. To ensure that students receive the best education, we need to ensure universities have the best workforce possible.

There is discontent and more than a little trauma within academic and professional staff ranks after two years of the pandemic and huge challenges, such as shifting university education online.

On top of this, much of the university workforce is employed on short-term and casual contracts. Australian higher education risks losing some of its best and brightest who decide they can no longer put up with such precarious employment.

The anger over pay and conditions is shown in recent strike actions around the country.

International education

One of the biggest issues the Accord will need to grapple with is the future of international higher education in Australia. Before COVID, there were more than 580,000 international students in the country.

Read more:
International students are returning to Australia, but they are mostly going to more prestigious universities

It says a lot that so many have been willing to come here as most had options to study in other countries. The fees these students paid have contributed to the high quality of the Australian sector and funded much of the research. Thinking through how quality research can be supported without these fees is a major challenge for the accord, because we need to be able to future proof the research system.

The key test for the accord will be whether it can facilitate a system that creates the kind of education that is attractive and suitable for all students, whether they are from Australia or overseas.

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

– ref. The universities accord could see the most significant changes to Australian unis in a generation – https://theconversation.com/the-universities-accord-could-see-the-most-significant-changes-to-australian-unis-in-a-generation-194738

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rodney Tiffen, Emeritus Professor, Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney

No politician, journalist or media critic has ever been heard to utter the phrase “as subtle as a Murdoch tabloid”.

So, when Murdoch’s New York Post responded to the Republicans’ unexpectedly meagre gains in the US mid-term elections, you did not need to read between the lines to see whom they blamed.

The headline was “Trumpty Dumpty” with a picture of an egg-shaped Trump sitting on a wall and the sub-head “Don (who couldn’t build a wall) had a great fall – can all the GOP’s men put the party together again?” This is a reference to the great wall that Trump promised in 2016 to build along the Mexican border to keep illegal immigrants out.

More soberly, Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal editorialised that Trump is the Republican Party’s “biggest loser”, whose campaigning had failed in 2018, 2020 and now 2022.

Trump has now announced he will be a candidate for the presidency in 2024. This suggests the Murdoch-Trump divorce is going to be long and messy, and may be politically expensive for them both.

The Murdoch media relish their reputation as king-makers. In Britain in 1992, after the Conservatives unexpectedly were re-elected, the front page of Murdoch’s Sun proclaimed “It was the Sun wot won it”.

Indeed, Murdoch has been on the winning side of every British election since 1979.

This perfect record is not paralleled in the US or Australia. Murdoch’s support was not sufficient to give Trump victory in the 2020 presidential election or the Morrison government success in 2022, let alone various state elections around Australia.

In Australia, the Murdoch press has been on a downward spiral in its capacity to directly influence election results. There seem to be three main reasons for this.

The first is their declining circulation, which not only has reduced their outreach, but increasingly means their readership comprises disproportionately an elderly constituency already set in their attitudes.

The second is that once Murdoch had a keen populist touch, able to sense coming currents in the public, side with them and make them stronger. But in more recent years his own strong right-wing views have made his media more rigid and less in tune with shifts in public opinion.

Read more:
The January 6 hearings have been spectacular TV, but will they have any consequences for Trump?

The third is that his media have become more crudely propagandistic over the decades. When Murdoch switched sides to Tony Blair’s Labour in the 1997 election, according to the acting editor of the Sun, Neil Wallis, Murdoch told him they were to be 200% behind Blair and everything he did. When he swung back to the Conservatives under David Cameron the news coverage swung at least as strongly in that direction.

In 2013, the Daily Telegraph kicked off its Australian campaign coverage with the injunction to “Kick this mob out”. It was a psychologically ripe moment after the Rudd-Gillard struggles. It is less clear that the anti-Labor campaigns since have been as in touch with the public mood.

Extreme coverage probably energises the base, but may not be terribly effective in swaying swinging voters.

In many ways, it would make commercial and professional sense for the Murdoch media to distance themselves from Trump. The next couple of years are likely to bring a series of controversies focused on Trump and his close allies such as Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani.

His business affairs may lead to prosecutions; the fall-out from the January 6 riots will continue in various ways, while there may be other specific charges relating to attempts at vote-tampering.

Moreover, all current support for Trump begins with the palpable lie that he really won the 2020 election. At the very least, support for Trump now is focused more on reclaiming the past than on the present or future.

It is easy to see that the culture war rhetoric of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis may overlap somewhat with Trump’s appeals, but without all of Trump’s baggage, and that this would be a tempting route for Murdoch. Indeed some reports have claimed Lachlan Murdoch has already offered to throw support behind DeSantis.

While such a shift would probably work well with the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post would still have its range of tabloid appeals, it would be trickier to execute it successfully on Murdoch’s Fox News.

Over the past six years, Fox News and Trump have had one of the closest ever relationships between a political leader and a media organisation in any English-speaking democracy. Many of Fox’s most prominent stars have actively campaigned for Trump and advertised their closeness to him.

Moreover, the Fox audience would be one of the strongest Trump constituencies in the country. It would be very easy to alienate some of them, who may then turn to other right-wing media for more comforting views.

Rodney Tiffen 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. Trump announces he’ll run for president again as Murdoch turns on him – and it could be politically expensive for both – https://theconversation.com/trump-announces-hell-run-for-president-again-as-murdoch-turns-on-him-and-it-could-be-politically-expensive-for-both-194709

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lurion De Mello, Senior Lecturer in Finance, Macquarie University

As the La Niña weather event wreaks havoc across New South Wales, coal operators are suffering. The Australian coal company Whitehaven is among them – last week slashing its production forecasts after disruption by floods and heavy rain.

The irony of a coal company being hit by extreme weather events was not lost on some. While it’s hard to know how climate change is influencing this La Niña, evidence suggests flood events will become more frequent and intense as the planet warms.

Climate variations cause problems for many industries, and coal is not immune. Wet coal is heavier to transport. And rain can disrupt both mine operations and the transport networks crucial to moving coal and mine workers.

All this comes as coal demand surges, and as pressure mounts for the industry to wind back production to help tackle climate change. So let’s look at what the industry faces in these turbulent times.

Rain on the coal parade

Australia is the world’s second-biggest thermal coal exporter, behind Indonesia. Our shipments mostly end up in Japan, India, Vietnam and South Korea.

Thermal coal is burnt to make electricity. Australia also produces metallurgical or “coking” coal used to make steel.

In recent years, extreme weather in Australia has exposed the coal industry’s vulnerability to climate risk.

Research shows the 2010/2011 Queensland floods affected about 40 of the state’s 50 coal mines, costing more than A$2 billion in lost production.

Read more:
Climate change will clearly disrupt El Niño and La Niña this decade – 40 years earlier than we thought

Australia is now experiencing more heavy rain thanks to a third consecutive La Niña. It led to floods in Queensland last year that forced the Baralaba North Coal Mine to suspend operations after water affected the mine and access roads. Workers were stood down without pay, prompting anger from the union.

In the NSW Hunter Valley, heavy rain in July this year forced closures to a rail network that connects about 40 coal mines to the Port of Newcastle. Coal export services were suspended and the disruption pushed up coal prices.

Heavy rain is likely to interrupt supply for the remainder of spring and into summer. Last week, Whitehaven said rain and local flooding were affecting production at two open-cut mines near Gunnedah in NSW. Roads were cut off as dams and rivers near the mine spilled over, forcing the company to transport staff to the mine by helicopter.

Rain can bring other problems. Wet coal can slip and spill from conveyor belts while being loaded onto ships. And wet coal is heavy, making it more expensive to transport.

Volatile times for coal

Australian coal exports remain strong. But the rain disruptions add to already unsettled times for coal, both here and abroad.

Demand for coal has increased in the past two years, for a number of reasons. First is the global economic rebound from the COVID pandemic. Second is soaring gas prices following Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Diesel supply issues and upcoming cuts to crude oil production are also driving coal demand.

As the Northern Hemisphere heads into winter, demand is likely to increase further. The United Kingdom, for example, plans to keep coal plants operating this winter, despite a longer-term plan to permanently close them by October 2024. And Asia may have to lean more towards coal for the next six months as liquified natural gas flows into Europe.

All this has pushed coal prices up. So rain-related disruptions to Australian coal exports may result in missed opportunities for our coal operators.

Read more:
Global carbon emissions at record levels with no signs of shrinking, new data shows. Humanity has a monumental task ahead

At the same time, the coal industry faces headwinds.

Shipping costs have reached new highs. For Australian exporters, China’s ban on Australian coal is an added complication – however this week’s meeting between the two nation’s leaders may have thawed diplomatic relations.

Then, of course, there’s climate change. Coal is the world’s largest source of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. There’s widespread acknowledgement we must move away from burning coal and transition to renewable energy to avoid the worst climate harms.

Many countries still rely on coal for energy security and for use in industrial processes. Coal also supports jobs and provides export income.

In India, for example, the minister in charge of coal production says the fossil fuel will play an important role in the country until at least 2040. And a study released last month found hundreds of coal companies around the world were developing new mines and power stations.

So moving away from coal – particularly thermal coal – is likely to take time.

What does all this mean?

In the short term, as La Niña hangs around, Australia may struggle to fulfil its coal supply commitments over the Southern Hemisphere spring and summer.

This is likely to add further headaches to the already crunched energy market.

Wet conditions are not the only climate threat to the mining industry. Drought and heat, for example, reduce the availability of water needed to operate mines. And extreme heat can affect equipment, electricity supply and worker productivity.

In the longer term, the prospects for Australia’s coal exports are very uncertain. The Reserve Bank, for example, says coal and gas exports from Australia would at least halve if big buyers including China, Japan and South Korea meet their climate commitments.

There are many types of coal – and challenges abound in replacing them with cleaner alternatives. Until the transition is complete, coal is among many industries that must adapt to future weather extremes.

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A technologically advanced society is choosing to destroy itself. It’s both fascinating and horrifying to watch

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

– ref. Rain makes coal heavy, slippery and harder to dig up. So what does La Niña mean for this already disrupted industry? – https://theconversation.com/rain-makes-coal-heavy-slippery-and-harder-to-dig-up-so-what-does-la-nina-mean-for-this-already-disrupted-industry-192018

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mamoun Alazab, Associate Professor, College of Engineering, IT and Environment, Charles Darwin University

The Australian government is launching an offensive against cybercriminals, following a data breach that has exposed millions of people’s personal information.

On November 12, Minister for Cyber Security Clare O’Neil announced a taskforce to “hack the hackers” behind the recent Medibank data breach.

The taskforce will be a first-of-its-kind permanent, joint collaboration between Australian Federal Police and the Australian Signals Directorate. Its 100 or so operatives will use the same cyber weapons and tactics as cybercriminals use, to hunt them down and eliminate them as a threat.

Details on how the taskforce will operate remain murky, partly because it needs to keep this information away from criminals. But the fact remains that taking an offensive stance, while it could deter further attacks, could also put a big red cross on Australia’s back.

Australia punches back

It was only in 2016 that the Australian government first publicly acknowledged it has offensive cyber capabilities housed in the Australian Signals Directorate – and that these are used against offshore cybercriminals. The admission came from then prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, following attacks on the Bureau of Meteorology and Department of Parliamentary Services.

Australia has used cyber offensive strategies a number of times in the past. This has included operations against ISIS and, more recently, efforts to disable scammers’ infrastructure and access to stolen data at the start of the pandemic. Details of intelligence operations are generally kept under wraps, especially where the Australian Signals Directorate is involved.

How might the taskforce operate?

Minister O’Neil has said the new taskforce will:

scour the world, hunt down the criminal syndicates and gangs who are targeting Australia in cyber attacks and disrupt their efforts.

As to whether the it could launch a counterattack on the Medibank hackers, the resources are there, but working out the kinks will be crucial. Australia’s intelligence agencies have more resources than the average organised cyber gang, not to mention connections to other advanced intelligence agencies around the world.

However, one key issue with holding cybercriminals to account is attribution. A legitimate counterattack requires identifying the source of an attack beyond reasonable doubt. The Medibank data leak has been attributed to criminals based in Russia – most likely from, or at least associated with, the REvil cyber gang.

This assumption is based on similarities between existing REvil sites on the dark web and the extortion site hosting the stolen Medibank data, as well as other similarities between the Medibank attack and REvil’s previous attacks.

Read more:
What do we know about REvil, the Russian ransomware gang likely behind the Medibank cyber attack?

That said, hackers can hide their identity by routing through (often unaware) third parties. So even if this attack is attributable to REvil, or its close associates, the attackers could easily deny involvement if taken to court.

The group could say its systems were used as unwitting hosts by another external perpetrator. Plausible deniability can almost always be maintained in such cases. Russia (and China) have had a track record of denying involvement in cyber espionage.

As such, it’s very difficult to prosecute cybercriminals – especially in cases where these criminals may be backed (officially or unofficially) by their government. And if perpetrators can’t be put behind bars, they can simply lie low for a while before popping up somewhere else in cyberspace.

Beyond the Medibank hackers, the taskforce will also target other potential threats to Australia. In the case of inaccurate attribution in any of these operations, we might see tit-for-tat escalation. In a worst-case scenario, attacks based on incorrect attribution could start a cyberwar with another country.

Read more:
Medibank hackers are now releasing stolen data on the dark web. If you’re affected, here’s what you need to know

Defence before offence

By actively seeking and trying to neutralise offshore gangs, Australia will put a target on its back. Russian-linked criminal gangs and others might be encouraged to retaliate and target our sectors, including critical infrastructure.

Boosting Australia’s cyber defences should be the top priority – arguably more so than retaliating. Especially since, even if the taskforce successfully mounts a counterattack on the Medibank hackers, it’s unlikely to recover any data stolen (since criminals make copies of stolen data).

Going after cybercriminals addresses the symptoms of the problem, not the root: the fact that our systems were vulnerable enough to be hacked in the first place. The Medibank breach, and the major Optus breach preceding it, have both demonstrated that even businesses with seemingly strong cybersecurity protocols are vulnerable to attacks.

The best option from a rational and technical standpoint is to prevent, as much as possible, data being stolen in the first place. It might not be as flashy a solution, but it’s the best one in the longer term.

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

– ref. A new cyber taskforce will supposedly ‘hack the hackers’ behind the Medibank breach. It could put a target on Australia’s back – https://theconversation.com/a-new-cyber-taskforce-will-supposedly-hack-the-hackers-behind-the-medibank-breach-it-could-put-a-target-on-australias-back-194532

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

As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes “Word from The Hill”, where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team.

In this podcast Michelle and politics editor Amanda Dunn discuss the significant thaw in Australia-China relations that’s come with the Albanese-Xi meeting, held on the sidelines of the G20 in Bali. The last such top-level meeting was between President Xi Jinping and then PM Malcolm Turnbull in 2016.

It’s now a question of whether this breakthrough will lead to serious follow-through, with a relaxation of China’s damaging restrictions on a range of Australia’s exports.

Meanwhile next week, the prime minister will be back into the hurly-burly of domestic politics, with the government battling to secure its controversial industrial relations bill through the Senate before Christmas. All eyes are on Senate independent crossbencher David Pocock, from the ACT.

The final sitting fortnight of the year will put the parliamentary stamp on the anti-corruption commission and also see a free vote in the upper house on a bill (already through the House of Representatives) to allow the ACT and Northern Territory to legislate for voluntary assisted dying.

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. Word from The Hill: Albanese-Xi meeting is the first step on long march – https://theconversation.com/word-from-the-hill-albanese-xi-meeting-is-the-first-step-on-long-march-194730

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Cowan, Professorial Research Fellow, Audiology and Speech Pathology, The University of Melbourne

Music is an integral part of human life. It’s all around us, just like sunshine, lifting our mood. We enjoy it so much that many of us take it with us everywhere on our phones or we spend weekends hitting the club scene, live-music venues or concerts.

Meanwhile, many of us may have felt annoyed by loud sound from music venues or remarked on sound emanating from someone else’s headphones. We’re probably aware we should prevent hearing loss from loud industrial noise at work or from using power tools at home.

A systematic review released today in BMJ Global Health reports unsafe listening practices in adolescents and young adults from using personal listening devices (such as phones or digital music players) and going to loud clubs and gigs are common, and could be a major factor contributing to hearing loss.

In fact, the authors estimate the pumping tunes could be placing up to 1.35 billion young people at risk of hearing loss worldwide.

What the study looked at

Systematic analysis involves looking across multiple studies to identify consistent findings. In this study, the authors included 33 peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2021, involving over 19,000 people, aged 12–34.

In the study, unsafe listening was identified as listening at levels above 80 decibels for over 40 hours per week. For context, this is the level above which most Australian states require industry to implement noise protection processes such as use of hearing protectors.

The study confirms the rate of unsafe listening practices is high in adolescents and young adults: 23.81% of them were listening to music on personal devices at unsafe levels and 48.2% at loud entertainment venues (though this rate is less certain). Based on global estimates of population, this translates to up to 1.35 billion young people at risk of hearing loss globally. The World Health Organization estimates over 430 million people worldwide already have a disabling hearing loss and prevalence could double if hearing loss prevention is not prioritised.

The results tally with our previous studies conducted by Australia’s National Acoustic Laboratories and HEARing Cooperative Research Centre.

More than a decade ago we reported a high potential for hearing loss from attendance at nightclubs, pubs and live concerts in young Australians aged between 18–35 years.

Back then, we found 13% of young Australians (aged 18–35) were getting a yearly noise dose from nightclubs, concerts and sporting activities that exceeded the maximum acceptable dose in industry. In 2015, the WHO launched the Make listening Safe initiative to encourage young people to protect their hearing.

Why it’s bad for your hearing

So what’s the problem with loud music? Like sunshine, overexposure can lead to harm.

Loud noise, including music, can kill off hair cells and membranes in the inner ear (the cochlea). Once hearing is lost, a person mightn’t be able to hear or understand speech or sounds around them.

Research shows hearing loss results from a combination of sound being too loud (and it doesn’t need to be painful to cause hearing damage), listening to loud sound too long (and the louder the sound, the less time you can listen before your hearing is at risk) and how often you are exposed (and hearing damage is cumulative over time).

A good “rule of ear” is that if you hear ringing in your ears at or after listening, you are at risk of damaging your hearing. This type of hearing loss is permanent and may require use of hearing aids or cochlear implants.

Read more:
Don’t wear earphones all day – your ears need to breathe

Wait, so no loud music at all?

So what can we do, short of throwing away our headphones and avoiding clubbing and live music?

First, just like with the sun and skin, we need to be aware of the risks to our hearing and take the necessary steps to protect ourselves. We need to be aware of how loud sound is around us and how to keep our exposure within safe levels. We can do this by using personal hearing protection in clubs (such as ear muffs or ear plugs that are fit for purpose), or limiting how often we visit noisy music venues or how long we stay at really loud ones.

In Australia, people can access a free noise risk calculator to calculate their personal risk using an online sound level meter, and to explore how changes in lifestyle could protect their hearing while still allowing them to enjoy music.

Most phones now comes with software can monitor safe listening levels and limit exposure.

Hearing protection at the venue level is more challenging and may require regulatory and industry-based approaches. Our 2020 research identified hazard controls for entertainment venues, such alternating volume between louder and softer levels, rotating staff, providing quiet rooms, and raising speaker locations above head height. We also showed DJs and venues were open to initiatives aimed at reducing the risk of hearing loss for their patrons and staff.

Compromises are possible and they could enable enjoyment of music at live-music venues, while still protecting hearing. That way everyone will be able keep enjoying music for longer.

Read more:
Is it possible to listen to too much music each day?

Robert Cowan has received funding from the Commonwealth Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Program, The National Health and Medical Research Foundation, and the NSW Office of Medical Science and Research.
He was CEO and Principal Investigator of a number of studies addressing prevention of hearing loss in young people, in particular in relation to attendance at live music venues, and has co-authored publications in this area.

– ref. Pumping loud music is putting more than 1 billion young people at risk of hearing loss – https://theconversation.com/pumping-loud-music-is-putting-more-than-1-billion-young-people-at-risk-of-hearing-loss-194537

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Sussex, Fellow, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University

One of the most persistent fears about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has been the potential for the war to ramp up dramatically in scope.

Those fears are legitimate, especially given the bellicose rhetoric and brinkmanship emanating from the Kremlin. And although concerns about nuclear escalation have dominated the headlines, the surest path to a bigger war would be an attack – inadvertent or otherwise – on a NATO state. If NATO members were drawn in, that would bring about what Kremlin propagandists have been spruiking for months: an existential contest between Russia and the European West.

Now a large explosion has killed two people in the Polish village of Przewodów, close to the Ukrainian border. It occurred during a massive Russian bombardment, with around 100 missiles fired at civilian and infrastructure targets across Ukraine.

Is this the tipping point that dramatically changes the contours of the war?

For the moment, that seems unlikely. But it is a significant crisis with the potential to spiral further, and it will require careful management to avert that.

Does this mean the war is widening?

That an attack on a NATO country might not automatically trigger a collective response by the alliance seems to run contrary to popular wisdom. After all, doesn’t Article 5 of the NATO Treaty clearly state that an attack against one member is an attack against all of them?

It was certainly the case that Article 5 was invoked after the September 11 attacks on the US in 2001. So what’s different here?

For one thing, details about the explosion are still sketchy. It could have been a Russian missile (or missiles) that wandered off-target. It also could have been a Russian strike, perhaps intended for power generation stations near the west Ukrainian city of Lviv, that was knocked off course by Ukrainian air defences.

Indeed, there is some preliminary evidence that missile fragments bear close resemblance to the Russian-made S-300 surface-to-air systems used by Ukraine to knock down incoming cruise missiles and enemy aircraft.

Read more:
Why Putin’s retreat from Kherson could be his most humiliating defeat yet

Even if that is the case, it’s worth remembering that nothing would have happened if Russian forces hadn’t been enthusiastically shooting missiles at Ukraine in the first place.

It’s also important to note that Article 5 isn’t black and white. Indeed, having flexibility and room for interpretation is probably a good thing in this case. Poland is highly likely to invoke Article 4 of the treaty, requesting an urgent meeting of the alliance to report an attack on its territory.

Warsaw may well push for an Article 5 response at that meeting, seeking collective action from the alliance. But that response can be graduated up to and including military force. It is not an automatic trigger for it.

For its part, the Kremlin and its obedient media have predictably trotted out a number of bizarre claims. The main line seems to be that the missile was a deliberate attack by Ukraine to draw NATO into the conflict, although Russia Today’s chief propagandist Margarita Simonyan has wildly speculated that it was a British missile, or that Poland attacked itself to bring about a larger war.

These can all safely be discounted as false flags intended mainly for a domestic audience. Nobody but the most ardent Putinverstecher (German for “Putin sympathiser”) in the West will believe them. There is certainly no incentive for Ukraine to jeopardise its vital armaments lifeline with the West with a preposterously risky gambit to make NATO a combatant.

On the contrary, Ukraine’s armed forces are doing just fine without NATO involvement. The string of humiliating Russian defeats, up to its most recent retreat from Kherson, has demonstrated that very clearly.

Read more:
Could Russia collapse?

So what is NATO likely to do?

A range of options will be on the table. NATO’s response will need to be carefully calibrated to ensure it is seen as acting decisively but not provocatively. That may seem overly cautious given it was a NATO member that has suffered an attack, but Western military planners will be keen to avoid feeding Kremlin conspiracy theories about NATO being a de facto combatant.

At the same time, the West will want to demonstrate to Russian President Vladimir Putin that it will not tolerate death and destruction on the territory of NATO members as a result of a war that Putin bears the sole responsibility for starting.

And, finally, the NATO response will need to satisfy Warsaw to maintain alliance confidence: particularly since its leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have gone on record with statements committing them to the vigorous defence of NATO members. Indeed, the credibility of the West – that it stands by its friends and honours its commitments – is just as important for how it is perceived beyond Europe as within it.

To achieve that, NATO will clearly need to do more than just issue a strongly worded protest note, along with additional sanctions on Russia. These may ultimately be part of the response package, but there will also be pressure for more concerted action, such as increasing NATO’s military presence in Poland and performing more combat patrols.

That would be a measured response, and it would be consistent with NATO’s geopolitical trajectory since the war began, with Warsaw now assuming a prominent place among the alliance’s members.

There are also other steps that are likely to be considered. For some time, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has been requesting advanced air defence systems from the West. He is now likely to get them. At the very least, this episode will strongly bolster his arguments that Ukraine deserves the means to protect its citizens.

What about other measures? Is it now the time, for instance, for NATO to enforce a “no-fly zone” in Western Ukraine? Perhaps. Earlier in the war, the idea was rejected as too escalatory and difficult to manage, especially since safeguarding humanitarian corridors for refugees were also part of the discussion.

But with the tide of the war turning in Ukraine’s favour, NATO’s more risk-averse members might endorse a limited use of air defences against Russian missile strikes that are targeted close to Ukraine’s borders with NATO states. Conversely, of course, NATO’s leaders might deem that a step too far at a time when Ukraine is winning the war in any case.

For Putin, though, some degree of NATO response is now inevitable. Being able to bluster once again about Russia’s struggle against a satanic and morally bankrupt West is unlikely to bring him any comfort. His indiscriminate missile strikes have been laid bare as a tactic of the weak. They will harden Western resolve and make its leaders far less inclined to put pressure on Kyiv for a negotiated settlement.

And they will hasten the moment when Putin finally learns a core lesson about wars: those who start them only rarely emerge as victors.

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

– ref. Missile hits Poland, killing two: is this the trigger for a wider European war? – https://theconversation.com/missile-hits-poland-killing-two-is-this-the-trigger-for-a-wider-european-war-194717

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco Amati, Associate Professor of International Planning, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University

For 185 years, Melbourne’s Hoddle Grid – the ordered layout of CBD streets and blocks designed in 1837 – has dictated the flow of people and vehicles in the city centre. But how well does the grid serve 21st-century needs?

Melbourne faces three interconnected challenges that conflict with a business-as-usual, car-based grid. These are: how to end the dominance of cars; how to respond to the reality of the city centre as a residential area; and how to “reignite” post-pandemic activity in the CBD.

Superblocks are an approach, pioneered in Barcelona, to making urban areas more liveable and people-friendly.

A superblock covers an area of multiple city blocks – typically nine in a 3×3 format – that excludes through traffic. In this space, cyclists, walkers and residents have priority, though cars still have low-speed access to all buildings within the area. Superblocks transform formerly car-dominated streets into public spaces that can be used for a range of activities.

We have developed a step-by-step approach to introducing superblocks to Melbourne.

Read more:
Superblocks are transforming Barcelona. They might work in Australian cities too

Colonialism lives on rent-free in our cities

The Hoddle Grid was used an instrument of power for expropriating land from peoples of the Eastern Kulin nation. It asserted formal control over lands that John Batman had acquired illegally.

The array of regular blocks would have helped with selling land to distant speculators by signalling equality among bidders, military control and efficient circulation of people and air.

For much of the 20th century, the grid has been open to vehicle through traffic. More recent developments have given nods to pedestrians, laneways and liveability.

Over 60% of street space in the grid is still given over to cars, although these account for less than 10% of all trips within the grid. As a result, it is still a significant site of injury, involving both road crashes and colonial dispossession.

While the grid has remained conceptually stuck in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the central business district, despite its name, has become a residential area. Promoted by the Postcode 3000 project in the 1990s, there was a shift from a “doughnut city” – populated suburbs around a hollow centre – to a cafe society.

The city centre went from 750 registered residential units in the early 1980s to more than 96,000 today. This spurred a rise in the number of bars, cafes and restaurants.

To reshape the city centre in ways that better meet the needs of Melburnians now and in the future, the grid must be redesigned. It is time, in the words of Canadian scholar Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti, to “wake up, smarten up, step up, own up, clean up, grow up, and show up”.

Read more:
Density, sprawl, growth: how Australian cities have changed in the last 30 years

How can superblocks improve the grid for people?

But how can superblocks be applied in car-dominated Melbourne? A staged and bespoke approach to gathering information and planning routes is needed. We suggest the following steps.

1. Audit the grid

Hoddle’s innovation was to have a mixture of little and main streets running parallel to one another. As a result, the sizes of junctions vary.

As well as assessing the locations of junctions and what they are like, in Melbourne we must also consider tram routes.

2. Work out what configurations are needed and where

The rectangular form, mix of large and little streets, tram lines and existing pedestrian areas all suggest departures from the “classic” 3×3 superblock that looks like a hashtag. We’re looking at including some 2×3 superblocks. All these forms should be considered to increase and improve space for pedestrians.

We propose four different options. In the following maps the green dots are junctions that have been made highly accessible for pedestrians. The more green dots, the better.

3. Assess the success of different options

Option 1 above increases the area of footpaths from around 169,000 square metres to 385,480 square metres – an increase of around 11 MCGs.

Placing open spaces in junctions radically changes the pedestrian experience. Using a method from ecology, we can calculate a pedestrian connectivity index – the probability that a pedestrian can get from one point on a footpath to another in the grid without crossing a road. For the current grid, the probability is 0.2%. For the superblock model, it’s 4% – a 20-fold increase.

Even though pedestrians have more access, unlike a pedestrianisation plan, vehicle access to the buildings remains largely the same.

4. Decide how to use all this new open space

Once the questions shift from a matter of “if” to “how”, other questions come into play. What to do about car parking? We know off-street garages within 200 metres of on-street car parks could accommodate half of this parking.

How can these new spaces in junctions be used? The renderings below (by Mónica Suárez and Alexia Yacoubian using Google Street View images) provide some ideas. The first shows a “green dot” space where a car-only junction has been converted to pedestrian space. The second shows a “yellow dot” junction shared by trams and pedestrians.

Before and after: corner of Exhibition and Little Lonsdale streets

Before and after: corner of Swanston and Lonsdale streets

These are pilot ideas – e.g. the discussion should continue to how the grid interacts with surrounding streets and with Birrarung. But it could also act as a template for other cities in Australia that are similarly modern, colonial and grid-based.

Read more:
Cars have taken over our neighbourhoods. Kid-friendly superblocks are a way for residents to reclaim their streets

5. It’s a marathon not a sprint

For more than 30 years, cities around the world from Curitiba to Barcelona have in effect been saying: thank you, dear car, for all you have given us in the 20th century, but now it is time to move on.

In practice, this needs to be a gentle and caring process with many steps, learning as we go. It is as de Oliveira Andreotti might argue, low-intensity activism and a marathon rather than a sprint.

Acknowledgments: The ideas in this article were developed as part of a workshop at RMIT. Participants included Zena Cumpston, Leanne Hodyl and representatives from City of Melbourne, Department of Transport, Yarra Trams, Infrastructure Victoria, RACV, RMIT, Melbourne and Monash Universities. Any errors remain the authors’.

Marco Amati receives funding from a variety of organisations including AURIN, ARC, Hort Innovation, State and Local Government. He is currently a co-convenor of this course: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/green-corridors-for-clean-air

Chris De Gruyter receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC). He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Traffic Planning and Management (AITPM).

Salvador Rueda receives funding from multiple multilateral and national government sources. He is working pro bono on the Melbourne superblocks concept.

– ref. How superblocks can free up and improve CBD space for the people of Melbourne – a step-by-step guide – https://theconversation.com/how-superblocks-can-free-up-and-improve-cbd-space-for-the-people-of-melbourne-a-step-by-step-guide-193860

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Barbara Norman, Emeritus Professor of Urban & Regional Planning, University of Canberra

International climate talks in Egypt known as COP27 are into their second week. Thursday is Solutions Day at the summit. Recognising that urban planning is now a front-line response to climate change, discussions will focus on sustainable cities and transport, green buildings and resilient infrastructure.

The COP26 Glasgow Pact expects countries to update planning at all levels of government to take climate change and adaptations into account. Urban planning is also included in the most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The Australian Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements similarly reinforced the urgency of planning for climate change. Its report recommended making it mandatory for land-use planning decisions to consider natural disaster risks.

Australian communities have been through a series of recent disasters. We have had extremes of drought, bushfires and now storms and floods. Some towns have been evacuated repeatedly.

Read more:
Beyond a state of sandbagging: what can we learn from all the floods, here and overseas?

Land-use planning needs to be updated to respond to a changing climate. This means working with nature, involving communities and, importantly, including the tools needed to plan for risk and uncertainty. Examples include scenario planning, carbon assessments of developments, water-sensitive urban design and factoring in the latest climate science into everyday decisions on land use.

We can’t avoid the issue of resettlement

Climate-driven resettlement, in my view, will be one of the most significant social challenges of this century. The IPCC estimates that “3.3 to 3.6 billion people live in contexts that are highly vulnerable to climate change […] unsustainable development patterns are increasing exposure of ecosystems and people to climate hazards”.

The costs are staggering. The OECD estimates, for example, that in the past two decades alone, the cost of storms reached US$1.4 trillion globally.

In my review of recent climate-induced resettlement around the world, two important lessons are:

1. it must actively involve the community

2. it takes time.

The relocation of houses in Grantham, Queensland, is a positive example of resettlement. The repeated floods across eastern Australia – and the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20 – show why a national conversation with urban and regional communities on this very challenging issue needs to start very soon.

Read more:
It’s time to come clean on Lismore’s future. People and businesses have to relocate away from the floodplains

What are the essential actions for planning?

Based in part on interviews with urban leaders around the world for my new book, Urban Planning for Climate Change, I have put forward ten essential actions. Particularly relevant to Australia are the following actions:

• map the climate risks and overlay these on existing and future urban zones to identify the “hot spots” – then publicly share the data

• make it mandatory to consider natural disaster and climate risks in all land-use planning decisions for new development and redevelopment

• plan for the cumulative impacts of climate change on communities and their consequences – this includes planning resettlement with those at risk

• provide an inclusive platform for community conversations about carbon-neutral development and adaptation options – such as climate-resilient housing and smart local renewable energy hubs – together with up-to-date, accessible information on predicted climate risks so communities and industry can make informed decisions

• invest in strategic planning that integrates action on carbon-neutral development and climate adaptation. Do not build housing any more on flood-prone land or areas of extreme fire risk.

Read more:
‘Building too close to the water. It’s ridiculous!’ Talk of buyouts after floods shows need to get serious about climate adaptation

The outcome must be that policymakers and the public have a clear understanding of where the risks are, where to build, where not to build, and the range of options in between.

For example, not building on the coastal edge does not mean quarantining that land. It means allowing activities, such as recreation, that can withstand increasing coastal flooding, as well as coastal-dependent uses such as fisheries and coastal landscapes designed to absorb storm surges.

Read more:
Floods are natural, but human decisions make disasters. We need to reflect on the endless cycles of blame

What are the next steps for Australia?

Architects, engineers, planners and builders around the world are working with communities to make development more sustainable. They need support from all levels of government.

To better plan for climate change, we in Australia can take a few key steps:

1. Update the 2011 National Urban Policy

An updated national policy should incorporate the latest climate science, national emission targets, energy policies and adaptation plans. This will help ensure new development, redevelopment and critical infrastructure are designed and built to be carbon-neutral and adapt to a changing climate.

2. Audit planning at all levels to ensure it considers climate change

The federal government should host a meeting of state and territory planning and infrastructure ministers as soon as possible after COP27. Climate change needs to be a mandatory consideration in all future land-use planning. The ministers should commission an audit of all planning legislation and major city and regional centre plans to ensure this happens.

Engagement with wider industry will be important to ensure effective implementation. Partnering in demonstration projects that showcase affordable, climate-resilient urban development can help promote the uptake of leading practice. Examples range from affordable retrofitting of housing with renewable energy solutions to recycled building materials and heat-reducing landscaping.

Extending this approach to whole neighbourhoods and suburbs is the next step.

3. Engage with the region

The federal government should continue its positive first steps on climate change with our regional neighbours, including Indonesia, New Zealand and Pacific Island nations. This long-term work needs to include support for developing climate-resilient towns and cities, as well as for resettlement.

We can learn from each other on this challenging pathway, which will connect us more than ever as a region.

Read more:
NZ’s first climate adaptation plan is a good start, but crucial questions about cost and timing must be answered

4. Ensure all levels of government work together on strategic funding

Funding is needed to develop climate-resilient plans for communities across Australia. This will help minimise future impacts and ensure we are building back better now and for future generations.

Most of the developments being approved today will still be here in 2050. This means these developments must factor in climate change now.

We now have a national government that is committed to action on climate change, thank goodness. Much is being done on renewable energy and electrification of the transport system. It is time to turn our attention to making our built environment more climate-resilient.

Barbara Norman is Emeritus Professor at the University of Canberra and has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian and ACT Governments and the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC on climate change adaptation and planning. Barbara Norman is past president and Life Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia, Vice Chair of the Australian Coastal Council and a member of the Australian Labor Party.

– ref. Urban planning is now on the front line of the climate crisis. This is what it means for our cities and towns – https://theconversation.com/urban-planning-is-now-on-the-front-line-of-the-climate-crisis-this-is-what-it-means-for-our-cities-and-towns-193452