Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina McFerran, Professor and Head of Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit; Director of Researcher Development Unit, The University of Melbourne
Many of us take pleasure in listening to music. Music accompanies important life events and lubricates social encounters. It represents aspects of our existing identity, as well as our hopes and dreams. It expresses emotions that cannot be explained with words. Music also distracts us from boredom and difficulty and helps us escape into another world.
Music seems to have a magical power: a wand to be waved that makes life feel better. But what if the power was not in the music itself? In fact, the power of music comes from our choices in what to listen to and the human agency we express in this act.
It can be seen as a placebo effect where the music is endowed with special powers by our minds. The qualities of the music are important. But as with all art, it is how we uniquely perceive the song that makes our experience powerful.
My research has shown most of us operate on autopilot when it comes to choosing music, often assuming previous music selections will have the same effect even under very different circumstances.
Stepping out of autopilot and being more intentional in the songs we chose can move from hoping the music will make you feel good, to knowing it will and seeing how it does.
Choose the right music for you
The way we experience music is personal. There is no one song that is going to make everyone feel the same.
Think about trying to pick a song to make you feel happy, or to listen to when you’re happy. If the power was in the musical qualities of the song itself, Pharrell Williams’ Happy might work. The song has several uplifting musical features: a simple but catchy melody; an energising rhythm emphasised by the singer clicking along; a lively tempo; and words that repeat the key idea.
It’s similar to Psy’s Gangnam Style, Katrina and the Waves’ Walking on Sunshine or ABBA’s Waterloo.
But just because these songs sound happy, do they make you feel happy? Would they make it into your personal top five pleasure-inducing tracks?
Your song selections are different to your friends because of the personal associations you have with them, including your personal taste. That’s why AI can’t generate the right songs for you if you ask it for “happy songs”.
You would be better off to start by looking at your own playlists and frequently played tracks to identify which ones actually make you feel good, personally.
Understanding meaning
It’s important to distinguish between pleasure-inducing tracks and meaningful songs.
Meaningful songs are linked to a range of emotions, identities, histories and social connections – but only some of those are pleasure inducing. Others connect to poignant and beautiful feelings such as grief and loss, whether that is missing home or missing people and creatures we love. This poignancy is distinct from hedonism, which is happiness without negative affect.
If you’re experiencing grief, for example, there may be a beauty in remembering your loved one, but it is connected to the pain of their absence. Choosing pleasure-inducing songs operates as an aesthetic distraction to take our mind away from the pain, which is a different (not necessarily worse or better) choice.
Listening to sad songs when you feel low may help with emotional processing – but not always. Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock
Sometimes meaning doesn’t come with a beautiful purpose. Like the love song that becomes the breakup song. Or the favourite artist whose death renders a song poignant rather than uplifting. Then the song may help with emotional processing, or it may not, it can just fulfil a desire for rumination – a thought we keep circling around without discharging the intensity or our perspective on it.
It might seem obvious that these events will change the way we feel when we listen to a song. But it can be surprisingly difficult to let go of music we love.
Sad songs can be enjoyable and/or a beautiful way of connecting to emotional experiences. But they can also intensify our negative emotions, which doesn’t always lead to resolution.
Being conscious and intentional in music choices is important, especially if you’re tending to ruminate. During down times in life, it is worth checking in after listening to make sure the song is helping you process and resolve, and not just intensify and maintain a negative state you would rather leave behind.
Finding what you love
But most days you are safe to let your instincts guide you. After all, there’s nothing more pleasurable than spending time listening to a banger.
In technical speak, we call these “preferred songs” – songs that might not be personally meaningful, or fill you with joy exactly, but they are just great tracks. Music you love, appreciate and rate.
But even identifying preferred songs is still personal. Despite what many people think, it’s very difficult to get agreement about what makes a good song. But it’s not difficult to identify the songs that you think are great. In fact, it’s a super fun thing to do.
Katrina McFerran has received funding from the Australian Research Council and the University of Melbourne to investigate this topic. She is a registered music therapist with the Australian Music Therapy Association.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina McFerran, Professor and Head of Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit; Director of Researcher Development Unit, The University of Melbourne
Many of us take pleasure in listening to music. Music accompanies important life events and lubricates social encounters. It represents aspects of our existing identity, as well as our hopes and dreams. It expresses emotions that cannot be explained with words. Music also distracts us from boredom and difficulty and helps us escape into another world.
Music seems to have a magical power: a wand to be waved that makes life feel better. But what if the power was not in the music itself? In fact, the power of music comes from our choices in what to listen to and the human agency we express in this act.
It can be seen as a placebo effect where the music is endowed with special powers by our minds. The qualities of the music are important. But as with all art, it is how we uniquely perceive the song that makes our experience powerful.
My research has shown most of us operate on autopilot when it comes to choosing music, often assuming previous music selections will have the same effect even under very different circumstances.
Stepping out of autopilot and being more intentional in the songs we chose can move from hoping the music will make you feel good, to knowing it will and seeing how it does.
Choose the right music for you
The way we experience music is personal. There is no one song that is going to make everyone feel the same.
Think about trying to pick a song to make you feel happy, or to listen to when you’re happy. If the power was in the musical qualities of the song itself, Pharrell Williams’ Happy might work. The song has several uplifting musical features: a simple but catchy melody; an energising rhythm emphasised by the singer clicking along; a lively tempo; and words that repeat the key idea.
It’s similar to Psy’s Gangnam Style, Katrina and the Waves’ Walking on Sunshine or ABBA’s Waterloo.
But just because these songs sound happy, do they make you feel happy? Would they make it into your personal top five pleasure-inducing tracks?
Your song selections are different to your friends because of the personal associations you have with them, including your personal taste. That’s why AI can’t generate the right songs for you if you ask it for “happy songs”.
You would be better off to start by looking at your own playlists and frequently played tracks to identify which ones actually make you feel good, personally.
Understanding meaning
It’s important to distinguish between pleasure-inducing tracks and meaningful songs.
Meaningful songs are linked to a range of emotions, identities, histories and social connections – but only some of those are pleasure inducing. Others connect to poignant and beautiful feelings such as grief and loss, whether that is missing home or missing people and creatures we love. This poignancy is distinct from hedonism, which is happiness without negative affect.
If you’re experiencing grief, for example, there may be a beauty in remembering your loved one, but it is connected to the pain of their absence. Choosing pleasure-inducing songs operates as an aesthetic distraction to take our mind away from the pain, which is a different (not necessarily worse or better) choice.
Listening to sad songs when you feel low may help with emotional processing – but not always. Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock
Sometimes meaning doesn’t come with a beautiful purpose. Like the love song that becomes the breakup song. Or the favourite artist whose death renders a song poignant rather than uplifting. Then the song may help with emotional processing, or it may not, it can just fulfil a desire for rumination – a thought we keep circling around without discharging the intensity or our perspective on it.
It might seem obvious that these events will change the way we feel when we listen to a song. But it can be surprisingly difficult to let go of music we love.
Sad songs can be enjoyable and/or a beautiful way of connecting to emotional experiences. But they can also intensify our negative emotions, which doesn’t always lead to resolution.
Being conscious and intentional in music choices is important, especially if you’re tending to ruminate. During down times in life, it is worth checking in after listening to make sure the song is helping you process and resolve, and not just intensify and maintain a negative state you would rather leave behind.
Finding what you love
But most days you are safe to let your instincts guide you. After all, there’s nothing more pleasurable than spending time listening to a banger.
In technical speak, we call these “preferred songs” – songs that might not be personally meaningful, or fill you with joy exactly, but they are just great tracks. Music you love, appreciate and rate.
But even identifying preferred songs is still personal. Despite what many people think, it’s very difficult to get agreement about what makes a good song. But it’s not difficult to identify the songs that you think are great. In fact, it’s a super fun thing to do.
Katrina McFerran has received funding from the Australian Research Council and the University of Melbourne to investigate this topic. She is a registered music therapist with the Australian Music Therapy Association.
The Cook Islands finds itself in a precarious dance — one between the promises of foreign investments and the integrity of our own sovereignty. As the country sways between partners China and Aotearoa New Zealand, the Cook Islands News asks: “Do we continue to haka with the Taniwha, our constitutional partner, or do we dance with the dragon?”
EDITORIAL:By Thomas Tarurongo Wynne, Cook Islands News
Our relationship with China, forged through over two decades of diplomatic agreements, infrastructure projects and economic cooperation, demands further scrutiny. Do we continue to embrace the dragon with open arms, or do we stand wary?
And what of the Taniwha, a relationship now bruised by the ego of the few but standing the test of time?
If our relationship with China were a building, it would be crumbling like the very structures they have built for us. The Cook Islands Police Headquarters (2005) was meant to stand as a testament to our growing diplomatic and financial ties, but its foundations — both literal and metaphorical — have been called into question as its structure deteriorated.
Then, in 2009, the Cook Islands Courthouse followed, plagued by maintenance issues almost immediately after its completion. Our National Stadium, also built in 2009 for the Pacific Mini Games, was heralded as a great achievement, yet signs of premature wear and tear began surfacing far earlier than expected.
Still, we continue this dance, entranced by the allure of foreign investment and large-scale projects, even as history and our fellow Pacific partners across the moana warn us of the risks.
These structures, now symbols of our fragile dependence, stand as a metaphor for our relationship with the dragon: built with promises of strength, only to falter under closer scrutiny. And yet, we keep returning to the dance floor. These projects, rather than standing as enduring monuments to our relationship with China, serve as cautionary tales.
And then came Te Mato Vai.
What began as a bold and necessary vision to modernise Rarotonga’s water infrastructure became a slow and painful lesson in accountability. The involvement of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) saw the project mired in substandard work, legal disputes and cost overruns.
By the time McConnell Dowell, a New Zealand firm, was brought in to fix the defects, the damage — financial and reputational — was done.
Prime Minister Mark Brown, both as Finance Minister and now as leader, has walked an interesting line between criticism and praise.
In 2017, he voiced concerns about the poor workmanship and assured the nation that the government would seek accountability, stating, “We are deeply concerned about the quality of work delivered by CCECC. Our people deserve better, and we will pursue all avenues to ensure accountability.”
In 2022, he acknowledged the cost overruns but framed them as necessary lessons in securing a reliable water supply. And yet, most recently, during the December 2024 visit of China’s Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, he declared Te Mato Vai a “commitment to a stronger, healthier, and more resilient nation. Together, we’ve delivered a project that not only meets the needs of today but safeguards the future of Rarotonga’s water supply.”
The Cook Islands’ relationship with New Zealand has long been one of deep familial, historical and political ties — a dance with the taniwha, if you will. As a nation with free association status, we have relied on New Zealand for economic support, governance frameworks and our shared citizenship ties.
And they have relied on our labour and expertise, which adds over a billion dollars to their economy each year. We have well-earned our discussion around citizenship and statehood, but that must come from the ground up, not from the top down.
China has signed similar agreements across the Pacific, most notably with the Solomon Islands, weaving itself into the region’s economic and political fabric. Yet, while these partnerships promise opportunity, they also raise concerns about sovereignty, dependency and the price of such alignments, as well as the geopolitical and strategic footprint of the dragon.
But as we reflect on the shortcomings of these partnerships, the question remains: Do we continue to place our trust in foreign powers, or do we reinvest in our own community and governance systems?
At the end of the day, we must ask ourselves: How do we sign bold agreements on the world stage without consultation, while struggling to resolve fundamental issues at home?
Healthcare, education, the rise in crime, mental health, disability, poverty — the list goes on and on, while our leaders are wined and dined on state visits around the globe.
Dance with the dragon, if you so choose, but save the last dance for the voting public in 2026. In 2026, the voters will decide who leads this dance and who gets left behind.
Republished from the Cook Islands News with permission.
Late last year, ChatGPT was used by a Victorian child protection worker to draft documents. In a glaring error, ChatGPT referred to a “doll” used for sexual purposes as an “age-appropriate toy”. Following this, the Victorian information commissioner banned the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in child protection.
Unfortunately, many harmful AI systems will not garner such public visibility. It’s crucial that people who use social services – such as employment, homelessness or domestic violence services – are aware they may be subject to AI. Additionally, service providers should be well informed about how to use AI safely.
Fortunately, emerging regulations and tools, such as our trauma-informed AI toolkit, can help to reduce AI harm.
How do social services use AI?
AI has captured global attention with promises of better service delivery. In a strained social services sector, AI promises to reduce backlogs, lower administrative burdens and allocate resources more effectively while enhancing services. It’s no surprise a range of social service providers are using AI in various ways.
Chatbots simulate human conversation with the use of voice, text or images. These programs are increasingly used for a range of tasks. For instance, they can provide mental health support or offer employment advice. They can also speed up data processing or help quickly create reports.
However, chatbots can easily produce harmful or inaccurate responses. For instance, the United States National Eating Disorders Association deployed the chatbot Tessa to support clients experiencing eating disorders. But it was quickly pulled offline when advocates flagged Tessa was providing harmful weight loss advice.
Recommender systems use AI to make personalised suggestions or options. These could include targeting job or rental ads, or educational material based on data available to service providers.
Recognition systems classify data such as images or text to compare one dataset to another. These systems can complete many tasks, such as face matching to verify identity or transcribing voice to text.
Such systems can raise surveillance, privacy, inaccuracy and discrimination concerns. A homeless shelter in Canada stopped using facial recognition cameras because they risked privacy breaches – it’s difficult to obtain informed consent from mentally unwell or intoxicated people using the shelter.
Risk-assessment systems use AI to predict the likelihood of a specific outcome occurring. Many systems have been used to calculate the risk of child abuse, long-term unemployment, or tax and welfare fraud.
Often data used in these systems can recreate societal inequalities, causing harm to already-marginalised peoples. In one such case, a tool in the US used for identifying risk of child mistreatment unfairly targeted poor, black and biracial families and families with disabilities.
Many social service providers have long adopted a trauma-informed approach. It prioritises trust, safety, choice, empowerment, transparency, and cultural, historical and gender-based considerations. A trauma-informed service provider understands the impact of trauma and recognises signs of trauma in users.
Service providers should be wary of abandoning these core principles despite the allure of the often hyped capabilities of AI.
Can social services use AI responsibly?
To reduce the risk of causing or perpetuating trauma, social service providers should carefully evaluate any AI system before using it.
For AI systems already in place, evaluation can help monitor their impact and ensure they are operating safely.
We have developed a trauma-informed AI assessment toolkit that helps service providers to assess the safety of their planned or current use of AI. The toolkit is based on the principles of trauma-informed care, case studies of AI harms, and design workshops with service providers. An online version of the toolkit is about to be piloted within organisations.
By posing a series of questions, the toolkit enables service providers to consider whether risks outweigh the benefits. For instance, is the AI system co-designed with users? Can users opt out of being subject to the AI system?
It guides service providers through a series of practical considerations to enhance the safe use of AI.
Social services do not have to avoid AI altogether. But social service providers and users should be aware of the risks of harm from AI – so they can intentionally shape AI for good.
The project was funded by the Notre Dame-IBM Technology Ethics Lab.
Suvradip Maitra is funded by an Australian Government Research Training Program Domestic Scholarship.
Lyndal Sleep was funded by the University of Notre Dame for this research. She is affiliated with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society.
Paul Henman receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC). He is affiliated with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society.
Suzanna Fay received funding from the Notre Dame-IBM Technology Ethics Lab for this project.
Donald Trump has already made good on his threat to impose an additional 10% tax on Chinese goods, and is due to announce a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium imports into the United States.
While he has paused proposed 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports for the time being, a trade war between the US and the rest of the world remains a real possibility.
They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farm products, they take almost nothing and we take everything from them. Millions of cars, tremendous amounts of food and farm products.
While it’s true the EU exports more to the US than it imports, it’s simplistic to use bilateral trade balances as a gauge of the overall economic benefits. International trade allows countries to concentrate on producing the goods and services they do well, and to exchange them for ones more costly to produce domestically.
Ultimately, trade allows everyone to consume more. A trade war therefore makes nations worse off: tariffs divert trade flows and reduce the exchange of goods. And, of course, this filters down to affect ordinary household incomes.
Households worse off
The impact of a trade war on any given country will depend on several factors, including the share of a nation’s exports exposed to new tariffs, and the importance of trade to each economy.
Small countries tend to trade more than large ones because they specialise in producing a relatively small number of goods, and rely on trade to consume a variety of products.
To quantify the impacts of a trade war, I consider a scenario where the US imposes additional tariffs of 25% on all merchandise imports (the figure Trump has consistently used), and all other countries respond with similar tariffs on US goods.
I simulate the tariffs in a global model of production, trade and consumption similar to that used by the New Zealand Productivity Commission’s inquiry into improving economic resilience. The model uses input-output tables that describe production of 32 commodities in each country, and data on bilateral trade in each commodity between nations.
National-level impacts are measured by calculating the equivalent impact on aggregate household income. This metric converts the effects from the tariffs – including changes in product prices, wages and business profits – into changes in household income.
In New Zealand, the trade war decreases aggregate household income by 0.1% or NZ$322 million per year. Divided among the country’s nearly two million households, this means each household is worse off by NZ$163 per year.
Global income declines
The impacts of the simulated trade war are larger in North America. It decreases US annual aggregate household income by 1.5%, which equates to US$262 billion, or US$2,963 per household.
In Canada and Mexico, for which the US is both a major export market and source of imports, average household income decreases by 3.6% (US$2,963) and 4.6% (US$1,192), respectively, each year.
Across all nations, the tariff war results in an equivalent decrease in aggregate household income of 0.7% (US$414 billion) per year.
The simulated tariff war also results in a reshuffling of trade. New Zealand merchandise exports to the US decrease by NZ$4.4 billion, but exports to other nations increase by a similar amount (due to their price advantage relative to US goods).
Likewise, New Zealand merchandise imports from the US decrease by NZ$4.7 billion and imports from other nations increase by about the same amount. As a result, the trade war has little impact on New Zealand’s total exports and imports.
Aggregate trade changes are largest in the US, which imposes new tariffs on all its imports and faces new tariffs in all export markets. US merchandise exports and imports both decrease by around US$565 billion (NZ$1 trillion).
Overall, the modelling confirms the well known result that trade wars decrease global economic activity and routinely make all nations worse off.
Niven Winchester has previously received funding from the Productivity Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to estimate the impacts of potential trade policies. He is affiliated with Motu Economic & Public Policy Research.
On the vast expanse of the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia, two very different creatures live side by side – but not always peacefully.
One is the southern hairy-nosed wombat, a slow-moving nocturnal digger that loves its underground burrows. The other is the European rabbit: a small and speedy invader that has spread across the continent, often wreaking environmental havoc and creating its own networks of tunnels.
How do we know where these semi-subterranean creatures live, and how many there are? The answer is from the sky.
In new research published in Australian Mammalogy, we show a way to detect wombats and rabbits using satellites that take pictures of our planet from space. By studying high-resolution images from the likes of Google Earth and Bing Maps, we can spot the telltale signs of the burrows and warrens these creatures dig into the ground.
Why is it any of our business where wombats and rabbits live?
Knowing where wombats and rabbits live is important for conservation.
Wombats are unique Australian marsupials that need protection. Rabbits are an invasive species that often damage the land, eating too much vegetation and eroding soil.
Finding their warrens can help scientists and wildlife managers to understand where they live. This in turn helps to make better decisions about protecting native species and controlling pests.
How do you spot a warren?
Imagine looking down at the world from the window of an aeroplane. You might easily see rivers and roads, and even buildings.
But would you spot a hole in the ground? That’s the challenge we faced in our study of satellite images.
As it turns out, wombat warrens are relatively easy to spot. They are quite large and have clear trails leading in and out. The digging leaves mounds of lighter-coloured soil.
Rabbit warrens are trickier to find. They are smaller, lack trails, and can blend in with bare patches of dirt.
How well did we do?
By comparing satellite images with surveys conducted on the ground, we figured out we could accurately detect about 82% of wombat warrens from the photos. We weren’t quite as good at rabbit warrens: we could only spot 49%. Small rabbit warrens were particularly easy to miss.
One complicating issue was the fact that wombats and rabbits sometimes share the same burrow. Usually it’s the smaller, sneakier rabbits taking advantage of the large and sturdy tunnels dug by wombats.
This makes it even harder to figure out exactly who is living where. We could recognise shared warrens when we inspected them on the ground, but so far we can’t distinguish them from satellite photos.
What’s next?
Our research shows we can use satellites to map burrowing animal populations without ever setting foot in the outback. This saves time and money, and also reduces the the risk of disturbing wildlife while conducting research.
In the future, with higher-resolution satellite images and better software – using tools like machine learning – we may be able to detect and count burrows and warrens automatically. This could be a big change for wildlife conservation and pest control.
So next time you look up at the sky, remember that somewhere out there a satellite might be taking a picture of a sleepy wombat’s home – or a rabbit plotting its next move.
Natarsha McPherson received funding from the Australian Wildlife Society’s University Research Grant.
People looking for a sperm donor can go to a fertility clinic, ask a friend to donate or look for a donor online, including on an app or via social media.
Women in same-sex relationships, single women and others are choosing the online option for a number of reasons.
But this brings with it various challenges and risks. Here’s what to know first.
It’s a popular choice
Up to 4,000 children are estimated to have been born over the past ten years via one Australian sperm donation website alone.
Some donors and recipients choose to use online platforms because they want to form connections and friendships with the other party early on. In some cases, donors choose to remain in the lives of the recipient and any child born from their donation.
Some people might use online sperm donation because the cost of accessing donor sperm at fertility clinics is too high in Australia. Some clinics charge a sperm donation management fee of about A$2,000. This allows people to access information about the donors they can choose from. Then there is the cost of insemination and of the sperm itself, which is about $2,500 out-of-pocket per cycle. Online sperm donation in Australia tends to be altruistic and does not cost anything.
People in rural or regional areas may live far from fertility clinics, making access challenging.
Whatever the reason for seeking sperm online, here are some issues to consider first.
1. Medical unknowns
Sperm donors at fertility clinics undergo medical, physical and psychological screening to reduce the risk of transmitting disease to a child.
However, online sperm donors may provide people with unscreened sperm that might be carrying sexually transmitted infections or inheritable genetic conditions.
This puts the recipient and the potential child at risk because of the lack of medical information about the donor.
People might be placed at risk when they agree to meet a potential online sperm donor in person. There have been reported cases where potential donors have pressured people into natural insemination (sexual intercourse) once they meet. This is despite donors initially agreeing to provide sperm for home insemination (using a syringe to inject the donor sperm into the vagina).
These safety and exploitation concerns are especially pertinent in cases of same-sex female couples and people who are same-sex attracted who might feel coerced or compelled to have sexual intercourse with a man to try to conceive a child.
In fertility clinics, state laws limit the number of individuals or families that can use a single donor’s sperm (from five to ten families depending on the state).
The nature of online sperm donation means there are no records kept about the number of children a donor contributes to conceiving. With no formal record keeping, one donor could potentially provide sperm to hundreds of people. This increases the chances of donor-conceived siblings unknowingly having children together later in life.
There might be cases where donors do not tell the truth about their identity or background, as happened in a case in Japan when a donor allegedly lied about his identity and education.
There might also be psychological harm when an agreement has been made about contact between the parties and that agreement is later disputed or disregarded.
3. Legally, it’s a grey area
A man who donates sperm to a fertility clinic has no legal rights or obligations to a child born as a result of this donation in Australia.
However, conceiving a child using informally donated sperm can be legally precarious. We are not aware of any reported cases in Australia of legal disputes about parentage that have involved online sperm donation. However, if the practice continues to grow, the courts may need to intervene if a donor is seeking to exercise some rights relating to the donor-conceived child against the mother’s wishes.
There was, however, a 2019 case that relates to sperm donation by a friend. Here, the High Court ruled a man who donated sperm informally to his friend was deemed the legal parent of a child. This resulted in the mother and her same-sex partner being prevented from relocating to New Zealand with the child and their sibling.
As each potential case will depend on its own set of unique circumstances, it’s best to take legal advice first.
4. What’s best for the child?
Many donor-conceived people want information about, and contact with, their donor. A lack of information, including medical information, can contribute to psychological, medical and social harms.
So people should carefully consider how this arrangement might impact any child conceived. This includes their potential desire to meet any siblings conceived using the same donor’s sperm.
A child may want to meet any siblings conceived using the same donor’s sperm. fizkes/Shutterstock
Where to from here?
The decision to have a child using donor sperm is complex. When deciding how to access donor sperm, people may benefit from speaking to an accredited fertility counsellor about their options.
While accessing donor sperm through a regulated fertility clinic may be more costly and time-consuming, it is also markedly safer than online sperm donation.
However, some people may not want to access donor sperm through a fertility clinic, or this might not meet their needs. We need to understand why so we can try to do something about it.
If a person decides to access donor sperm online, they should have open and honest discussions with the potential donor about:
their medical history
what role they envisage in the future life of a child born using their sperm
how all parties can keep records and contact information.
Before seeing a potential donor in person, they should also tell a family member, close friend or someone they can confide in about the meeting to ensure they are safe.
Taking these measures may help make accessing donor sperm online a positive experience for all involved.
Neera Bhatia receives funding from the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council for an unrelated project.
Catherine Mills has received industry research funding from Monash IVF, Ferring Pharmaceutical and Illumina. She is a bioethics consultant for VitroLife. She has received Australian government research funding from the ARC, NHMRC and MRFF. She does not receive private remuneration from any industry body.
Giselle Newton is a donor-conceived woman and is a member of Donor Conceived Australia.
Molly Johnston has received research funding from Monash IVF Group and Ferring Pharmaceuticals, and honoraria and travel fees from Gedeon Richter.
Karin Hammarberg 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.
Fire broke out in the Grampians National Park (Gariwerd) in December and raged for weeks. Then lightning strikes ignited fresh blazes late last month, which merged to form a mega-fire that’s not out yet.
This 168,000-hectare reserve, about 200km west of Melbourne, is a significant ecological and cultural landscape. Its ancient sandstone mountains and valleys maintain eucalypt woodlands and heathlands that support a rich diversity of plants and animals, making it a key conservation asset in Victoria.
Since 2008, our team has been monitoring mammal species annually in the Grampians. This long-term effort has allowed us to learn how species respond to wildfires, droughts and floods.
We commenced our research just two years after big fires swept through the park in 2006. We also witnessed the changes following more fires in 2013 and 2014.
So while many animals have lost much of their habitat to fire this summer, we know recovery is possible. But some may need help to cope with challenges ahead.
A terrible summer as multiple fires rage
The massive December wildfire in the park’s east burned for weeks, forcing evacuations in towns such as Halls Gap, and upending Christmas for many residents. By early January, that fire was contained – but only after burning about 76,000 hectares of the park and surrounding areas.
Then, on January 27, lightning strikes in the west ignited four fires that eventually merged, burning through the entire Victoria Range and some rural properties.
The full extent of damage is not yet known. But it’s already clear the fires have been devastating. They burned much of the same areas affected by the 2006 wildfires in the east and 2013 fires in the west, as well as long-unburned areas.
Combined, fires this big have not been observed in this landscape in the past 50 years.
The extent of this summer’s wildfires in the Grampians is almost as big as fires in 2006 and 2013 put together. John White, using data from Luke Lupone at Dekain University and VicEmergency
What is the extent of the damage to the environment?
It’s difficult to determine how much of the park has burned so far this summer, because the shaded area on the state emergency map extends beyond the park’s borders. But a rough, conservative estimate suggests at least 110,000 hectares of the 168,000 hectare park has burned since December. This is a deeply troubling scenario.
The Grampians is an isolated landscape – an “island” of native vegetation surrounded by a sea of agricultural land. So animals can’t easily migrate from other parts of Victoria to repopulate the area. Recovery largely depends on the landscape’s own ability to regenerate after fire.
Populations of small carnivorous marsupials often peak in areas that haven’t burned for 10–20 years.
So for many species, most of their habitat has been lost to fire. This includes endangered mammals such as the smoky mouse, heath mouse, brush-tailed rock wallaby, southern brown bandicoot and long-nosed potoroo. These species in particular will need considerable help for the next few years.
Some of the native small mammals from the Grampians landscape. Clockwise from top left: yellow-footed antechinus, southern brown bandicoot, agile antechinus (male), swamp rat, long-nosed potoroo, heath mouse. John White
Recovery will happen over time
Many animals likely perished in the blaze and more will die in coming months.
Unfortunately, most native small mammals struggle to survive in freshly burned habitats. Fire depletes their food sources and strips away the vegetation that provides cover and protection from predators.
But there is hope. Our previous research shows some animals do survive. These survivors can eventually breed, sparking the slow recovery of the landscape and helping reestablish populations over the next decade or two.
The rate of recovery will be driven by rainfall. So if drought hits, recovery will be slow. But if we have wet years, recovery will accelerate.
Many native plants in the national park are more resilient to fire than the animals, so recover faster. Native heathland plants such as Australian grass trees have evolved in the presence of fire and often reshoot pretty quickly. Seeds also germinate after fires. But it takes a few years after the plants come back before many native animal species fully recover.
So the first few years after fire are usually tough for native species. From a conservation perspective this is manageable in a patchy landscape — where some areas burned recently and others haven’t burned in decades. However, the current situation is different. This year, most of the landscape burned and almost no long-unburned habitat remains.
A native grass tree reshoots after wildfire. John White
What are the threats?
The main challenge to recovery in the coming months and years is introduced species, especially foxes and cats. Foxes are particularly problematic, because they are drawn to recently burned areas where hunting is much easier.
To give native mammals a fighting chance, it is essential to ramp up fox management efforts for at least the next year. This will allow surviving native mammals time to recover and for vegetation to regrow, providing necessary cover.
In addition, Parks Victoria and the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action are erecting artificial shelters in ecologically sensitive areas. These provide temporary refuge for animals, giving them a better chance to evade predators.
What about the role of climate change?
In recent decades, the Grampians have experienced a general decline in rainfall, coupled with a significant increase in wildfires since the early 2000s.
We’re now witnessing a cycle where large fires are followed by droughts, and then wet periods such as the recent La Niña years.
During these wetter periods, vegetation flourishes. But when the inevitable dry spells return, that vegetation dries out, creating ideal conditions for wildfires. So the good years, while offering relief to the landscape, are setting the stage for the next fire. This leaves the landscape constantly vulnerable.
What can people do to help?
Fire is a natural process – albeit one increasingly driven by climate change. As climate change worsens, landscapes like the Grampians will face more frequent, large wildfires.
We should approach our natural landscapes with care, acknowledging climate change is fundamentally altering how these ecosystems function.
The best action we can take is to pressure governments to seriously address climate change and implement meaningful solutions.
John White receives funding from Parks Victoria to support his long-term mammal research in the Grampians,
If you are a parent of a school student, you may have received a form seeking permission to use your child’s image on school social media accounts.
It’s very common for schools to share photos of smiling students on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. This may be to celebrate the start of term, student achievements, or performances and events at the school.
Schools need permission from parents to publish or disclose students’ personal information, including photos and videos, on any online platform.
But research suggests families can lack support and information to provide fully informed consent.
Our recent study showed one of main reasons schools post on social media is they believe it is what parents want. This is part of marketing their school as a positive place to learn.
But some parents take a more cautious approach to social media and don’t necessarily want photos of their children made public online.
There is significant community concern about children’s online privacy and their digital footprint or the information trail about them.
Last month, the Australian Federal Police warned parents about sharing images of their children online, especially back-to-school photos. It recommended parents blur or obscure the logo of the child’s school. Police also noted how background features can identify a school or child’s location.
The AFP has seen non-explicit pictures of children and young people become the target of highly sexualised and inappropriate comments or role play.
The risks also go beyond other people identifying your child online. Photos of children shared online can be used to train AI models or create deepfakes that are increasingly being used in cases of cyber bullying and cyber abuse.
School social media accounts are a way of marketing to families and the community. SpeedKingz/Shutterstock
What are the rules in Australia?
The Australian Privacy Act and related Australian Privacy Principles, say consent to share personal information should be current, clearly explained and specific.
This is why schools need to ask parents at the start of each year, but how they do this will depend on the state education department or individual school.
Here are three questions to consider before you sign.
1. What is the school asking you for?
While approaches vary, it is common for schools to ask for several types of permission in one bundle.
For example, they may ask if they can use photos and videos of your child in the school newsletter, school website, annual report, online learning platforms, traditional news media as well as social media.
So the locations where your child’s information and photo may be shared are quite different in terms of privacy and your child’s digital footprint.
For example, this could involve a photo of your child doing a class activity shared on a secure education app, or a video of your child on a public Facebook page.
Parents have the right to consent and/or decline the use of their children’s information for specific purposes. If you can’t do this on the form, you can contact the school.
2. What does the school post?
Before providing or declining consent, you may want to take a closer look at the kinds of posts the school shares. This includes:
the quantity of information shared (number of photos or videos shared, and how often)
strategies used to protect children’s privacy (no names or locations, or photos in which children are not clearly identifiable or faces are obscured)
the purpose of the posts (can you see the value and benefit of sharing information?).
Think about whether the school’s approach fits with your family’s approach to social media and what you share.
3. How does your child feel?
Research shows children as young as eight are developing an understanding of the risks of sharing personal information online.
Understanding how your child feels about their school’s social media is important in making an informed decision about consent. It also helps teach them about making decisions about their digital footprint.
You could ask your child:
are they aware of the school social media sites?
how does having their photo taken, or not, at school make them feel?
are they asked when their photo is taken, and are they told where it will be used or shared?
These forms can seem routine or presented as if it’s not a big deal. But if you have any questions or concerns you should talk to your school. Schools can help you with more information and can also forward feedback to education departments. This is particularly important as we navigate the changing nature of social media and the potential impacts on children.
Karley Beckman is an Associate Investigator with the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child.
Tiffani Apps is an Associate Investigator with the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child
President Trump’s reasoning for the tariffs included revitalising the American economy by bringing manufacturing and business back within US borders. Essentially, pushing the country towards greater self-sufficiency.
Considering the cost of the tariffs, a number of countries have begun to question their dependence on foreign trade. But there are very clear hurdles including access to precious metals and raw materials.
In a global market that relies on international trade, is it possible to be totally self-sufficient?
The history of self-seficiency
The economic term for self-sufficiency is “autarky”, borrowed from the ancient Greek word autarkeia, meaning “to suffice”. Ideally, this meant that a state could supply the needs of its people without foreign trade. Autarky, in its purest form, isolates the state from foreign economic, political and cultural influence.
There are numerous historical examples of attempts to achieve complete economic autonomy.
In 17th century Japan the Tokugawa Shogunate closed the borders to foreigners and prohibited Japanese from travelling abroad.
There was limited private trade with China through Nagasaki and with Europe through Dutch merchants. They were confined to an artificial island, Deshima, off Nagasaki, to ensure their isolation. These restrictions remained for 265 years, until the threat of US gunboats forced Japan to sign a trade treaty in 1854.
Self-sufficiency was also a goal of Benito Mussolini’s fascist dictatorship, aiming to lift Italy’s post-war economy in the 1920s. One initiative was the “Battle for Wheat”, an attempt to produce enough wheat to meet domestic demand and “free the Italian people from the slavery of foreign bread”.
Italy imported more than one third of the flour needed to make bread and pasta, the two main foodstuffs. Pasta was targeted as a “backwards” food to promote consumption of local rice and reduce agricultural imports.
Tariffs were levied on all imported goods in 1931. These were raised again in 1935 after sanctions were imposed on Italy following the invasion of Ethiopia. Mussolini declared in 1935 that Italy “would manage alone”.
While imports of food, machinery and raw materials dropped, oil imports increased. Mussolini recognised the limits of autarky in 1934:
Let us not delude ourselves about autarky. All the modern nations, thanks to the prodigious development of the sciences, can move towards a partial autarky. But we, until the contrary is proven, will have to import liquid combustibles.
In response to Donald Trump’s America First policy, countries increasingly have to consider certain levels of self-sufficiency. Sven Hansche/Shutterstock
A modern push to self-sufficiency
Even with reduced reliance on fossil fuels, the scarcity of some natural resources, such as rare earth minerals, still poses a challenge to achieving autarky.
Even the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), a centrally planned economy subject to United Nations Security Council sanctions for its nuclear and ballistic missile testing since 2006, is not completely self-sufficient.
China is North Korea’s largest trading partner, with plastics, tobacco, soybean oil, rubber tires and packaged medicines as the top imports. The economic isolation of North Korea also makes it more vulnerable to global price fluctuations, as the movements are magnified due to the limited number of trading partners.
Supply chain disruptions were highlighted during the pandemic, continued in 2021 with shortages in microchips, followed by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Some nations, such as the US and the United Kingdom, have responded to this logistical risk by shifting to local production, or reshoring, of certain critical industries, such as semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
This inward turn requires significant investment and lead time and may involve higher local energy and labour costs, or additional environmental restrictions. For industries that involve national security or essential goods, reducing dependence on potential adversaries may be necessary. But for other sectors the higher costs will create inflationary pressure.
There are also implicit costs in cutting economic ties with the outside world. Foreign investment is reduced and innovation lags as there are fewer incentives for the cross-border flow of ideas.
Embracing friendshoring
As the push for self-reliance increases, vulnerable countries will need new strategies to remain resilient.
Identifying alternative supply chain relationships and increasing inventory stockpiles in advance will minimise disruptions.
Another tactic is “friendshoring” – relocating supply chains to countries where the risk of disruption from political chaos is low.
It is likely that geopolitical instability will increase and global fragmentation will continue. While straightforward autarky may not be possible, countries will need to consider how to survive the political and economic volatility of the next four years – and beyond.
Garritt C. Van Dyk 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.
Coincidentally, this recognition comes in what is already an historic year for stop motion. A century ago, on February 8 1925, The Lost World hit cinemas. This film is widely considered the first feature-length stop-motion production, as well as the first “creature feature”.
Audiences were captivated as they watched animated dinosaurs share the screen with live actors. The animators positioned and photographed miniature dinosaurs made of rubber, one frame at a time, to create moving sequences that accompanied full-scale shots with human actors.
This method drew from earlier works such as Georges Méliès’s 1902 short film A Trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la lune).
Guillermo del Toro won the 2023 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film with Pinocchio. Netflix
Dynamation: the beginnings
After animating on The Lost World, stop-motion pioneer Willis O’Brien went on to animate King Kong (1933) and the lesser-known Mighty Joe Young (1949), where he mentored Ray Harryhausen.
Harryhausen himself would later design and animate some of the most celebrated stop-motion sequences of all time, including the famous skeleton fight in Jason and the Argonauts (1963) and the fictional Rhedosaurus from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953).
The blend of animated miniatures and live actors become known as Dynamation, as Harryhausen pushed to create ever-more integrated and dynamic sequences in which animated puppets “interacted” with real actors.
Back then it wasn’t possible to review animation as it was being shot; you could only see the puppet as it was in the moment. Sequences were shot on celluloid film, and animators had to wait for the film to develop before they could see the results.
The famous skeleton fight in Jason and the Argonauts required Harryhausen to remember the movements of seven skeletons and line up a fight sequence with two pre-recorded actors, one frame at a time. He would often work for months before being able to review his work.
In Eastern Europe, filmmakers such as Karel Zeman were also combining live action with miniature special effects and stop motion – extending a long history of Eastern European puppet theatre into cinema.
In 1958, Zeman brought Jules Vernes’ whimsical vehicles and underwater worlds to the screen in his feature film Invention for Destruction (Vynález zkázy).
Invention for Destruction was later named The Fabulous World of Jules Verne. Zeman used a combination of puppetry, stop motion and live action effects for the film. IMDB
Technology advances
In the 1970s, Phil Tippet and others working at Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) – a studio founded by George Lucas – pushed the medium further through the development of “go-motion”.
This invention used a custom-made control rig that precisely moved a puppet while it was being photographed – resulting in a subtle motion blur that emulated live-action movement.
This technique allowed for more realistic animation and was used in productions such as Dragon Slayer (1981) and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
In the 1980s, however, Star Wars began a trend towards photorealism and audiences became more scrutinising of visual effects. Harryhausen’s creatures in Clash of the Titans (1981) appeared especially hammy and outdated even for the time.
The CGI scare
In the early 90s, Phil Tippet and colleagues at ILM, in the pursuit of perfecting the craft, developed test dinosaur sequences for Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park (1993). Tippet animated the original test sequences in stop motion.
Also at ILM, Dennis Muren was experimenting with a new kind of animation for creatures made entirely using computer software. These were the early days of computer-generated imagery (CGI).
When Tippet saw an early Jurassic Park test of CGI dinosaur footage, he said to Steven Spielberg “I’m extinct”.
Nonetheless, once it was decided the dinosaurs would be created with CGI, Tippet continued working on the film. He used a dinosaur-shaped physical rig, which allowed changes to the rig’s position to translate to CGI movements onscreen. Stop-motion animators were helpful in this process because “CGI animators” as we know them didn’t yet exist.
Amid a CGI-induced scare, Tim Burton and Henry Selicks’ The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) became the first fully stop-motion animated feature to be produced by a major studio. This film proved stop motion could be achieved at a Hollywood scale.
Stop motion took a backseat to CGI in the years that followed. Pixar’s Toy Story (1995), the world’s first fully CGI animated feature, cemented CGI as the way of the future.
The only other noteworthy stop-motion cinematic release came at the turn of the century, when DreamWorks teamed up with Aardman Animations to produce Chicken Run (2000), following a number of successful stop motion shorts, starting with Wallace and Gromit’s A Grand Day Out in 1989.
The comeback
Eventually, innovations in digital cameras and motion control paved the way back to stop motion, giving us films such as Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and The Corpse Bride (2005).
Working on Coraline (2008), Laika studios introduced 3D printing technology for a sophisticated form of replacement animation, in which different body and facial pieces are swapped to create character movements and expressions.
Traditionally, this technique was achieved by carving individual wooden models and swapping them out between capturing frames. This is how filmmaker George Pal made his Puppetoons films in the 1930s.
Embracing new tech brought stop motion back onto the world stage, with studios such as Laika leading the charge. Since then, we’ve seen the release of features including ParaNorman (2012), The Boxtrolls (2014), Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), Missing Link (2019) and Guillermo del Toro’s Academy Award-wining Pinnoccio (2022).
A new era of stop-motion features
Despite huge developments in CGI, audiences still appreciate the painstaking work of bringing inanimate objects to life frame by frame.
There are more stop motion films being made than ever before, with independent filmmakers and students creating quality sequences for a fraction of what it cost 30 years ago.
Some directors use the medium for its connection with real materials, and out of respect for the art form. Phil Tippet spent more than 30 years on his stop motion feature Mad God (2021) – an experimental and intense horror magnum opus that embodies the materiality of stop motion.
Wes Anderson says his approach to stop motion in Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) was “very much about bringing to life the [characters’] performance.”
In Pinocchio (2022), Guillermo del Toro tells the touching story of a puppet, using real puppets, in which imperfection and human frailty are emphasised.
We’re also seeing the return of stop-motion creature effects, such as with Disney’s Star Wars series Skeleton Crew (2024–25), in which live action is once again integrated with stop-motion puppets.
The development of artificial intelligence (AI) is now pushing audiences and creators to question what they value in animation, cinema and art more generally.
If AI could generate high-quality films with a stop-motion aesthetic, would we value them as much as those productions that were laboured over for years on end? The recent Oscar nominees may hold the answer.
Jack McGrath 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.
Australia’s LGBTIQA+SB* communities have long been overlooked in discussions about the prevention of and responses to sexual violence, despite evidence they are at increased risk.
The National Survey on LGBTIQA+SB Experiences of Sexual Violence, which we carried out, is the first survey of its kind. It is designed to fill a glaring gap in national and global research by focusing on the experiences of sexual violence among LGBTIQA+SB Australians.
The lack of data on sexual violence affecting sexual and gender minority communities reflects the low priority given to LGBTIQA+SB individuals in national data collection. For example, the absence of questions about sexual orientation and gender identity in the national census means we do not have a representative sample of LGBTIQA+SB people.
As a result, the findings of the national survey can’t be generalised to all LGBTIQA+SB Australians. But they do give us important insights into experiences in these communities.
Many LGBTIQA+SB Australians have experienced sexual violence
With responses from almost 3,200 participants, including 416 First Nations Australians, the survey reveals harrowing truths about sexual violence against LGBTIQA+SB people.
More than three-quarters (76%) reported experiencing sexual victimisation at some point in their life. More than half of respondents (52%) said they had experienced both child sexual abuse and adult sexual assault.
Moreover,7% reported only child sexual abuse, while 17% experienced sexual violence solely in adulthood. Notably, those who faced sexual violence in both childhood and adulthood reported the worst outcomes for their health and economic security. This highlights the urgent need for targeted support and intervention.
Many people carried the burden of sexual violence for a long time. The majority of survivors said they had been most deeply affected by an incident that took place more than five years ago, or in childhood.
More than 80% of identified perpetrators in adulthood or childhood were cisgender men. Nearly one-third of perpetrators came from within the LGBTIQA+SB community.
The setting in which sexual violence occurred varied significantly based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Cisgender men were more likely to report that sexual violence took place in public venues such as bars and clubs.
In contrast, cisgender women, trans men, and non-binary people primarily reported experiences of sexual victimisation in private homes and intimate relationships.
Additionally, First Nations participants, particularly trans women and trans men, experienced higher rates of recent and severe victimisation.
Across the sample, key barriers to seeking help included feelings of shame, fear of blame. Many also had doubts about whether their experience met the threshold of assault or violence.
More support to speak up
When victims did choose to speak up, their experiences varied widely. Supportive and validating responses were appreciated, but many participants reported unhelpful responses such as disbelief, victim-blaming, and dismissiveness. These responses worsened their trauma.
The disclosure rates highlighted the stigma surrounding the acknowledgement of sexual victimisation. For example, less than 40% of all cisgender men reported their experiences, while First Nations cisgender men were the least likely to report sexual violence.
When they disclosed, LGBTIQA+SB survivors were most likely to speak to friends and family. Fewer than half of survivors reached out to support services, and those that did most often sought help from mental health professionals. While satisfaction with these services varied, participants consistently valued professionals who listened, supported, and believed them. They appreciated tailored care and therapy specifically designed for sexual violence survivors.
However, many trans men, trans women, and non-binary people reported encountering alienating responses from professionals. This finding clearly underscores the urgent need for trauma-informed training that is sensitive to LGBTIQA+SB issues and identities.
A hopeful finding was the high rate of bystander intervention among LGBTIQA+SB people. Nearly three-quarters of respondents stepped in to help when they saw people at risk of sexual violence. Motivated by ethics and personal experiences, bystander actions ranged from safeguarding friends at parties to directly confronting perpetrators. However, fear, safety concerns, and lack of knowledge could deter potential allies.
The survey found more than three-quarters of respondents had intervened when they saw people at risk of sexual violence.
These findings have significant implications for addressing sexual violence. To enhance sexual violence prevention, it is crucial to integrate LGBTIQA+SB perspectives into school curriculum, focusing on respectful relationships and sexual consent.
The LGBTIQA+SB community plays a vital role in supporting and protecting individuals from sexual violence. By providing additional resources, we can empower community members with the skills necessary to assist survivors and intervene effectively in risky or dangerous situations.
Health professionals need to be better informed
Given the high proportion of LGBTIQA+SB survivors who seek help from mental health professionals, improved access to affordable and inclusive mental health care in the aftermath of sexual violence would be of enormous benefit.
However, many participants reported that counsellors and therapists sometimes struggled to understand how sexual violence affected LGBTIQA+SB identities and individuals.
Comprehensive care, including from First Nations community-controlled services and organisations, can be strengthened by increasing cooperation and dialogue between sexual violence services and LGBTIQA+SB organisations.
Despite these alarming findings, the survey also emphasises the resilience of LGBTIQA+SB communities. The responses showed that members support, educate and advocate for one another.
By addressing the systemic gaps highlighted by this research, Australia has an opportunity to leverage this collective strength to prevent sexual violence before it happens, while also promoting healing and recovery for survivors, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.
Michael Salter received funding from the Commonwealth Department of Social Services for this study.
Andy Kaladelfos received funding from the Commonwealth Department of Social Services for this study. Andy receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is Vice-President of Trans Pride Australia.
Jan Breckenridge received funding from the Commonwealth Department of Social Services for this project.
Vanessa Lee-Ah Mat received funding from the Commonwealth Department of Social Services for this project.
Most Australians can look forward to a comfortable retirement. More than three in four retirees own their own home, most report feeling comfortable financially, and few suffer financial stress.
But our new Grattan Institute report paints a sobering picture for one group: retirees who rent in the private market. Two-thirds of this group live in poverty, including more than three in four single women who live alone.
Retirees who rent often have little in the way of retirement savings: more than half have less than A$25,000 stashed away. And a growing number of older Australians are at risk of becoming homeless.
But our research also shows just how much we’d need to boost Commonwealth Rent Assistance to make housing more affordable and ensure all renters are able to retire with dignity.
Today’s renters, tomorrow’s renting retirees
Home ownership is falling among poorer Australians who are approaching retirement.
Between 1981 and 2021, home ownership rates among the poorest 40% of 45–54-year-olds fell from 68% to just 54%. Today’s low-income renters are tomorrow’s renting retirees.
Age pensioners need at least $40,000 in savings to afford to spend $350 a week in rent, together with the Age Pension and Rent Assistance. That’s enough to afford the cheapest 25% of one-bedroom homes in capital cities.
But Australians who are renting as they approach retirement tend to have little in the way of retirement savings. 40% of renting households aged 55-64 have net financial wealth less than $40,000.
Rent assistance is too low
Our research shows that Commonwealth Rent Assistance, which supplements the Age Pension for poorer retirees who rent, is inadequate.
A single retiree needs at least $379 per week to afford non-housing essentials. marikun/Shutterstock
A typical single retiree needs at least $379 per week to afford essential non-housing costs such as food, transport and energy.
But we found a single pensioner who relies solely on income support can afford to rent just 4% of one-bedroom homes in Sydney, 13% in Brisbane, and 14% in Melbourne, after covering these basic living expenses.
With Rent Assistance indexed to inflation, rather than low-income earners’ housing costs, the maximum rate of the payment has increased by 136% since 2001, while the rents paid by recipients have increased by 193%.
A boost is needed
Our analysis suggests that to solve this problem, the federal government should increase the maximum rate of Rent Assistance by 50% for singles and 40% for couples.
The payment should also be indexed to changes in rents for the cheapest 25% of homes in our capital cities.
These increases would boost the maximum rate of Rent Assistance by $53 a week ($2,750 a year) for singles, and $40 a week ($2,080 a year) for couples.
This would ensure single retirees could afford to spend $350 a week on rent, enough to rent the cheapest 25% of one-bedroom homes across Australian capital cities, while still affording other essentials.
Similarly, retired couples would be able to afford to spend $390 a week on rent, enough to rent the cheapest 25% of all one- and two-bedroom homes.
Unlikely to push up rents
One common concern is that increasing Rent Assistance will just lead landlords to hike rents. But we find little evidence that this is the case.
International studies suggest that more than five in six dollars of any extra Rent Assistance paid would benefit renters, rather than landlords.
In Australia, there’s little evidence that recent increases in Rent Assistance have pushed up rents.
Our analysis of NSW rental bond lodgement data suggests areas with higher concentrations of Rent Assistance recipients did not see larger rent increases in the year after the payment was boosted.
That’s not surprising. Rent Assistance is paid to tenants, not landlords, which means tenants are likely to spend only a small portion of any extra income on housing.
Since rates of financial stress are even higher among younger renters, we propose that any increase to Rent Assistance should also apply to working-age households.
Boosting Rent Assistance for all recipients would cost about $2 billion a year, with about $500 million of this going to retirees.
Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the federal and Victorian governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and contribute to funding Grattan Institute’s activities. Grattan Institute also receives funding from corporates, foundations, and individuals to support its general activities, as disclosed on its website.
The weekend byelection in the outer suburban seat of Werribee saw the widely-anticipated slap-in-the-face to Victorian Labor, which is absolutely on the nose. The question is: to what degree were electors venting against federal Labor too?
With an abundance of caution, the Albanese government would do best to assume it was being given a substantial kick.
Even if the largest slice of the about 10% two-party swing was prompted by state factors, including the sheer arrogance of the byelection (a state treasurer departing mid-term), we know federal Labor is doing badly in Victoria.
There is certainly enough of a message in the result in Werribee (which on present numbers Labor is expected to just retain) to flag a potential serious erosion of federal seats come the national election.
One challenge for federal Labor is to turn Victorian voters’ attention away from state matters, to focus squarely on the choice between Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton.
Labor needs to minimise the extent to which Victorians use the federal election to take out their anger towards the Allan government. So far, only the Werribee voters have had the chance to get some of that frustration out of their systems. The federal opposition will seek to milk feelings about the Allan government.
Regardless of that, we know Dutton has become more acceptable in Victoria than he was a couple of years ago.
As things stand, Labor is set to lose federal seats in this state where the Liberals have struggled, and the state Liberal organisation has been a shambles. It is a matter of how many.
While the Liberals will be delighted with the Werribee result, the hardheads will note that although the Labor primary vote fell nearly 17% the Liberal vote only rose 3.7%. Partly this might reflect the fact that in Labor heartland, the disillusioned voters wanted to protest but not jump the aisle to the Liberals. Nevertheless, there is the message, applicable federally, that the Liberals need to be attracting more primary votes, not just relying on Labor losing them to independents and small parties.
Once again, we see reflected in this byelection the relative collapse of the two party system. Labor polled 28.7% of the primary vote; the Liberals 29%. fewer than six in ten voters supported one of the major parties.
Depending on your viewpoint, you can see the decline of the two party system as a portend of future instability in our politics, or the continued indication of a fresh new direction. Federally, the present money is on minority government.
In Saturday’s other Victorian byelection, the Liberals wrested the inner city seat of Prahran from the Greens. There was no Labor candidate.
The Greens, on 36.2% of the vote, attempt to take comfort that the swing against them on primary votes was only 0.6%. But a loss is a loss, whatever the margin, and this setback, on top of those in the recent ACT and Queensland elections, must put fears into the party about the fate of the three Queensland federal seats it won in 2022.
With some Labor supporters deeply pessimistic and some Liberals wildly optimistic, both sides are trying to manage expectations about where the election battle stands nationally.
Labor finds some heart from comparing Newspoll’s now and at comparable points before changes of government.
The Dutton opposition in the first Newspoll of 2025 was on 51% of the two-party vote.
By contrast, in the first Newspoll of 1996, the Howard opposition had a two-party vote of 54%.
Newspoll in August 2007 (about 100 days before the election) saw the Rudd opposition on 56%. In May 2013, with about 100 days to voting, the Abbott opposition was polling 55% in two-party terms. The first Newspoll of 2022 had the Albanese opposition on 56%.
Governor Michele Bullock will deliver the next big marker on the political calendar when the Reserve Bank announces next week whether it will cut interest rates.
If it does, there will be a frenzy of speculation about the election being held in April, which would mean scrapping the scheduled March 25 budget.
Quite how Albanese would explain this, when he and his ministers say every other day how much work is being done on that budget, is unclear. Those in Labor who are in the camp of a May election say the government needs time for an interest rate cut to flow through.
Only one man determines the timing, and he’s on record recently saying the date remained “fluid”.
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.
New Zealand should be robust in its response to the “unacceptable” situation in Gaza but it must also back its allies against threats by the US President, says an international relations academic.
Otago University professor of international relations Robert Patman said the rest of the world also “should stop tip-toeing” around President Donald Trump and must stand up to any threats he makes against allies, no matter how outlandish they seem.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters told RNZ that New Zealand would not comment on the plan until it was clear exactly what was meant, but said New Zealand continued to support a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
Dr Patman said the president’s plan was “truly shocking and absolutely appalling” in light of the devastation in Gaza in the last 15 months.
It was not only “tone deaf” but also dangerous, he added, with the proposal amounting to “the most powerful country in the world — the US — dismantling an international rules=based system that [it] has done so much to establish”.
“This was an extraordinary proposal which I think is reckless and dangerous because it certainly doesn’t help the immediate situation. It probably plays into the hands of extremists in the region.
“There is a view at the moment that we must all tiptoe round Mr Trump in order not to upset him, while he’s completely free to make outrageous suggestions which endanger people’s lives.”
Professor Robert Patman . . . Trump’s plan for Gaza “truly shocking and absolutely appalling”. Image: RNZ
Winston Peters’ careful position on a potential US takeover of Gaza was “a fair response . . . but the Luxon-led government must be clear the current situation is unacceptable” and oppose protectionism, he said.
“[The government ] wants a solution in the Middle East which recognises both the Israeli desire for security but also recognises the political right to self determination of the Palestinian people — in other words the right to have a state of their own.”
New Zealand should also speak out against Trump’s threats to annex Canada, “our very close ally”, he said.
He was “not suggesting New Zealand be provocative but it must be robust”, Dr Patman said.
Greens also respond to Trump actions The Green Party said President Trump had been explicit in his intention to take over Gaza, and New Zealand needed to make its position crystal clear too.
Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said the Prime Minister needed to stand up and condemn the plan as “reprehensible”.
“President Trump’s comments have been pretty clear to anybody who is able to read or to listen to them, about his intention to forcibly displace, or to see displaced, about 1.8 million Gazans from their own land, who have already been made refugees in their own land.”
France, Spain, Ireland, Brazil and other countries had been “unequivocal” in their condemnation of Trump’s plan, and NZ’s Foreign Affairs Minister should be too, she added.
“New Zealanders value justice and they value peace, and they want to see our leadership represent that, on the international stage. So [these were] really disappointing and unfortunately unclear comments from our Deputy Prime Minister.”
Yesterday Foreign Minister Winston Peters told RNZ that New Zealand still supported a two-state solution, but said he would not comment on Trump’s Gaza plan until officials could grasp exactly what this meant.
Dozens of countries have expressed “unwavering support” for the ICC in a joint statement, after the US President imposed sanctions on its staff.
The 125-member ICC is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression against the territory of member states or by their nationals.
The United States, China, Russia and Israel are not members.
Trump has accused the court of improperly targeting the US and its ally, Israel.
Neither New Zealand nor Australia had joined the statement, but in a statement to RNZ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had always supported the ICC’s role in upholding international law and a rules-based system.
University of Victoria law professor Alberto Costi said currently New Zealand is at little risk of sanctions and there’s no need for a stronger approach.
“At this stage there is no reason to be stronger. New Zealand is perceived as a state that believes in a rules-based order and is supportive of the work of the ICC.
“So there’s not much need to go further but it’s a space to watch in the future, should these sanctions become a reality.
“But as far as New Zealand is concerned, at the moment there is no need to antagonise anyone at this stage.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
A national Palestine advocacy group has hit back at critics of its “genocide hotline” campaign against soldiers involved in Israel’s war against Gaza, saying New Zealand should be actively following international law.
“Why is concern for the sensitivities of soldiers from a genocidal Israeli campaign more important than condemning the genocide itself?,” asked PSNA national chair John Minto in a statement.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters, the Chief Human Rights Commissioner Stephen Rainbow and the New Zealand Jewish Council have made statements “protecting” Israeli soldiers who come to New Zealand on “rest and recreation” from the industrial-scale killing of 47,000 Palestinians in Gaza until a truce went into force on January 19.
“We are not surprised to see such a predictable lineup of apologists for Israel and its genocide in Gaza from lining up to attack a PSNA campaign with false smears of anti-semitism,” Minto said.
He said that over 16 months Peters had done “absolutely nothing” to put any pressure on Israel to end its genocidal behaviour.
“But he is full of bluff and bluster and outright lies to denounce those who demand Israel be held to account.”
Deny illegal settler visas Minto said that if Peters was doing his job as Foreign Minister, he would not only stop Israeli soldiers coming to Aotearoa New Zealand — as with Russian soldiers in the Ukraine war — he would also deny visas to any Israeli with an address in an illegal Israeli settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Whlle the commission said it had received 90 complaints about the hotline, it had also received eight complaints about immigration policy allowing Israeli soldiers to enter New Zealand under the visa waiver scheme that applies to Israel.
“Our campaign has nothing to do with Israelis or Jews — it is a campaign to stop Israeli soldiers coming here for rest and recreation after a campaign of wholesale killing of Palestinians in Gaza,” Minto said.
“To imply the campaign is targeting Jews is disgusting and despicable.
“Some of the soldiers will be Druse, some Palestinian Arabs and others will be Jews.”
The five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab, shot 355 times by Israeli soldiers on 29 January 2024. Image: @Onlyloren/Instagram
Israeli soldiers are facing a growing risk of being arrested abroad for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza, with around 50 criminal complaints filed so far in courts in several countries around the world.
Earlier this month, a former Israeli soldier abruptly ended his holiday in Brazil and was “smuggled” out of the country after a Federal Court ordered police to open a war crimes investigation against him. The man fled to Argentina.
A complaint lodged by the Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) included more than 500 pages of court records linking the suspect to the demolition of civilian homes in Gaza.
‘Historic’ court ruling against soldier The foundation called the Brazilian court’s decision “historic”, saying it marked a significant precedent for a member country of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to enforce Rome Statute provisions domestically in the 15-month Israeli war on Gaza.
The foundation is named in honour of five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab who was killed on 29 January 2024 by Israel soldiers while pleading for help in a car after her six family members were dead.
According to The New Arab, the foundation has so far tracked and sent the names of 1000 Israeli soldiers to the ICC and Interpol, and has been pursuing legal cases in a number of countries, including Belgium, Brazil, Cyprus, France, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
In November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, together with a former Hamas commander, citing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Minto accused the New Zealand Jewish Council of being “deeply racist” and said it regularly “makes a meal of false smears of anti-semitism”.
“It’s deeply problematic that this Jewish Council strategy takes attention away from the real anti-semitism which exists in New Zealand and around the world.
“The priority of the Jewish Council is to protect Israel from criticism and protect it from accountability for its apartheid policies, ethnic cleansing and genocide.
“We are demanding that accountability.”
NZ ‘going through the motions’ In a later statement, PSNA said the government had begun to “go through the motions” of questioning Israeli soldiers at the border but it was just a “look busy policy – too little too late”.
NZ requires Israelis to disclose IDF service details as condition for entry – a similar policy to Australia. Image: Times of Israel screenshot APR
Immigration questioning Israeli of soldiers about their military service in Gaza at the New Zealand border was revealed in a Times of Israel report today which said:
“New Zealand’s government immigration authority has begun to require Israelis applying for a visa to report details of their military service as a condition for entry, and at least one person has been denied admission after doing so.”
PSNA’s Minto said the government must also uphold the ICJ advisory opinion of 19 July 2024 which called on global governments to end support for Israel’s illegal occupation.
“This means we should also deny entry to every Israeli wanting to visit here who has an address in an illegal Israeli settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” Minto added.
By the time US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on China and Canada last Monday which could kickstart a trade war, New Zealand’s diplomats in Washington, DC, had already been deployed on another diplomatic drama.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz had said on social media it was “difficult to treat New Zealand as a normal ally . . . when they denigrate and punish Israeli citizens for defending themselves and their country”.
He cited a story in the Israeli media outlet Ha’aretz, which has a reputation for independence in Israel and credibility abroad.
But Ha’aretz had wrongly reported Israelis must declare service in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) as part of “new requirements” for visa applications.
Winston Peters replied forcefully to Cruz on X, condemning Ha’aretz’s story as “fake news” and demanding a correction.
Winston Peters puts Ted Cruz on notice over the misleading Ha’aretz story. Image: X/RNZ
But one thing Trump’s Republicans and Winston Peters had in common last week was irritating Mexico.
His fellow NZ First MP Shane Jones had bellowed “Send the Mexicans home” at Green MPs in Parliament.
Winston Peters then told two of them they should be more grateful for being able to live in New Zealand.
‘We will not be lectured’ On Facebook he wasn’t exactly backing down.
“We . . . will not be lectured on the culture and traditions of New Zealand from people who have been here for five minutes,” he added.
While he was at it, Peters criticised media outlets for not holding other political parties to account for inflammatory comments.
Peters was posting that as a politician — not a foreign minister, but the Mexican ambassador complained to MFAT. (It seems the so-called “Mexican standoff” was resolved over a pre-Waitangi lunch with Ambassador Bravo).
But the next day — last Wednesday — news of another diplomatic drama broke on TVNZ’s 1News.
“A deal that could shatter New Zealand’s close relationship with a Pacific neighbour,” presenter Simon Dallow declared, in front of a backdrop of a stern-looking Peters.
TVNZ’s Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver reported the Cook Islands was about to sign a partnership agreement in Beijing.
“We want clarity and at this point in time, we have none. We’ve got past arrangements, constitutional arrangements, which require constant consultation with us, and dare I say, China knows that,” Peters told 1News.
Passports another headache Cook Islands’ Prime Minister Mark Brown also told Barbara Dreaver TVNZ’s revelations last month about proposed Cook Island passports had also been a headache for him.
“We were caught by surprise when this news was broken by 1News. I thought it was a high-level diplomatic discussion with leaders to be open and frank,” he told TVNZ this week.
“For it to be brought out into the public before we’ve had a time to inform our public, I thought was a breach of our political diplomacy.”
Last week another Barabara Dreaver scoop on 1News brought the strained relationship with another Pacific state into the headlines:
“Our relationship with Kiribati is at breaking point. New Zealand’s $100 million aid programme there is now on hold. The move comes after President [Taneti] Maamau pulled out of a pre-arranged meeting with Winston Peters.”
The media ended up in the middle of the blame game over this too — but many didn’t see it coming.
Caught in the crossfire “A diplomatic rift with Kiribati was on no one’s 2025 bingo card,” Stuff national affairs editor Andrea Vance wrote last weekend in the Sunday Star-Times.
“Of all the squabbles Winston Peters was expected to have this year, no one picked it would be with an impoverished, sinking island nation,” she wrote, in terms that would surely annoy Kiribati.
“Do you believe Kiribati is snubbing you?” RNZ Morning Report’s Corin Dann asked Peters.
“You can come to any conclusion you like, but our job is to try and resolve this matter,” Peters replied.
Kiribati Education Minister Alexander Teabo told RNZ Pacific there was no snub.
He said Kiribati President Maamau — who is also the nation’s foreign minister — had been unavailable because of a long-planned and important Catholic ordination ceremony on his home island of Onotoa — though this was prior to the proposed visit from Peters.
Public dispute “regrettable’ Peters told the same show it was “regrettable” that the dispute had been made public.
On Newstalk ZB Peters was backed — and Kiribati portrayed as the problem.
“If somebody is giving me $100m and they asked for a meeting, I will attend. I don’t care if it’s my mum’s birthday. Or somebody’s funeral,” Drive host Ryan Bridge told listeners.
“It’s always very hard to pick apart these stories (by) just reading them in the media. But I have faith and confidence in Winston Peters as our foreign minister,” PR-pro Trish Shrerson opined.
So did her fellow panellist, former Labour MP Stuart Nash.
“He’s respected across the Pacific. He’s the consummate diplomat. If Winston says this is the story and this is what’s happening, I believe 100 percent. And I would say, go hard. Winston — represent our interests.”
‘Totally silly’ response But veteran Pacific journalist Michael Field contradicted them soon after on ZB.
“It’s totally silly. All this talk about cancelling $104 million of aid is total pie-in-the-sky from Winston Peters,” he said.
“Somebody’s lost their marbles on this, and the one who’s possibly on the ground looking for them is Winston Peters.
“He didn’t need to be in Tarawa in early January at all. This is pathetic. This is like saying I was invited to my sister’s birthday party and now it’s been cancelled,” he said.
Not a comparison you hear very often in international relations.
“While the conspiracy around Kiribati and China has deepened, no one is noticing the still-viable Kiribati-United States treaty which prevents Kiribati atolls [from] being used as bases without Washington approval,” he added.
Kiribati ‘hugely disrespectful’ But TVNZ’s Barbara Dreaver said Kiribati was being “hugely disrespectful”.
In a TVNZ analysis piece last weekend, she said New Zealand has “every right to expect better engagement than it has been getting over the past year.”
Dreaver — who was born in and grew up in Kiribati and has family there — also criticised “the airtime and validation” Kwansing got in the media in New Zealand.
“She supports and is part of a government that requires all journalists — should they get a visa to go there — to hand over copies of all footage/information collected,” Dreaver said.
Kwansing hit back on Facebook, accusing Dreaver of “publishing inane drivel” and “irresponsible journalism causing stress to locals.”
“You write like you need a good holiday somewhere happy. Please book yourself a luxury day spa ASAP,” she told TVNZ’s Pacific Affairs reporter.
“Despite this media issue, the government of Kiribati remains convinced the strong bonds between Kiribati and New Zealand will enable a resolution to this unfortunate standoff,” it said.
Copping the blame Another reporter who knows what it’s like to cop the blame for reporting stuff diplomats and politicians want to keep out of the news is RNZ Pacific’s senior journalist and presenter Lydia Lewis.
Last year, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese questioned RNZ’s ethics after she reported comments he made to the US Deputy Secretary of State at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga — which revealed an until-then behind closed doors plan to pay for better policing in the Pacific.
She’s also been covering the tension with Kiribati.
Is the heat coming on the media more these days if they candidly report diplomatic differences?
TVNZ Pacific senior journalist and presenter Lydia Lewis . . . “both the public and politicians are saying the media [are] making a big deal of things.” Image: RNZ Pacific
“There’s no study that says there are more people blaming the media. So it’s anecdotal, but definitely, both the public and politicians are saying the media (are) making a big deal of things,” Lewis told Mediawatch.
“I would put the question back to the public as to who’s manufacturing drama. All we’re doing is reporting what’s in front of us for the public to then make their decision — and questioning it. And there were a lot of questions around this Kiribati story.”
Lewis said it was shortly before 6pm on January 27, that selected journalists were advised of the response of our government to the cancellation of the meeting with foreign minister Peters.
Vice-President an alternative But it was not mentioned that Kiribati had offered the Vice-President for a meeting, the same person that met with an Australian delegation recently.
A response from Kiribati proved harder to get — and Lewis spoke to a senior figure in Kiribati that night who told her they knew nothing about it.
Politicians and diplomats, naturally enough, prefer to do things behind the scenes and media exposure is a complication for them.
But we simply wouldn’t know about the impending partnership agreement between China and the Cook Islands if TVNZ had not reported it last Monday.
And another irony: some political figures lamenting the diplomatically disruptive impact of the media also make decidedly undiplomatic responses of their own online these days.
“It can be revealing in the sense of where people stand. Sometimes they’re just putting out their opinions or their experience. Maybe they’ve got some sort of motive. A formal message or email we’ll take a bit more seriously. But some of the things on social media, we just take with a grain of salt,” said Lewis.
“It is vital we all look at multiple sources. It comes back to balance and knowledge and understanding what you know about and what you don’t know about — and then asking the questions in between.”
Big Powers and the Big Picture Kwansing objected to New Zealand media jumping to the conclusion China’s influence was a factor in the friction with New Zealand.
“To dismiss the geopolitical implications with China . . . would be naive and ignorant,” Dreaver countered.
Michael Field pointed to an angle missing.
“While the conspiracy around Kiribati and China has deepened, no one is noticing the still viable Kiribati-United States treaty which prevents Kiribati atolls being used as bases without Washington approval,” he wrote in his Substack.
In the same article in which Vance called Kiribati “an impoverished, sinking island nation” she later pointed out that its location, US military ties and vast ocean territory make it strategically important.
Questions about ‘transparency and accountability’ “There’s a lot of people that want in on Kiribati. It has a huge exclusive economic zone,” Lewis said.
She said communication problems and patchy connectivity are also drawbacks.
“We do have a fuller picture now of the situation, but the overarching question that’s come out of this is around transparency and accountability.
“We can’t hold Kiribati politicians to account like we do New Zealand government politicians.”
“I don’t want to give Kiribati a free pass here but it’s really difficult to get a response.
“They’re posting statements on Facebook and it really has raised some questions around the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability for all journalists . . . committed to fair media reporting across the Pacific.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says New Zealand is asking for too much oversight over its deal with China, which is expected to be penned in Beijing next week.
Brown told RNZ Pacific the Cook Islands-New Zealand relationship was reciprocal.
“They certainly did not consult with us when they signed their comprehensive partnership agreement [with China] and we would not expect them to consult with us,” he said.
“There is no need for New Zealand to sit in the room with us while we are going through our comprehensive agreement with China.
“We have advised them on the matter, but as far as being consulted and to the level of detail that they were requiring, I think that’s not a requirement.”
Brown is going to China from February 10-14 to sign the “Joint Action Plan for a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.
The Cook Islands operates in free association with New Zealand. It means the island nation conducts its own affairs, but Aotearoa needs to assist when it comes to foreign affairs, disasters, and defence.
NZ seeks more consultation New Zealand is asking for more consultation over what is in the China deal.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said neither New Zealand nor the Cook Island people knew what was in the agreement.
“The reality is we’ve been not told [sic] what the nature of the arrangements that they seek in Beijing might be,” he told RNZ Morning Report on Friday.
In 2023, China and Solomon Islands signed a deal on police cooperation as part of an upgrade of their relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”.
Brown said he had assured New Zealand “over and over” that there would be no impact on the countries’ relationship and “no surprises”, especially on security aspects.
“But the contents of this agreement is something that our team are working on with our Chinese counterparts, and it is something that we will announce and provide once it is signed off.”
He said it was similar to an agreement New Zealand had signed with China in 2014.
Deep sea mining research Brown said the agreement was looking for areas of cooperation, with deep sea mining research being one area.
However, he said the immediate area that the Cook Islands wanted help with was a new interisland vessel to replace the existing ageing ship.
Brown has backed down from his controversial passport proposal after facing pressure from New Zealand.
He said the country “would essentially punish any Cook Islander that would seek a Cook Islands passport” by passing new legislation that would not allow them to also hold a New Zealand passport.
“To me that is a something that we cannot engage in for the security of our Cook Islands people.
“Whether that is seen as overstepping or not, that is a position that New Zealand has taken.”
A spokesperson for Peters said the two nations did “not see eye to eye” on a number of issues.
Relationship ‘very good’ However, Brown said he always felt the relationship was very good.
“We can agree to disagree in certain areas and as mature nation states do, they do have points of disagreement, but it doesn’t mean that the relationship has in any way broken down.”
On Christmas Day, a Cook Islands-flagged vessel carrying Russian oil was seized by Finnish authorities. It is suspected to be part of Russia’s shadow fleet and cutting underwater power cables in the Baltic Sea near Finland.
Peters’ spokesperson said the Cook Islands shipping registry was an area of disagreement between the two countries.
Brown said the government was working with Maritime Cook Islands and were committed with aligning with international sanctions against Russia.
When asked how he could be aligned with sanctions when the Cook Islands flagged the tanker Eagle S, Brown said it was still under investigation.
“We will wait for the outcomes of that investigation, and if it means the amendments and changes, which I expect it will, to how the ship’s registry operates then we will certainly look to make those amendments and those changes.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
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
Byelections occurred on Saturday in the Victorian state seats of Prahran and Werribee. The Liberals gained Prahran from the Greens by a 51.6–48.4 margin, a 13.6% swing to the Liberals since the 2022 state election.
Primary votes were 36.2% Liberals (up 4.8%), 36.2% Greens (down 0.6%), 12.8% for independent Tony Lupton, the Labor member for Prahran from 2002 to 2010, and 5.3% for another independent. Labor did not contest after winning 26.8% in 2022.
The primary vote swings between the Greens and Liberals only explain 2.7% of the 13.6% two-candidate swing. In 2022, Labor preferences would have flowed strongly to the Greens, but at the byelection Lupton recommended preferences to the Liberals on his how-to-vote material. The Greens’ share of overall preferences plunged from nearly 80% in 2022 to 44%.
In Werribee, Labor leads the Liberals by 50.6–49.4, a 10.4% swing to the Liberals since 2022. Primary votes are 29.0% Liberals (up 3.7%), 28.7% Labor (down 16.7%), 14.7% for independent Paul Hopper (up 8.8%), 7.5% Greens (up 0.7%), 7.3% Victorian Socialists (up 3.7%), 5.5% Legalise Cannabis (new) and 4.4% Family First (up 1.9%).
Labor’s primary vote slumped in Werribee, but the Liberals were not the main beneficiary. There were just enough preferences from left-wing sources (Greens, Socialists and Legalise Cannabis) to put Labor over the line.
The large majority of outstanding votes at these byelections will be postals. In postals counted so far in Werribee, the Liberals lead by 53–47, and they will need to increase that margin on remaining postals to erase Labor’s current lead. But later postals are usually better for left-wing parties than earlier ones.
In Prahran, the Liberals lead the Greens on postals counted so far by 65–35. Later postals will probably be better for the Greens, but the Liberals will still win this byelection.
In Prahran, the Greens should have been able to overcome a shift against them on preferences with an improved primary vote. Losing this seat, which they have held since the 2014 state election, is a dismal result for the Greens.
Labor is likely to retain Werribee, but the slump in the Labor primary vote validates the recent Victorian Resolve poll that had Labor’s statewide primary vote at just 22% and the Liberals in a clear election-winning position.
Victorian upper house reform delayed again
Since winning government at the November 2014 election, Labor has done nothing to reform the upper house electoral system. The upper house still uses group ticket voting (GTV), which is no longer used in any other Australian jurisdiction.
GTV was scrapped in New South Wales before the 2003 election, federally before 2016, in South Australia before 2018 and in Western Australia before this year’s March election. Other jurisdictions have never used GTV.
The artificially strong preference flows produced by GTV can allow parties with very low vote share to win seats through preference deals by overtaking parties with a much higher vote. In a system where voters direct their own preferences, this does not occur.
Analyst Kevin Bonham wrote on Friday that the parliamentary Victorian Electoral Matters Committee had recommended scrapping GTV, but the government has delayed any response until after the Committee publishes its final report in December. By this time, it will be difficult to make changes so that they can be implemented for the November 2026 election.
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.
“OCCRP is a deep state operation. “OCCRP is connected to the CIA. “OCCRP was tasked by USAID to overthrow President Donald Trump.”
How did we end up getting this kind of attention? Old fashioned investigative journalism.
We wrote a simple story in 2019 about how Rudy Giuliani went to Ukraine for some opposition research and ended up working with people connected to organised crime who misled him.
Unbeknown to us, a whistleblower found the story online and added it to a complaint that was the basis of President Trump’s first impeachment. We also wrote a story about Hunter Biden‘s business partners and their ties to organised crime but that hasn’t received the same attention.
Journalism has become a blood sport. It’s harder and harder to tell the truth without someone’s interests getting stepped on.
OCCRP prides itself on being independent and nonpartisan. No donor has any say in our reporting, but we often find ourselves under attack for our funding.
It’s not just political interests but organised crime, businesses, enablers, and other journalists who regularly attack us. What’s common in all of these attacks is that the truth doesn’t matter and it will not protect you.
Few attack the facts in our reporting. Instead we’re left perplexed by how to respond to wild conspiracy theories, outright disinformation, and hyperbolic hatred.
At the same time, we’ve lost 29 percent of our funding because of the US foreign aid freeze. This includes 82 percent of the money we give to newsrooms in our network, many of which operate in places [Pacific Media Watch: Such as in the Pacific] where no one else will support them.
This money did not only fund groundbreaking, prize-winning collaborative journalism but it also trained young investigative reporters to expose wrongdoing. It’s money that kept journalists safe from physical and digital attacks and supported those in exile who continued to report on crooks and dictators back in their home countries.
OCCRP now has 43 less journalists and staff to do our work.
Next week, we’ll take on another set of powerful actors to defend the public interest. And another set the week after that.
We are determined to stay in the fight and keep reporting on organised crime and the corrupt who enable and benefit from it. But it’s getting harder and we need help.
President Donald Trump has frozen billions of dollars around the world in aid projects, including more than $268 million allocated by Congress to support independent media and the free flow of information.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has denounced this decision, which has plunged NGOs, media outlets, and journalists doing vital work into chaotic uncertainty — including in the Pacific.
In a statement published on its website, RSF has called for international public and private support to commit to the “sustainability of independent media”.
Since the new American president announced the freeze of US foreign aid on January 20, USAID (United States Agency for International Development) has been in turmoil — its website is inaccessible, its X account has been suspended, the agency’s headquarters was closed and employees told to stay home.
South African-born American billionaire Elon Musk, an unelected official, whom Trump chose to lead the quasi-official Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has called USAID a “criminal organisation” and declared: “We’re shutting [it] down.”
Later that day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he was named acting director of the agency, suggesting its operations were being moved to the State Department.
Almost immediately after the freeze went into effect, journalistic organisations around the world — including media groups in the Pacific — that receive American aid funding started reaching out to RSF expressing confusion, chaos, and uncertainty.
Large and smaller media NGOs affected The affected organisations include large international NGOs that support independent media like the International Fund for Public Interest Media and smaller, individual media outlets serving audiences living under repressive conditions in countries like Iran and Russia.
“The American aid funding freeze is sowing chaos around the world, including in journalism. The programmes that have been frozen provide vital support to projects that strengthen media, transparency, and democracy,” said Clayton Weimers, executive director of RSF USA.
President Donald Trump . . . “The American aid funding freeze is sowing chaos around the world, including in journalism,” says RSF. Image: RSF
“President Trump justified this order by charging — without evidence — that a so-called ‘foreign aid industry’ is not aligned with US interests.
“The tragic irony is that this measure will create a vacuum that plays into the hands of propagandists and authoritarian states. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is appealing to the international public and private funders to commit to the sustainability of independent media.”
USAID programmes support independent media in more than 30 countries, but it is difficult to assess the full extent of the harm done to the global media.
Many organisations are hesitant to draw attention for fear of risking long-term funding or coming under political attacks.
According to a USAID fact sheet which has since been taken offline, in 2023 the agency funded training and support for 6200 journalists, assisted 707 non-state news outlets, and supported 279 media-sector civil society organisations dedicated to strengthening independent media.
The USAID website today . . . All USAID “direct hire” staff were reportedly put “on leave” on 7 February 2025. Image: USAID website screenshot APR
Activities halted overnight The 2025 foreign aid budget included $268,376,000 allocated by Congress to support “independent media and the free flow of information”.
All over the world, media outlets and organisations have had to halt some of their activities overnight.
“We have articles scheduled until the end of January, but after that, if we haven’t found solutions, we won’t be able to publish anymore,” explains a journalist from a Belarusian exiled media outlet who wished to remain anonymous.
In Cameroon, the funding freeze forced DataCameroon, a public interest media outlet based in the economic capital Douala, to put several projects on hold, including one focused on journalist safety and another covering the upcoming presidential election.
An exiled Iranian media outlet that preferred to remain anonymous was forced to suspend collaboration with its staff for three months and slash salaries to a bare minimum to survive.
An exiled Iranian journalist interviewed by RSF warns that the impact of the funding freeze could silence some of the last remaining free voices, creating a vacuum that Iranian state propaganda would inevitably fill.
“Shutting us off will mean that they’ll have more power,” she says.
USAID: the main donor for Ukrainian media In Ukraine, where 9 out of 10 outlets rely on subsidies and USAID is the primary donor, several local media have already announced the suspension of their activities and are searching for alternative solutions.
“At Slidstvo.Info, 80 percent of our budget is affected,” said Anna Babinets, CEO and co-founder of this independent investigative media outlet based in Kyiv.
The risk of this suspension is that it could open the door to other sources of funding that may seek to alter the editorial line and independence of these media.
“Some media might be shut down or bought by businessmen or oligarchs. I think Russian money will enter the market. And government propaganda will, of course, intensify,” Babinets said.
RSF has already witnessed the direct effects of such propaganda — a fabricated video, falsely branded with the organisation’s logo, claimed that RSF welcomed the suspension of USAID funding for Ukrainian media — a stance RSF has never endorsed.
This is not the first instance of such disinformation.
Finding alternatives quickly This situation highlights the financial fragility of the sector.
According to Oleh Dereniuha, editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian local media outlet NikVesti, based in Mykolaiv, a city in southeast Ukraine, “The suspension of US funding is just the tip of the iceberg — a key case that illustrates the severity of the situation.”
Since 2024, independent Ukrainian media outlets have found securing financial sustainability nearly impossible due to the decline in donors.
As a result, even minor budget cuts could put these media outlets in a precarious position.
A recent RSF report stressed the need to focus on the economic recovery of the independent Ukrainian media landscape, weakened by the large-scale Russian invasion of February 24, 2022, which RSF’s study estimated to be at least $96 million over three years.
Moreover, beyond the decline in donor support in Ukraine, media outlets are also facing growing threats to their funding and economic models in other countries.
Georgia’s Transparency of Foreign Influence Law — modelled after Russia’s legislation — has put numerous media organisations at risk. The Georgian Prime Minister welcomed the US president’s decision with approval.
This suspension is officially expected to last only 90 days, according to the US government.
However, some, like Katerina Abramova, communications director for leading exiled Russian media outlet Meduza, fear that the reviews of funding contracts could take much longer.
Abramova is anticipating the risk that these funds may be permanently cut off.
“Exiled media are even in a more fragile position than others, as we can’t monetise our audience and the crowdfunding has its limits — especially when donating to Meduza is a crime in Russia,” Abramova stressed.
By abruptly suspending American aid, the United States has made many media outlets and journalists vulnerable, dealing a significant blow to press freedom.
For all the media outlets interviewed by RSF, the priority is to recover and urgently find alternative funding.
How Fijivillage News reported the USAID crackdown by the Trump administration. Image: Fijivillage News screenshot APR
Fiji, Pacific media, aid groups reel shocked by cuts In Suva, Fiji, as Pacific media groups have been reeling from the shock of the aid cuts, Fijivillage News reports that hundreds of local jobs and assistance to marginalised communities are being impacted because Fiji is an AUSAID hub.
According to an USAID staff member speaking on the condition of anonymity, Trump’s decision has affected hundreds of Fijian jobs due to USAID believing in building local capacity.
The staff member said millions of dollars in grants for strengthening climate resilience, the healthcare system, economic growth, and digital connectivity in rural communities were now on hold.
The staff member also said civil society organisations, especially grantees in rural areas that rely on their aid, were at risk.
Pacific Media Watch and Asia Pacific Report collaborate with Reporters Without Borders.
In late January, a rebel group that has long caused mayhem in the sprawling African nation of Democratic Republic of Congo took control of Goma, a major city of about 2 million people on the border with Rwanda in the country’s east.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in one of the deadliest weeks in the history of this mineral-rich country. The dead include 100 female prisoners who were reportedly raped by male inmates at a prison and then burned alive.
As someone born and raised in the region, I’ve witnessed first-hand the devastating impact of this protracted war on communities. I’ve been in contact with residents in Goma, who have described unprecedented chaos – looting, criminality and a breakdown of essential services. One resident said:
I’m feeling unsafe in my own house. Last night live bullets penetrated my kitchen, and thank God none of us were there at the time.
More violence may lay ahead. The M23 rebel group, backed by neighbouring Rwanda, is marching south towards Bukavu, another major city, the provincial capital of South Kivu.
Though unlikely, it has vowed to topple the government of President Felix Tshisekedi in the capital, Kinshasa, some 2,600 kilometres away.
Tshisekedi has ruled out entering into dialogue with the rebel group, saying his government would not be “humiliated or crushed”.
What is M23?
Founded in 2012, M23 claims to protect the Tutsi ethnic minority group in Congo from discrimination, but it has recently begun pursuing broader political and economic ambitions. It is believed to have about 6,500 fighters, supported by another 4,000 troops from Rwanda.
Last year, the group was restructured to include other Rwanda-backed militias and politicians in the region. Together, they formed the River Congo Alliance, led by Corneille Nangaa, the former head of Congo’s electoral body. It now appears the group has “longer-term objectives in holding and potentially expanding their territorial control”, one analyst says.
A military court has issued an arrest warrant for Nangaa this week, alleging he is behind massacres in eastern Congo.
Congo has one of the richest reserves of critical minerals in the world, including cobalt, copper, coltan, uranium and gold. M23’s advances have given it control over many lucrative mines and supply lines to Rwanda.
In May 2024, M23 seized the mine in Rubaya, one of the world’s largest coltan reserves, which generates more than US$800,000 (A$1.2 million) in revenue a month.
The current situation echoes the tumult caused in 2012 when M23 briefly seized Goma. Back then, the international community reacted more diligently, suspending around US$200 million (A$318 million) in aid to Rwanda. US President Barack Obama personally called Rwandan President Paul Kagame, urging him to stop supporting the rebel group.
In contrast, the current offensive has been met with a less coordinated international response.
The resurgence of M23 has been largely attributed to the failure of regional peace talks, notably the Luanda and Nairobi peace processes.
Rwanda has leveraged the legacy of the 1994 genocide to secure a continuous flow of Western aid, enabling its involvement in proxy wars in the Congo with little to no repercussions.
Its involvement in supporting M23 is well documented, with evidence from reports by UN expert groups showing the group is receiving weapons, troops and logistical aid from the country.
Uganda is also believed to be supporting the rebels, while Burundi is backing the Congolese government.
This has many worried the current fighting could spiral into a regional conflict.
What the world can do
The ongoing crisis in Congo has been catastrophic for the local population, with more than 6.9 million people internally displaced and 1.1 million people fleeing to neighbouring countries.
The crisis has disproportionately affected women and children. It has caused shortages of water, electricity and food supplies and the collapse of medical care, particularly for newborns and critically ill patients. There are also concerns about a new Ebola outbreak in the region.
Rebel bombings, some launched from Rwanda, have targeted refugee camps, schools and hospitals. According to the UN and human rights groups, M23 is responsible for a massacre in the village of Kishishe, resulting in scores of killings and mass rapes.
The international community has long ignored this region, providing only a bare minimum of aid to help the millions in need.
An immediate ceasefire and massive influx of humanitarian aid are urgently needed. But a lasting peace will remain elusive if the main actors don’t address the root causes of the conflict and work towards sustainable, structural solutions that go beyond military interventions.
In the past, Amani Kasherwa received funding from the Open Society Foundation for his academic research on the role of youth organisations in the peacebuilding process in the African Great Lakes Region (including DR Congo and Burundi).
An ad falsely depicting independent candidate Alex Dyson as a Greens member.ABC News/Supplied
The highly pertinent case of a little-known independent candidate in the Victorian seat of Wannon has exposed a gaping hole in Australia’s electoral laws, which allow for misleading political advertisements in the lead-up to an election campaign. It’s all entirely legal and is already being exploited to try to shape the outcome of the coming federal election.
Conservative activist group Advance Australia has widely distributed digitally altered flyers attacking independent Alex Dyson, who is challenging senior frontbencher Dan Tehan.
It’s part of a campaign to damage Dyson’s electoral prospects after he helped slash the Liberal Party’s margin in the seat at the last election to less than 4%.
The material depicts Dyson ripping open his shirt in a “Superman” pose, to reveal a t-shirt bearing the official Greens party logo.
Dyson is not a Greens candidate. So why are the ads permissible? And what does it tell us about the urgent need for truth in political advertising laws to prohibit material that lies to voters?
Why are misleading ads allowed?
Section 329 of the Electoral Act prohibits the publication of material likely to mislead or deceive an elector in casting their vote.
But in a narrow interpretation by the Electoral Commission, the ban only applies after an election has been called by the prime minister.
That means the Wannon ad, and maybe countless others like them from across the political spectrum, could be distributed for months without repercussion.
Advance Australia has form when it comes to misleading material.
At the 2022 election, it displayed placards that falsely depicted independents David Pocock and Zali Steggall as Greens candidates.
In that case, the Electoral Commission ruled that because the corflutes were deployed during the campaign proper, they breached the electoral laws.
It is absurd and dangerous to democracy to have a law that only bans ads that mislead voters in casting their vote during the official election period, and allows them to proliferate unchecked at other times.
It should not be permissible to lie to voters just because of a technicality. In an era of permanent campaigning, voters can be influenced by political messages received well before a campaign officially starts.
Furthermore, there is little justification for allowing political parties to mislead while banning corporations from engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct. If consumers and shareholders are protected from fraudulent and dishonest claims, why not electors, who have the solemn task of deciding who runs the country?
How can the electoral laws be fixed?
There are available remedies to the problem, starting with reforming the Electoral Act. It should be clearly specified that the provision on misleading electors applies to any material calculated to affect the result of an election, regardless of when it is distributed.
Broader truth in political advertising provisions should also be introduced. This would cover a wider range of factually misleading ads beyond the existing narrow ambit of misleading a voter in the casting of their vote.
If the Electoral Commission determines the material is false or misleading to a material extent, it would order a withdrawal and a retraction.
Importantly, the laws would be confined to false or misleading statements of fact. Parties and other political players would still be free to express their opinions. Freedom of speech would not be impeded.
Parliamentary stalemate
The Albanese government has taken tentative steps to fix the problem. Truth in advertising laws introduced to parliament last year would have forced Advance Australia to retract and correct its dishonest flyers in Wannon.
However, the bill was pulled due to a lack of support.
Any doubters on the opposition benches should look to the experience in South Australia and the ACT, which have both enacted truth in advertising laws.
My research has shown these laws operate effectively in both jurisdictions.
What’s at stake
Spreading political lies has the potential to cause harm on multiple fronts.
The first is the damage to the candidate or political party in terms of their reputation and electoral prospects.
The second danger is to the integrity of the electoral process if lies cause people to switch their votes to such an extent that it changes election outcomes.
The spread of disinformation has become prevalent in an era of “fake news” and “alternative facts”, exacerbated by the rise of social media.
In 2024, the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report ranked misinformation and disinformation as the most severe risk facing the world over the next two years.
False information can alter elections, affect voting participation, silence minorities, and polarise the electorate. It is time to reform our electoral laws to mitigate the significant dangers to our democratic system.
Yee-Fui Ng received funding from the Susan McKinnon Foundation on a project regarding the operation and effectiveness of truth in political advertising laws.
You might have heard that eating too many eggs will cause high cholesterol levels, leading to poor health.
Researchers have examined the science behind this myth again, and again, and again – largely debunking the claim.
A new study suggests that, among older adults, eating eggs supports heart health and even reduces the risk of premature death.
Let’s unpack the details.
What was the study?
Researchers examined data from a large, ongoing study that is following older adults and tracking their health (the ASPREE study).
In their analysis of more than 8,000 people, they examined the foods people usually eat and then looked at how many participants died over a six-year period and from what causes, using medical records and official reports.
Researchers collected information on their diet through a food questionnaire, which included a question about how frequently participants ate eggs in the past year:
never/infrequently (rarely or never, 1–2 times per month)
weekly (1–6 times per week)
daily (daily or several times per day).
Overall, people who consumed eggs 1–6 times per week had the lowest risk of death during the study period (29% lower for heart disease deaths and 17% lower for overall deaths) compared to those who rarely or never ate eggs.
Eating eggs daily did not increase the risk of death either.
How reputable is the study?
The research was published in a peer-reviewed journal, meaning this work has been examined by other researchers and is considered reputable and defensible.
In the analysis, factors such as socioeconomic, demographic, health-related and clinical factors, and overall dietary quality were “adjusted” for, as these factors can play a role in disease and the risk of early death.
Researchers received funding from a variety of national funding grants in the United States and Australia, with no links to commercial sources.
What are the limitations of this study?
Due to the type of study, it only explored egg consumption patterns, which participants self-reported. The researchers didn’t collect data about the type of egg (for example, chicken or quail), how it was prepared, or how many eggs are consumed when eaten.
This analysis specifically looked for an association or link between egg consumption and death. Additional analyses are needed to understand how egg consumption may affect other aspects of health and wellbeing.
Lastly, the population sample of older adults were relatively healthy, limiting how much findings can be applied to older adults with special needs or medical conditions.
ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) is an ongoing, large, randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial involving more 19,000 participants in Australia and the US. This means some people in the trial were given an intervention and others weren’t but neither the participants nor the researchers knew who received the “placebo”, or dummy treatment.
ASPREE started in 2010 to investigate whether low-dose aspirin (100 micrograms daily) could help prolong older adults’ health and lifespan, specifically by preventing heart disease and stroke. The first findings were published in 2018.
One of the fundamental conclusions of the ASPREE trial was there was no benefit from taking aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease (heart disease or stroke).
ASPREE is still ongoing as a longitudinal study, which means it provides information on other aspects of healthy living and long-term outcomes in older adults – in this case, the link between egg intake and the chance of death.
Why the focus on eggs?
Eggs are a good source of protein, and contain B vitamins, folate, unsaturated fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K), choline, and minerals.
The fuss over eggs comes down to their cholesterol content and how it relates to heart disease risk. A large egg yolk contains approximately 275 mg of cholesterol — near the recommended daily limit of cholesterol intake.
In the past, medical professionals warned that eating cholesterol-rich foods such as eggs could raise blood cholesterol and increase heart disease risk.
But newer research shows the body doesn’t absorb dietary cholesterol well, so dietary cholesterol doesn’t have a major effect on blood cholesterol levels.
Rather, foods such as saturated and trans fats play a major role in cholesterol levels.
The body doesn’t absorb the cholesterol from eggs very well. Nichiiro/Unsplash
Given these changing recommendations over time, and the nuances of nutrition science, it’s understandable that research on eggs continues.
What does this mean for me?
Whether you prefer boiled, scrambled, poached, baked or fried, eggs provide a satisfying source of protein and other key nutrients.
While the science is still out, there’s no reason to limit egg intake unless specifically advised by a recognised health professional such as an accredited practising dietitian. As always, moderation is key.
Lauren Ball receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, Queensland Health and Mater Misericordia. She is a Director of Dietitians Australia, a Director of Food Standards Australia and New Zealand, a Director of the Darling Downs and West Moreton Primary Health Network and an Associate Member of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
Karly Bartim is a member of Dietitians Australia and the Australian Association of Gerontology and is an Accredited Practising Dietitian.
The news last week that three people in Sydney were hospitalised with botulism after receiving botox injections has raised questions about the regulation of the cosmetic injectables industry.
The three women allegedly received injections of unregulated anti-wrinkle products from the same provider at a Western Sydney home in January.
The provider, who is not a registered health practitioner, is allegedly also linked to a case of botulism that occurred following a botox injection in Victoria in 2024.
The provider has been banned from performing cosmetic procedures in New South Wales and Victoria while the incidents are investigated. Meanwhile, health authorities in both states have issued warnings about the practitioner.
So, what exactly is botulism? And how can it be linked to botox?
Botox and botulism
Botox, or botulinum toxin, is a drug made from a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum.
The botox toxin is a neurotoxin, which means it prevents the functioning of cells in the central nervous system. Specifically, it blocks the messages your nerves send to your muscles telling them to contract. In this way it can temporarily reduce wrinkles.
While botox is best known for its cosmetic applications, it can also be used in the treatment of certain medical conditions, such as chronic migraines and muscle spasms.
The toxin is used in a highly diluted form in botox injections. Notwithstanding the possibility of side effects (such as temporary pain and swelling at the injection site), botox is generally considered safe when conducted by licensed health practitioners.
Botulism is likewise caused by a toxin produced by the bacteria C. botulinum.
Instances of botulism linked to botox injections in the past have been attributed to counterfeit or mishandled product. Mishandling might include contamination from the toxin source in the diluted product, leading to a higher dose of the toxin, or improper refrigeration. Poor injection technique can also be a factor.
When the botulinum toxin is not handled properly, the toxin can enter the bloodstream. This is how botulism occurs.
Botulism can also be a food-borne illness
C. botulinum can form spores and survive in tough conditions, meaning it can withstand many food preparation techniques.
People who consume homemade preserved foods such as vegetables, particularly those that are not cooked during preparation, can be at a higher risk of food-borne botulism. Lower levels of salt and acid, as is the case with mild fermentation, can also increase the risk of the toxin being present.
C. botulinum can also survive in soil and water. In this way, botulism can also be caused by bacteria from the environment. This can present as wound infections, or intestinal infection with C. botulinum in infants specifically.
Intravenous drug users are at a higher risk of wound-borne botulism, while infants tend to suffer from gastrointestinal botulism because their gut microbiomes are still developing.
Symptoms can develop within a few hours to several days after exposure to the toxin, and include drooping eyelids, difficulty breathing, facial weakness, blurred vision, difficulty swallowing and slurred speech. In infants it can cause floppy limbs and a weak cry.
It’s treated by supporting breathing if necessary, and urgently administering a botox antitoxin, which binds to the toxin, preventing it from attaching to nerve cells in the body.
Usually patients recover, although in some cases they may need to be in hospital for months, and sometimes symptoms such as fatigue and trouble breathing can last years.
The cosmetic injectables industry is estimated to be worth A$4.1 billion in Australia and forecast to grow by almost 20% annually until 2030. These recent incidents in NSW and Victoria highlight the need for stronger regulation in this booming industry.
Asking your practitioner about the injectable they’re using, and ensuring the specific product is registered with the Therapeutic Goods Administration, can further limit any risk associated with botox procedures.
If you make your own preserved foods, careful food production techniques and hygiene, as well as the addition of fermentation, acid, salt or heat treatment can limit the risk of food-borne botulism.
Thomas Jeffries does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Lithium-ion batteries are part of everyday life. They power small rechargeable devices such as mobile phones and laptops. They enable electric vehicles. And larger versions store excess renewable energy for later use, supporting the clean energy transition.
That’s because lithium-ion batteries contain manufactured chemicals such as PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The chemicals carry the lithium – along with electricity – through the battery. If released into the environment, they can linger for decades and likely longer. This is why they’ve been dubbed “forever chemicals”.
Recently, scientists identified a new type of PFAS known as bis-FASIs (short for bis-perfluoroalkyl sulfonimides) in lithium-ion batteries and in the environment. Bis-FASIs have since been detected in soils and waters worldwide. They are toxic – just one drop in an Olympic-size swimming pool can harm the nervous system of animals. Scientists don’t know much about possible effects on humans yet.
Bis-FASIs in lithium-ion batteries present a major obstacle to recycling or disposing of batteries safely. Fortunately, we may have come up with a way to fix this.
But landfill sites could leak eventually. That means disposal of battery waste in landfill may lead to soil and groundwater contamination.
We can’t throw away lithium-ion batteries in household rubbish because they can catch fire.
So once batteries reach the end of useful life, we must handle them in a way that protects the environment and human health.
What’s more, there’s real value in battery waste. Lithium-ion batteries contain lots of valuable metals that are worth recycling. Lithium, cobalt, copper and nickel are critical and finite metal resources that are in high demand. The recoverable metal value from one tonne of lithium-ion battery waste is between A$3,000 and $14,000.
As more lithium-ion batteries explode in flames, waste chiefs say change is necessary (7.30)
What does this mean for recycling of batteries?
Battery recycling in Australia begins with collection, sorting, discharging and dismantling, before the metal is recovered.
Metal recovery can be done via mechanical, high-temperature, chemical or biological methods. But this may inadvertently release bis-FASI, threatening recycling workers and the environment.
Pyrometallurgy is the most common technique for recycling lithium-ion batteries. This involves incinerating the batteries to recover the metals. Bis-FASIs are incinerated at the same time.
Yet PFAS chemicals are stable and can withstand high temperatures. The exact temperature needed to destroy PFAS is the biggest unknown in lithium-ion battery recycling.
Determining this temperature was the focus of our research.
The solution is hot – very hot!
We teamed up with chemistry professor Anthony Rappé at Colorado State University in the United States. We wanted to work out the temperature at which bis-FASIs can be effectively incinerated.
But figuring this out is tricky, not only because of the danger of working with high temperatures.
The inside of incinerators is a hot mess. Molecules get torn apart. Some recombine to form larger molecules, and others interact with ashes produced during the burning process. This could produce toxic new substances, which then exit through a smokestack into the air outside.
To make matters worse, it’s not possible to measure all the substances that bis-FASIs break down into, because many of them are unknown.
To help, we applied the science of quantum mechanics and solved the problem on a computer without ever going into the lab. The computer can accurately simulate the behaviour of any molecules, including bis-FASIs.
We found that at 600°C, bis-FASI molecules start to separate into smaller fragments. But these fragments are still PFAS chemicals and could be more harmful than their parent chemicals.
As a consequence, the absence of bis-FASIs in stack exhaust is not enough to deem the process safe. Much higher temperatures of 1,000°C and above are needed to break down bis-FASIs completely into harmless products. This is likely to be much higher than temperatures currently used, although that varies between facilities.
Based on these findings, we built an innovative model that guides recyclers on how to destroy bis-FASIs during metal recovery by using sufficiently high temperatures.
How do we avoid future risks?
We are now collaborating with operators of high-temperature metal recovery and incineration plants to use our model to destroy PFAS in batteries.
Recycling plants will have to use much higher temperatures to avoid problematic fumes and this will require more energy and financial investment.
After our new guidance is implemented, we will test the recovered metals, solid residues, and exhausts to ensure they are free from PFAS.
While we can tackle the PFAS problem now, it remains an expensive undertaking. Metal recovery processes must be upgraded to safely destroy bis-FASIs. Ultimately, consumers are likely to foot the bill.
However, sending lithium-ion battery waste to landfill will damage the environment and be more expensive in the long run. Landfilling of bis-FASI-containing waste should therefore be avoided.
Clearly, the battery recycling rate must improve. This is where everyday people can help. In the future, manufacturers should avoid using forever chemicals in batteries altogether. Development of safer alternatives is a key focus of ongoing research into sustainable battery design.
Jens Blotevogel receives funding from the United States Department of Defense’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program.
Naomi Boxall receives funding from the Australian Government under the National Environmental Science Program.
Netflix’s new limited series, Apple Cider Vinegar, tells the story of the elaborate cancer con orchestrated by Australian blogger Annabelle (Belle) Gibson.
The first episode opens with Gibson’s character (played by Kaitlyn Dever) breaking the wall between the performance and the audience, saying:
This is a true story based on a lie. Some names have been changed to protect the innocent. Belle Gibson has not been paid for the recreation of her story.
And from these first few seconds, we know, Gibson herself is not innocent.
A familiar story
For anyone who followed Gibson during her rise to fame in the 2010s – or her spectacular fall – the show feels eerily familiar.
From the clothing, to the makeup, to the food, Apple Cider Vinegar excels in set design and staging. Every effort has been made to ensure this true story, based on a lie, looks like it did when it was unfolding on our phone screens in 2010s.
As someone who followed Gibson closely and spent months hunting down the recalled cookbook to see if the health claims were as outlandish as I’d heard (they were), this show was a treat to watch.
The scenes are cut with recreations of Belle’s stylised Instagram pictures of green juices, beaches and food with “no nasties”. Belle’s account was removed from Instagram after the massive public ousting of her hoax.
Apple Cider Vinegar has done an incredible job recreating this account and breathing life back into the deleted content.
Even after being caught out, the real Gibson claimed ‘unscrupulous natural therapists duped her into believing she was dying’, according to 60 Minutes. Netflix
The cancer con
While the core story of Apple Cider Vinegar is unpacking Gibson’s lies and path to destruction, it also shows us a very real and heartbreaking side to cancer.
Other prominent characters include fellow influencer, Milla Blake (played by Alycia Debnam-Carey) and follower Lucy (played by Tilda Cobham-Harvey). Both of these women are battling cancer. We learn about their relationships with Gibson and how her lies so easily bled into their lives.
We witness how alluring Gibson’s lies were for people who were desperately looking to feel “well”. We understand her magnetism, and just as easily to feel the rage of the families who watched as their loved ones deteriorated. In the words of Lucy’s partner:
I’m not letting some influencer with a nose ring undercut years of medical research.
Apple Cider Vinegar demonstrates how one can be taken down a path of cancer treatment quackery. The allure of alternative medicine is presented compellingly when contrasted with the painful realities of traditional cancer treatment.
Milla, suffering from an aggressive form of cancer, seeks out alternative options after doctors recommend an amputation. She says:
I didn’t know the words to describe the rage I felt when the doctors looked at my body and only saw disease.
While holistic approaches to many diseases can be helpful when combined with traditional treatment, Apple Cider Vinegar illustrates how toxic it can be to “moralise” health.
When people assign moral properties to neutral health conditions such as cancer, AIDS or COVID, this can lead to stigmatisation and feelings of being “bad”. Some characters in the show talk about how their behaviours led them to sickness and how “healthy” actions would save them (rather than medical treatment).
The show also regularly uses language that is prominent in online health communities, such as referring to certain foods as “good” or “toxic”. In one scene, we see a character fall into a panic and call a holistic health professional after her parent takes a pain killer.
The real story
Apple Cider Vinegar is based on the book The Woman Who Fooled the World by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, two journalists who were instrumental in uncovering Gibson’s lies.
Creator Samantha Strauss crafts this story expertly. We see Gibson’s story from all sides. We feel sympathy for her – for her childhood and loneliness – before being put in the shoes of someone whose partner is dying because they followed Gibson’s advice.
Some characters and scenes have clearly been fabricated, such as when Gibson claims to see a doctor named “Dr Phil”. But these fabrications seem acceptable, because we are told from the beginning that’s what this show would do: create and fictionalise some characters.
Other scenes feel very real. The character Milla Blake, a fellow influencer, is heavily inspired by the real woman who died in 2015 from epithelioid sarcoma.
She made a platform online by sharing how she rejected traditional cancer treatment in favour of alternative treatments (Gerson therapy). Like Belle, she was a part of the inspirational speaking and author circuit at the time.
Alycia Debnam-Carey (left) plays Milla Blake, a character based on a real woman who died from epithelioid sarcoma in 2015. Netflix
In their book The Woman Who Fooled the World, Donelly and Toscano speculate about how Belle got close to this influencer (to follow her pattern of success online) and to other cancer patients, including a young boy and his family (to mimic symptoms and appear more authentic).
Apple Cider Vinegar shows us hints of this behaviour. We see Belle begin to mimic the language of other people sharing their experiences with cancer and act in similar ways.
Whether or not you are already familiar Gibson’s story, Apple Cider Vinegar is a compelling watch. You’ll especially love it if you enjoy non-fiction productions that play with ideas of truth such as iTonya, the Tinder Swindler and Inventing Anna.
Apple Cider Vinegar is streaming now on Netflix.
Edith Jennifer Hill 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.
Greece’s government has just declared a state of emergency on the island of Santorini, as earthquakes shake the island multiple times a day and sometimes only minutes apart.
The “earthquake swarm” is also affecting other nearby islands in the Aegean Sea. It began gradually with numerous very minor (less than magnitude 3) and mostly imperceptible earthquakes in late January. However, at the start of February, the seismic activity intensified as the quakes became larger and more frequent.
So far, several thousand quakes have been recorded in the last two weeks. As many as 30 a day have been above magnitude 4.0 – most of them at less than 10km depth, which is large and shallow enough to be felt by people living on local islands.
These larger earthquakes have resulted in rock falls along the islands’ coastal cliffs, as well as minor damage to vulnerable buildings. The largest earthquake so far was magnitude 5.1 on February 6, which was also felt in the capital city, Athens, as well as in Crete and in parts of Turkey more than 240km away.
Usually a popular tourist destination, Santorini is now virtually empty. Over the past week, some 11,000 holidaymakers and locals have left the island, with many fearing the seismic activity may presage a volcanic eruption.
So how exactly does an “earthquake swarm” happen? And what might happen in the coming days and weeks?
The current seismic activity is located near Anydros, an uninhabited islet about 30km northeast of Santorini. This region lies within the volcanic arc of the “Hellenic subduction zone”, where the African tectonic plate is slowly sliding beneath the Eurasian plate (and specifically the Aegean microplate). The region hosts volcanoes as well as numerous weak zones in the crust – what earth scientists often call “faults”.
Santorini itself is a mostly submerged caldera – a crater formed as a result of volcanic activity over the past 180,000 years, with its last eruption in the 1950s. Earthquakes can be connected to volcanic activity – specifically, the movement of magma beneath the surface.
However, this earthquake sequence is not located beneath Santorini. And local scientists monitoring Santorini have reported no change to indicate the current seismic activity is a forerunner of another Santorini eruption. Instead, the earthquakes appear to align with faults lying between Santorini and the neighbouring island Amorgos.
Nearby faults are known to have produced earthquakes before. For example, in 1956, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake here also produced a damaging tsunami and was soon followed by a magnitude 7.2 aftershock. More than 53 people died as a result of this earthquake and the aftershock and tsunami. Many more were injured.
Earthquakes, shown as coloured circles, of the January-February 2025 Anydros swarm, near Santorini, Greece (Source: seismo.auth.gr) and known active faults, depicted as black lines (Source: https://zenodo.org/records/13168947). Dee Ninis & Konstantinos Michailos
No single stand-out event
Tectonic earthquakes occur when accumulating stress in Earth’s crust is suddenly released, causing a rupture along a fault and releasing energy in the form of seismic waves.
Typically, moderate to major earthquakes (known as mainshocks) are followed by smaller quakes (known as aftershocks) that gradually diminish in magnitude and frequency over time. This is what seismologists call the mainshock–aftershock sequence.
Some sequences behave differently and do not exhibit a single stand-out event. Instead, they involve multiple earthquakes of a similar size that take place over days, weeks, or even months. These types of sequences are what seismologists call “earthquake swarms”.
The 1956 earthquake was a mainshock–aftershock sequence, with aftershocks lasting at least eight months after the mainshock. However, the current ongoing seismic activity near Santorini, at least as of February 7, features thousands of earthquakes, many with magnitudes ranging between 4.0 and 5.0.
This suggests it is most likely an earthquake swarm.
Earthquake swarms are often associated with fluid movement in the earth’s crust and the resulting seismic activity is usually less dramatic than the sudden movement of a strong mainshock.
Seismologists are interested in distinguishing between mainshock–aftershock sequences and earthquake swarms as it can help them better understand the processes that drive these phenomena.
A larger quake is still possible
We cannot predict exactly what will come from the earthquake activity near Santorini. Global observations of earthquakes tell us that only a small fraction (about 5%) of earthquakes are foreshocks to larger earthquakes.
That said, there could still be a possibility that a larger and potentially damaging earthquake could occur there soon.
Although swarms typically involve earthquakes of lower magnitudes, they can last for days to weeks, or persist for months. They can even slow down, and then intensify again, unsettling locals with intermittent ground shaking.
Dee Ninis works at the Seismology Research Centre, is Vice President of the Australian Earthquake Engineering Society, and a Committee Member for the Geological Society of Australia – Victoria Division.
Konstantinos Michailos 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.
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 Western Australian state election will be held on March 8. A Newspoll, conducted January 29 to February 4 from a sample of 1,039, gave Labor a 56–44 lead, from primary votes of 42% Labor, 32% Liberals, 3% Nationals, 12% Greens, 4% One Nation and 7% for all Others.
At the March 2021 WA election, Labor won 53 of the 59 lower house seats on a two-party vote of 69.7–30.3, a record high for either major party at any state or federal election. Labor won 59.9% of the primary vote.
A 56–44 result in Labor’s favour would still be a thumping victory, but it would represent a 14% swing to the Liberals from 2021. Labor will lose many seats, but they are very likely to easily retain a lower house majority.
Labor Premier Roger Cook had a net approval of +18, with 55% satisfied and 37% dissatisfied. Liberal leader Libby Mettam had a net approval of -2, with 41% dissatisfied and 39% satisfied. Cook led Mettam as better premier by 54–34.
While this Newspoll is very good for state Labor, only 35% of WA voters said the Anthony Albanese federal Labor government deserved to be re-elected, while 50% said it was “time to give someone else a go”.
Federal Essential poll: Coalition remains ahead on respondent preferences
A national Essential poll, conducted January 29 to February 2 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 49–47 lead by respondent preferences including undecided (48–47 in mid-January). The Coalition has led by one or two points in the past four Essential polls.
Primary votes were 36% Coalition (down one), 30% Labor (steady), 12% Greens (steady), 8% One Nation (up one), 1% UAP (down one), 9% for all Others (up two) and 4% undecided (down one). These primary votes imply a Labor lead by about 50.5–49.5 by 2022 election preference flows.
The poll graph below includes the latest polls from Essential and Morgan, but not the DemosAU poll. In the last two weeks, the Morgan poll has trended to Labor, with Labor’s two-party share using 2022 flows increasing from 48% to 50.5%.
On action to combat antisemitism, 9% thought the government was doing too much, 30% said it was doing enough and 43% believed it was not doing enough. On the importance of antisemitism, 40% said it was a major issue, 48% a minor issue and 12% not an issue. Issue salience will be greatly overstated by questions that ask about one issue; it’s best to ask about various issues.
By 37–31, respondents supported tax discounts of $20,000 for small businesses to pay for meals and entertainment for staff and clients. The question did not mention that this idea was proposed by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
By 77–16, voters thought there should be laws requiring equal salaries for men and women in the same position, but by 49–45 they said gender equality has come far enough already. On social and economic inequality, 57% (down two since May 2024) thought it is increasing, 29% (up three) staying about the same and 10% (up one) decreasing.
Core inflation dropped in December quarter
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released inflation data for the December quarter on January 29. Headline inflation was up 0.2% in December, unchanged from the September quarter, with annual inflation down from 2.8% to 2.4%. The peak annual inflation was 7.8% in December 2022.
Core (trimmed mean) inflation increased 0.5% in December, down from 0.8% in September, for an annual rate of 3.2%, down from 3.6% in September. Annual core inflation peaked at 6.8% in December 2022.
The ABC’s report said financial markets thought there was now a 90% chance of an interest rate cut when the Reserve Bank board meets on February 17–18. A rate cut would be good news for the government.
Morgan and DemosAU polls are tied
A national Morgan poll, conducted January 27 to February 2 from a sample of 1,694, had a 50–50 tie by headline respondent preferences, a two-point gain for Labor since the previous poll. This is the first time the Coalition has not led in a Morgan poll since late November.
Primary votes were 38.5% Coalition (down two), 30% Labor (up 0.5), 11.5% Greens (steady), 5.5% One Nation (down 0.5), 10.5% independents (up 1.5) and 4% others (up 0.5). By 2022 election flows, Labor led by 50.5–49.5, a 1.5-point gain for Labor.
The previous Morgan poll, conducted January 20–26 from a sample of 1,567, gave the Coalition a 52–48 lead by respondent preferences, unchanged from the January 13–19 poll.
Primary votes were 40.5% Coalition (down 1.5), 29.5% Labor (up one), 11.5% Greens (down 1.5), 6% One Nation (up two), 9% independents (up 0.5) and 3.5% others (down 0.5). By 2022 election flows, the Coalition led by 51–49, a one-point gain for Labor.
A DemosAU national poll, conducted January 28 to February 1 from a sample of 1,238, had a 50–50 tie, unchanged since November. Primary votes were 38% Coalition (steady), 33% Labor (up one), 12% Greens (steady), 7% One Nation (steady) and 10% for all Others (down one).
DemosAU is using 2022 election flows for its polls. The primary votes would be expected to give Labor a 51–49 lead, so rounding probably contributed to the tie.
Freshwater breakdowns of young men and young women
The Financial Review had breakdowns of voting intentions and other questions from the last three national Freshwater polls on January 28. These polls were conducted from November to January from an overall sample of 3,160. This analysis focused on differences between men and women aged 18–34.
Among young women, Labor and the Greens each had 32% of the primary vote, while the Coalition was at just 25%. Among young men, Labor had 36%, the Coalition 32% and the Greens 20%. I estimate young women would vote Labor by about 65–35 and young men by 59–41 after preferences.
While there is a difference between young men and women, Labor would easily win the overall youth vote in this poll. Labor’s problems in the overall polls are due to older voters skewing to the Coalition.
Young women preferred Albanese as PM to Dutton by 58–27, while young men preferred Albanese by 55–37. With young women, Albanese was at net -11 approval and Dutton at net -22. With young men, Albanese was at net +6 approval and Dutton at net -6. Young men were much more positive than young women about the direction of the country and the economy.
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.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine McCarthy, Senior Lecturer in Interior Architecture, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Interior of Auckland South Men’s Prison.Getty Images
Prisons are not colourful places. Typically, they are grey or some variation of a monochrome colour scheme. But increasingly, such a limited palette is being questioned for its impact on health and rehabilitation.
I saw a relentlessly dull world; just concrete and steel […] The monochrome landscape seemed to permeate even the faces of the inmates here; men […] had a pasty, ghostly pallor. It was difficult to imagine any kind of sustained life here.
Prison greyness is partly due to the predominance of steel and concrete, especially in high- and maximum-security units. But the furniture and fixtures – tables, seats and toilets – are also often stainless-steel grey. In New Zealand, even sentenced prisoners’ clothing is grey.
As a prisoner once explained to me (when I was president of the Wellington Howard League), a calculator he used for correspondence classes was allowed in one unit but banned in another, simply because it had a blue strip on it.
Something similar was reported by the Prison Inspectorate in a 2019 report. In that case, staff withheld “black underwear containing small amounts of blue stitching. Staff confirmed this was their approach.”
Worlds without colour
Does colour matter in human environments? The answer appears to be yes. Examples include red increasing heart rates, blue and green creating calm, and yellow evoking hope. According to Australian researcher Thomas Edwards:
yellow may be appropriate in contexts where high motivation and a future-focus are required. By contrast, green and blue may be relevant to settings where low motivation, a present focus, and prosocial behaviours are favoured.
Colour can also help with legibility and way-finding, and differentiate surfaces to prevent trip hazards – an increasingly important factor as the prison population ages.
Other over-represented groups in prison can also benefit. For example, Israeli research published in 2022 concluded that soft natural colours and low contrast can improve environments for people with autism spectrum disorder.
Ultimately, a colourless world is not a good one. Grey and neutral colours reduce visual stimulation, demotivate, increase boredom and can lead to depression. Colour takes on particular importance for people who spend most or all of the day indoors, such as the prisoners in high- and maximum-security units.
Murals are on the wall and patterned tables in a Californian prison unit. Getty Images
The need for variety
Colour has a graduated spectrum – there isn’t only one blue, for example. Tints, tones and shades add another level of complexity. Coloured surfaces are affected by their material and degree of sheen. Different combinations of colours and different light sources also affect how a colour looks and its likely impact on people.
This means there are many possible variants to consider. But most research is highly specific and the findings are rarely universally applicable. The impact of context, cultural differences, our personal preferences and colour associations can also be difficult to measure.
But this theoretical complexity shouldn’t prevent the use of more colour in prison architecture. Variety in colour, rather than the use of specific colours, is the fundamental change that is needed. Likewise, concerns about gang colours can be mitigated if pattern and colour combinations are astutely used.
In 2019, Edinburgh College of Art researchers led a project involving dementia patients, adding colour to corridors at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. Multicoloured strips of block colours were painted on the white corridor walls to relieve the monotony of these spaces.
Fewer aggressive incidents between patients or with staff were reported after the project. The specific reason is unclear, but it appears better demarcation of spaces led to fewer patients congregating and causing conflict in circulation areas.
Another example at a semi-open prison in Bosnia saw prisoners painting diagonal lines on walls, creating triangles painted in different colours. Researchers concluded that “bright colours are recommended in the prison, with green and blue […] being the best rated because people perceive them as soothing, stimulating, pleasant and safe”.
Increasing the amount of colour on a wall is an inexpensive way to improve prison environments for both staff and prisoners. It can easily create variety and relieve the tedium of otherwise indistinguishable spaces.
Housing prisoners in a dreary architecture of grey walls, grey furniture and people in grey jumpsuits must make it difficult for them to imagine and prepare for a positive future in the community.
This can be inferred from studies of prisoners in solitary confinement which have established that living in extremely monotonous environments can cause depression, paranoia, anxiety, aggression and self-harm.
The new expansion to Waikeria Prison, and its 100-bed mental health unit Hikitia, is an opportunity to significantly shift this attitude to prison interior architecture – but it shouldn’t stop there.
All prisons would benefit from replacing the typically monochromatic palette of prison architecture with something more colourful.
Christine McCarthy is a past President of the Wellington Howard League for Penal Reform (2018–20).
The ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas makes provisions for the passage of food and humanitarian aid into Gaza. This support is much needed given that Gaza’s agricultural system has been severely damaged over the course of the war.
Over the past 17 months we have analysed satellite images across the Gaza Strip to quantify the scale of agricultural destruction across the region. Our newly published research reveals not only the widespread extent of this destruction but also the potentially unprecedented pace at which it occurred. Our work covers the period until September 2024 but further data through to January 2025 is also available.
Before the war, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and strawberries were grown in open fields and greenhouses, and olive and citrus trees lined rows across the Gazan landscape. The trees in particular are an important cultural heritage in the region, and agriculture was a vital part of Gaza’s economy. About half of the food eaten there was produced in the territory itself, and food made up a similar portion of its exports.
By December 2023, only two months into the war, there were official warnings that the entire population of Gaza, more than 2 million people, was facing high levels of acute food insecurity. While that assessment was based on interviews and survey data, the level of agricultural damage across the whole landscape remained out of view.
Most olive and citrus trees are gone
To address this problem, we mapped the damage to tree crops – mostly olive and citrus trees – in Gaza each month over the course of the war up until September 2024. Together with our colleagues Dimah Habash and Mazin Qumsiyeh, we did this using very high-resolution satellite imagery, detailed enough to focus on individual trees.
We first visually identified tree crops with and without damage to “train” our computer program, or model, so it knew what to look for. We then ran the model on all the satellite data. We also looked over a sample of results ourselves to confirm it was accurate.
Our results showed that between 64% and 70% of all tree crop fields in Gaza had been damaged. That can either mean a few trees being destroyed, the whole field of trees completely removed, or anything in between. Most damage took place during the first few months of the war in autumn 2023. Exactly who destroyed these trees and why is beyond the scope of our research or expertise.
In some areas, every greenhouse is gone
As greenhouses look very different in satellite images, we used a separate method to map damage to them. We found over 4,000 had been damaged by September 2024, which is more than half of the total we had identified before the start of the war.
Greenhouses and the date of initial damage between October 2023 and September 2024. Yin et al (2025)
In the south of the territory, where most greenhouses were found, the destruction was fairly steady from December 2023 onwards.
But in north Gaza and Gaza City, the two most northerly of the territory’s five governorates, most of the damage had already taken place by November and December 2023. By the end of our study period, all 578 greenhouses there had been destroyed.
North Gaza and Gaza City have also seen the most damage to tree crop fields. By September 2024, over 90% of all tree crops in Gaza City had been destroyed, and 73% had been lost in north Gaza. In the three southern governorates, Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah and Rafah, around 50% of all tree crops had been destroyed.
The exact impact can differ from conflict to conflict. War may directly damage lands, as we have seen in Gaza, or it may lead to more fallow areas as infrastructure is damaged and farmers are forced to flee. A conflict also increases the need for local agricultural production, especially when food imports are restricted.
Our assessment shows a very high rate of direct and extensive damage to Gaza’s agricultural system, both compared to previous conflict escalations there in 2014 and 2021, and in other conflict settings. For example, during the July-August war in 2014, around 1,200 greenhouses were damaged in Gaza. This time round at least three times as many have been damaged.
Agricultural attacks are unlawful
Attacks on agricultural lands are prohibited under international law. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court from 1998 defines the intentional use of starvation of civilians through “depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival” as a war crime. The Geneva conventions further define such indispensable objects as “foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production offoodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works”.
Our study provides transparent statistics on the extent and timing of damage to Gaza’s agricultural system. As well as documenting the impacts of the war, we hope it can help the massive rebuilding efforts that will be required.
Restoring Gaza’s agricultural system goes beyond clearing debris and rubble, and rebuilding greenhouses. The soils need to be cleaned from possible contamination. Sewage and irrigation infrastructure need to be rebuilt.
Such efforts may take a generation or more to complete. After all, olive and citrus trees can take five or more years to become productive, and 15 years to reach full maturity. After previous attacks on Gaza the trees were mostly replanted, and perhaps the same will happen again this time. But it’s for good reason they say that only people with hope for the future plant trees.
Lina Eklund receives funding from the Swedish National Space Agency and the Strategic Research Area: The Middle East in the Contemporary World (MECW) at the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University, Sweden.
A humpback whale mother and calf on the New Caledonian breeding grounds.
Mark Quintin
All known human languages display a surprising pattern: the most frequent word in a language is twice as frequent as the second most frequent, three times as frequent as the third, and so on. This is known as Zipf’s law.
Researchers have hunted for evidence of this pattern in communication among other species, but until now no other examples have been found.
In new research published today in Science, our team of experts in whale song, linguistics and developmental psychology analysed eight years’ of song recordings from humpback whales in New Caledonia. Led by Inbal Arnon from the Hebrew University, Ellen Garland from the University of St Andrews, and Simon Kirby from the University of Edinburgh, We used techniques inspired by the way human infants learn language to analyse humpback whale song.
We discovered that the same Zipfian pattern universally found across human languages also occurs in whale song. This complex signalling system, like human language, is culturally learned by each individual from others.
Learning like an infant
When infant humans are learning, they have to somehow discover where words start and end. Speech is continuous and does not come with gaps between words that they can use. So how do they break into language?
Thirty years of research has revealed that they do this by listening for sounds that are surprising in context: sounds within words are relatively predictable, but between words are relatively unpredictable. We analysed the whale song data using the same procedure.
A breaching humpback whale in New Caledonia. Operation Cetaces
Unexpectedly, using this technique revealed in whale song the same statistical properties that are found in all languages. It turns out both human language and whale song have statistically coherent parts.
In other words, they both contain recurring parts where the transitions between elements are more predictable within the part. Moreover, these recurring sub-sequences we detected follow the Zipfian frequency distribution found across all human languages, and not found before in other species.
Whale song recording (2017) Operation Cetaces916 KB(download)
Close analysis of whale song revealed statistical structures similar to those found in human language. Operation Cetaces
How do the same statistical properties arise in two evolutionarily distant species that differ from one another in so many ways? We suggest we found these similarities because humans and whales share a learning mechanism: culture.
A cultural origin
Our findings raise an exciting question: why would such different systems in such incredibly distant species have common structures? We suggest the reason behind this is that both are culturally learned.
Cultural evolution inevitably leads to the emergence of properties that make learning easier. If a system is hard to learn, it will not survive to the next generation of learners.
There is growing evidence from experiments with humans that having statistically coherent parts, and having them follow a Zipfian distribution, makes learning easier. This suggests that learning and transmission play an important role in how these properties emerged in both human language and whale song.
So can we talk to whales now?
Finding parallel structures between whale song and human language may also lead to another question: can we talk to whales now? The short answer is no, not at all.
Our study does not examine the meaning behind whale song sequences. We have no idea what these segments might mean to the whales, if they mean anything at all.
A competitive pod of humpback whales on the New Caledonian breeding grounds. Operation Cetaces
It might help to think about it like instrumental music, as music also contains similar structures. A melody can be learned, repeated, and spread – but that doesn’t give meaning to the musical notes in the same way that individual words have meaning.
Next up: birdsong
Our work also makes a bold prediction: we should find this Zipfian distribution wherever complex communication is transmitted culturally. Humans and whales are not the only species that do this.
We find what is known as “vocal production learning” in an unusual range of species across the animal kingdom. Song birds in particular may provide the best place to look as many bird species culturally learn their songs, and unlike in whales, we know a lot about precisely how birds learn song.
Equally, we expect not to find these statistical properties in the communication of species that don’t transmit complex communication by learning. This will help to reveal whether cultural evolution is the common driver of these properties between humans and whales.
Ellen Garland received funding from the following grants for this work:
Royal Society University Research Fellowship (UF160081 and
URFR221020), Royal Society Research Fellows Enhancement
Award (RGFEA180213), Royal Society Research Grants for
Research Fellows 2018 (RGFR1181014), National Geographic
Grant (NGS-50654R-18), Carnegie Trust Research Incentive Grant
(RIG007772), British Ecological Society Small Research Grant
(SR18/1288), and School of Biology Research Committee funding.
Inbal Arnon, Jenny Allen, and Simon Kirby do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Jordan Mailata is an Australian-born NFL star who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles as an offensive left tackle. This position favours very tall, heavy and strong athletes who also possess good footwork, agility and tactical awareness.
His main job is to protect his quarterback and provide gaps for his running backs to run through.
Mailata is one of four Australians to play in a Super Bowl, with the others being punters (kickers) Ben Graham, Arryn Siposs and Mitch Wishnowsky.
Unfortunately, no Australian has won the game that matters most every year but Mailata has a chance in his second Super Bowl, against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday morning.
So, how did Mailata reach the pinnacle of his “new” sport?
Mailata’s initial sporting success came in rugby league.
He played in the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs under-18 team and was offered a contract by the South Sydney Rabbitohs under-20 team. Both of these clubs are part of the elite National Rugby League (NRL) competition.
Mailata, who still hadn’t reached his 21st birthday when offered the Rabbitohs contract, stood out as a giant even in professional rugby league circles at 203cm and 147 kilograms.
Ultimately, this resulted in some of the South Sydney staff and sport agents suggesting American football might be a better option for someone of his stature and physical capacities.
Tranasferring his talent
This brings us to what is known as “talent transfer”.
In high-performance sport, talent transfer refers to a high-level athlete from one sport transferring to another based on their existing skills and physical capacities.
This can be done for a number of reasons, like injury, burnout, loss of interest, or, in the case of Mailata, finding another sport that would suit their physicality better.
For talent transfer to be successful, there needs to be a lot of similarities between the two sports in areas such as skill requirements (kicking, passing, tackling), physical traits (height, mass) and physiological demands (aerobic vs anaerobic).
These similarities can allow athletes to capitalise on their previous training to succeed in their new sport faster and to a higher level than their competitors.
The similarities between American football and rugby (league and union) – such as catching and kicking an oval-shaped ball, evading or running through defenders and full-body tackling – would have benefited a mature athlete like Mailata to transfer from one code to another.
A whole new ball game
His transition from a monster-sized rugby league player in Australia to a more regular-sized offensive tackle in the NFL was initially facilitated through the NFL International Player Pathway (IPP) program.
The IPP was established in 2017 to provide high performance adult athletes from all over the world (like Mailata) the opportunity to learn the complexities of American football and increase the number of international players in the NFL.
The program has been highly successful, with 37 international players signing with NFL teams, of which 18 are currently on NFL rosters.
When Mailata was drafted to the NFL in 2018, he had to work on many aspects of his body to meet the physical challenges of playing in the NFL against other exceptionally massive and strong athletes.
He also had to learn a range of sport-specific technical and tactical skills.
As a part of the IPP, he started working with coaches including Jeff Stoutland, the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line coach.
Stoutland took Mailata into the classroom, teaching him the intricacies of offensive line play including protection and run schemes. These lessons extended into what footwork patterns he would need to master, where and how to position his body when initiating contact and how to use his hands to control the defensive line.
Such skills are the bread and butter of the offensive line – these athletes provide the quarterback time to make key passing decisions and increase the chance of their running backs making big yards on their carries.
Mailata has also mentioned how Strickland taught him the importance of critically watching NFL games, initially to learn the technicalities of the sport and now to further refine his performance against the best defensive lines.
The next wave
In addition to the IPP that looks at talent transfer from adult athletes, the NFL has developed the NFL Academy for school-aged children.
The first academy was based at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom and the second was developed at A.B. Patterson College on the Gold Coast.
These academies combine full-time education with intensive American football training in the hope of promoting pathway opportunities at US colleges.
Hopefully, these academies will see more young Australians transferring their skills and following Mailata into the NFL.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Heather Douglas, Professor of Law and Deputy Director of the Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW), The University of Melbourne
Around 50% of Australian young people have engaged in choking, or strangulation, during sex. This practice involves one person putting pressure on the neck of another, restricting breathing or blood flow (or both).
There’s no evidence there is any safe way to undertake strangulation. Notably, strangulation can cause injury without leaving any marks and sometimes negative consequences don’t develop until well after the choking episode.
In a new study, we’ve found part of the reason why strangulation during sex is so common may be because many people mistakenly believe that, while risky, it can be made safe through moderating pressure and appropriate communication.
But stopping blood flow to the brain can take less pressure than opening a can of soft drink. And research shows strangulation can result in serious harms even when it’s consensual.
Surveying young Australians
In 2023, we surveyed a representative sample of 4,702 Australians aged between 18 and 35 about their experiences and opinions of strangulation during sex.
In 2024, we published a study about the prevalence of sexual strangulation based on the results of this survey. We found 57% of participants reported they had been strangled during sex, and 51% had strangled a partner.
At the end of the survey, we asked respondents:
What are your thoughts or insights regarding choking during sex?
For this new study, we wanted to understand perceptions around sexual strangulation. More than 1,500 participants commented on issues related to safety in their responses, and we analysed these.
We surveyed young people in Australia about sexual strangulation. ImYanis/Shutterstock
Many mistakenly believed choking could be safe
It was concerning to us that many of the respondents seemed to believe sexual strangulation can be done safely. Most commonly, participants perceived it to be safe when done with a low level of pressure applied to the sides of the neck.
One participant, a 31-year-old straight man, said:
My partner likes a firm hand on the throat but more so not choking off the windpipe, but lightly restricting the blood flow when she can feel an orgasm building up.
A 24-year-old straight woman commented:
I think there should be a conversation before hand about how hard and how much pressure.
Some respondents suggested it was safe to hinder blood flow, rather than oxygen flow. However, restricting blood flow to the brain can also have serious health implications.
While not all pressure on the neck will be fatal, research shows even relatively low pressure can cause death by strangulation.
Also, if the person using strangulation or being strangled has used alcohol and other drugs, differences in pressure may be more difficult to discern, increasing the risks for the person being strangled.
Participants also linked safety – whether emotional or physical – to consenting to sexual strangulation. As a 32-year-old straight woman wrote:
If between two consensual adults who have discussed it prior with a safety plan in place then I do not see any harm in the act however I have been subjected to non consensual choking in a previous sexual encounter which left me angry and scared.
A 23-year-old bisexual woman said:
As long as both parties agree to it and the amount of pressure, it can be an enjoyable experience. Consent must be given.
In general, consent was seen as an ongoing process, where it could be withdrawn at any point. A 32-year-old straight man said:
Should be strictly base on consensus, be aware of your partner body language and breathing and ask them whether they want to continue the activity or not if they say no respect it and back off.
However, research has found a person being strangled may not be able to withdraw their consent using gestures or words, despite wanting to.
Several participants did comment on the limitations of consent as a harm-reduction mechanism, acknowledging that even where it was consensual, strangulation during sex could cause damage.
Worryingly, several respondents expressed concern that consent was often overlooked, intentionally or accidentally. A 35-year-old straight woman said:
The amount of men who just initiate it without asking the woman is scary and they feel entitled to do so.
Some respondents – usually women, but not always – identified pressure to engage in strangulation (both to be strangled and to strangle their partner). A 24-year-old straight man said:
I get scared to do it but my partner kinda makes me feel like i have to sometimes.
A need for better education
Studies from other countries such as the United States have also shown a misunderstanding of the potential dangers of sexual strangulation, and a false perception that it can be safe if undertaken with the “proper precautions”.
Previous research has shown young people commonly learn about sexual strangulation through online pornography, social media and each other. Information from these sources is often misleading.
While consent is a crucial part of any sexual activity, it doesn’t make strangulation safe. Neither does relying on regulating the pressure applied.
It was positive to see many respondents in our survey identified a desire for more information about sexual strangulation. Accurate information about the risks associated with sexual strangulation should be easily available both online and through public health campaigns.
Heather Douglas receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Leah Sharman receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Like ferns and the tides, community conservation groups come and go. Many achieve their goal. Volunteers restore a local wetland or protect a patch of urban bush and then hang up the gardening gloves with a warm inner glow. Some groups peter out while others endure, tackling the ecological problems facing today’s Australia.
One of those problems is fragmentation. Let’s say you have a national park in one spot and another large tract of habitat ten kilometres away. It’s too hard for many wildlife species to make it across open ground to get there. Over time, this means wild areas can effectively become islands.
This is where habitat corridors come in. Potentially, if you restore habitat between two isolated areas, wildlife can begin to safely move between the two. Over time, these corridors allow seeds, pollen, native birds and animals to disperse across today’s landscapes.
In my work as a restoration ecologist, I’ve come across many of Australia’s community groups devoted to the job. Three of these are LUCI – Lockyer Upland Catchments Inc, which began in 2015, the Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy, founded in 1993 and TREAT – Trees for the Evelyn and Atherton Tablelands Inc, which began in 1982. Each of these has gone the distance. Here are some reasons why.
Australia’s Wet Tropics are especially threatened by fragmentation. This region is World Heritage listed due to its remarkable biodiversity. Tropical forests have grown here for at least 130 million years. Fragmentation directly threatens this.
In the tropical uplands of the Atherton Tablelands, there are three popular national parks – the Crater Lakes of Eacham and Barrine and the Curtain Fig Tree. But while visitors might see them as pristine, each is an island surrounded by pasture and settlement. Over time, this will take its toll on the species within.
For a volunteer group to reverse the effects of fragmentation, and embark on a long term project such as this, it needs three things.
First the group has leaders committed to a long term cause, usually scientists or naturalists as well as locals with knowledge and drive. Leaders have to be able to work with governments and group members of all persuasions.
Second, the group has to be guided by science. You need current information on local plants, animals and habitats to make sure on-ground work has direct conservation benefits.
And third, networking skills. Harnessing the technical expertise of other groups, government and experts in project planning, execution and monitoring is vital.
Each of these three groups has these traits, even though they take different approaches to the challenge.
LUCI is an alliance of private landholders in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, who work to protect remnant vegetation and expand habitat. Their work on threatened species monitoring, protection of remnant vegetation on private land and community engagement reflects their emphasis on education.
Before European settlement, lowland subtropical rainforest covered 75,000 hectares of land in what is now Byron Bay’s hinterland. But 99% was cut down. In response, Big Scrub members have replanted around 600 hectares – doubling the size of what was left – and established an innovative genetics program to assist in maintaining and enhancing the gene pool of trees planted.
Only a tiny fraction of the Big Scrub is still intact, at reserves such as the Andrew Johnston Big Scrub reserve. Farmland and acreage surrounds it. Peter Woodard/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY
TREAT is based on the Atherton Tablelands in far north Queensland. This region has long been prized for agriculture, which comes at a cost to habitat. In response, TREAT has worked to reconnect isolated tracts of rainforest. The group collaborates with Queensland Parks and Wildlife to grow many thousands of native rainforest tree seedlings for planting each year.
TREAT grows tens of thousands of seedlings annually, alongside Queensland Parks and Wildlife. Pictured: Hicksbeachia seedlings. TREAT
All three groups recognise the importance of countering habitat fragmentation. This slicing and dicing forests into smaller and isolated patches severely threatens Australia’s biodiversity.
Wildlife corridors are deceptively simple in theory. But as I know from long experience restoring habitat, it’s harder than it seems.
Does it work?
Planting corridors sounds like a sure thing. But success is not guaranteed. For one thing, it takes work and time. You need baseline surveys, expert analysis of data and monitoring, ideally over decades. Given these challenges, it’s unsurprising that wildlife corridor restoration is little-studied.
In the 1990s, TREAT volunteers planted 17,000 trees to reconnect a 498 hectare fragment around Lake Barrine to the 80,000ha Wooroonooran National Park 1.2 kilometres away. This corridor is now more than 20 years old. It’s known as the Donaghy’s Corridor Nature Refuge, after the Donaghy family who donated the land for corridor restoration.
My research has found this corridor is proving successful, using good data collected before, during and after establishment. Ground mammals are moving along the corridor, and breeding has taken place. We could see this in the exchange of genes between two previously separated populations of the native bush rat (Rattus fuscipes).
More recent studies have shown the corridor has been colonised by many species, ranging from threatened and endemic plants to birds, ground mammals, reptiles, amphibians and microbats. While promising, this is just one corridor. Much more data would be needed to prove this approach is broadly effective.
As habitat fragmentation continues and the effects of climate change ramp up, more and more species will need to move. The work of volunteer groups such as LUCI, Big Scrub and TREAT in reconnecting scattered pieces of habitat is only going to get more important.
Nigel Tucker has received funding from the Queensland government’s Nature Refuge Landholder Grants program. He is a Life Member of TREAT.
The start of the school year means new classes, routines, after-school activities and sometimes even a new school.
This can be a really exciting time for kids, but these changes can also disrupt existing friendships. Students might feel stressed about not having certain friends with them in class or confused about why old friends are behaving differently.
How can you coach your child through changing friendship dynamics?
When children tell you about a conflict or problem, simply start by listening actively. This means reflecting back in your own words what your child said, including feelings. For example,
So it sounds like you are feeling upset Shelley wants to hang out with kids in her new class?
It’s also helpful to empathise with your child about how they feel:
I think I would feel sad too if that happened to me.
This helps your child feel like someone else understands them – and they are not dealing with this on their own.
For older children and teenagers, you may want to check if the child wants your help to work out how to solve the problem. Sometimes listening is all that is needed.
Working out what to do next
If needed, parents can then coach children how to manage any concerns. They can start by helping a child understand why another child may have acted as they did.
For example, if the parent says “Why do you think Shelley said this?”, perhaps the child might respond that “Shelley doesn’t like me anymore”. The parent could offer an alternative explanation – perhaps Shelley is worried about making friends in her new class.
The parent could ask the child what they want – in the above example, the child may want to still be friends with Shelley. The parent can then prompt the child to think of a range of ways to improve the situation, weigh up what might work best and encourage the child to give this a go. Often children can think of solutions themselves, if asked
What could you do to improve things? What else could you do?.
In our example, this might include organising a play with Shelley on the weekend. Alternatively, the child might plan to check in again with Shelley after a few days.
This type of coaching is helpful as it supports the child thinking through the problem and coming up with their own solution, which they are more likely to put in place than if simply told what to do.
We hear a lot about “BFFs”. However, it is not unusual for friendship groups to change over time, as children mature and develop particular interests.
When children are placed in a new class or school with no close friends, children often cope through what researchers call “transitional friendships”.
For example, it’s common for children to start high school with no firm friends, but still know some peers from primary school. These acquaintances can provide companionship until children form closer friendships.
Parents can help their child in making close friends at high school by supporting them to catch up and connect with new friends out of school.
Similarly, if a child is missing their old friends, a parent can coach their child in finding ways to stay in touch – like texting, a weekend sleepover or joining an out-of-school activity together.
If you still have concerns
If friendship concerns or worries are having an ongoing, negative impact on your child’s mental health, parents should seek further support from a health professional.
You can start with your GP, who may suggest a referral to a psychologist. You may also like to talk to your child’s teacher – they may be able to help your child get to know potential friends through class activities.
If this article has raised issues for you or someone you know, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. There is also free access to Australian evidence-based parenting programs such as Triple P.
Karyn Healy has received funding from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, the Australian Research Council and Australian government Emerging Priorities Program. Karyn is a co-author of the Resilience Triple P parenting program. Resilience Triple P and all Triple P programs are owned by the University of Queensland. The university has licensed Triple P International Pty Ltd to publish and disseminate Triple P programs worldwide. Royalties stemming from published Triple P resources are distributed to the Parenting and Family Support Centre, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences and contributory authors. No author has any share or ownership in Triple P International Pty Ltd.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kerrie Sadiq, Professor of Taxation, QUT Business School, and ARC Future Fellow, Queensland University of Technology
The authors conclude the evidence for these tax breaks is “mixed at best”. They say that income tax breaks used during the global financial crisis increased investment significantly, however:
[there is] no substantial evidence that other policies, including those implemented during the pandemic, increased investment.
In an election year, further promises of tax breaks for businesses are likely. The Coalition has already announced a tax break for meals and entertainment. But are they a good idea, and at what cost do these promises come?
Small business in Australia
Small businesses with fewer than 20 employees make up 97% of all Australian businesses. More than 92% of Australian businesses have an annual turnover of less than A$2 million. It is these businesses that are doing it tough.
These businesses are offered tax breaks for spending on capital assets such as equipment or vehicles. For the 2023-24 tax year, they can immediately write off the cost of eligible assets up to $20,000. In the May 2024 Budget, the government announced that the tax break would be extended to the 2024-25 tax year.
When a small business is operated as a company, the base tax rate is 25%. This effectively means that the business still contributes 75% of the cost of the asset. This requires businesses to have the cash flow to invest. Even if there is cash flow, businesses may not want to spend on large purchases.
It’s a question of trade-offs
Investment tax breaks are also costly in terms of government tax revenue. Each year, the Treasury estimates the cost of tax breaks. These tax breaks are known as tax expenditures.
For the 2023-34 tax year, the instant write-off tax break for small businesses is estimated to cost more than $4 billion by reducing taxes collected.
Tax expenditures are normally designed to offer incentives to one group of taxpayers. However, they come at the expense of broader groups of taxpayers and at a cost of lost revenue to the government. This is money that could be spent through direct spending programs.
Tax expenditures can be thought of as government spending programs hidden in plain sight.
The current government introduced the latest instant asset write-off to improve cash flow and reduce compliance costs for small business. As the RBA discussion paper notes, these types of incentives are also designed to encourage additional business investment.
However, that study indicates this is not being achieved. They suggest the reasons may be the tax policies themselves or differences in the economic environment. Put simply, businesses may not want to invest.
If the stated benefits are not realised, the result is less tax collected. Take the $4 billion cost above. Without the incentive, the government would have an additional $4 billion to spend. The $4 billion in 2023-24 could have been directed to funding small businesses through a direct spending program.
Targeted programs
The RBA discussion paper highlights the need to determine whether investment tax breaks achieve their intended benefits. Many factors must be considered, and assessing the influence on the economy is vital.
However, evaluating these measures within the tax system means that important questions are not asked. This includes whether the benefits are distributed fairly, whether the program targets the right group of taxpayers, and whether there are unintended distorting effects.
The government’s “Future Made in Australia” contains two examples. Its economic plan to support Australia’s transition to a net zero economy contains two tax incentives, one for hydrogen production and another for critical minerals.
The proposed hydrogen production tax incentive is estimated at a cost to the budget of $6.7 billion over ten years. The measure will provide a $2 incentive per kilogram of renewable hydrogen produced for up to ten years. Eligible companies will get a credit against their income tax liability.
The proposed critical minerals production tax incentive is estimated to cost the budget $7 billion over ten years. Eligible companies will get a refundable tax offset of 10% of certain expenses relating to processing and refining 31 critical minerals listed in Australia.
Support for tax breaks
Tax breaks for businesses, such as the immediate write-off, disproportionately benefit those that spend. Often, this is by design. If this is a government objective, supported by the general population, then it is viewed as a good use of public money.
The same principle applies to tax breaks in the Government’s Future Made in Australia plan. A government objective is to transition to a net zero economy. A stated priority is to attract “investment to make Australia a leader in renewable energy, adding value to our natural resources and strengthening economic activity”.
The question remains as to whether tax breaks are the best way to achieve this. The answer often changes when viewed as a direct spending program.
Kerrie Sadiq currently receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She has previously received research grants from CPA and CAANZ.
Ashesha Weerasinghe 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.
Galleries and art museums can be intimidating and alienating even for adults. Imagine it from a child’s point of view. Stern security guards in uniforms stationed the doors, bags checked, snacks banned and people hushed. It’s no wonder that kids groan when an excursion to the gallery comes up.
An increasing number of galleries are rethinking their approach, asking what it takes to be welcoming and engaging for the younger generation. Children should be welcomed and visible in gallery spaces. Their experiences now shape the citizens they will become in the future. Viewing art helps develop their identity and creativity, and a more nuanced understanding of the world.
The first step in making change is to recognise that children are current and active cultural citizens who can offer valuable perspectives, ideas and youthful energy. Through thoughtful design and programming, the younger generation is told their presence in the gallery is valued.
Here are some ways galleries are rising to the challenge and making children more welcome – and more valued – in our cultural spaces.
Setting the tone
The entrance to a gallery sets the tone for a young visitor. Are they greeted warmly and made to feel welcome, or does their arrival feel like an intrusion?
Some simple adjustments such as less intimidating bag checks, clear signage, and designated stroller parking create a more welcoming environment. Replacing uniformed security guards with friendly guides and training reception staff to acknowledge and engage with young visitors make a huge difference.
Inciting curiosity and interaction at the front door is another way to invite children into the space. Displaying eye-catching and intriguing sculptural works at the entry or in the foyer builds a sense of anticipation and interest.
The iconic water wall at the National Gallery of Victoria signals to children that there are wonders to touch and explore inside.
Children don’t come alone
Children come to galleries with parents, siblings, schools or community groups. Galleries that consider how these varied age groups move through the space can greatly enhance the overall experience.
Programming designed with the whole family in mind means parents and kids can share cultural experiences. Well designed workshops, interactive exhibits and events appeal to mixed aged groups.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales regularly stages all-ages concerts with popular DJs and live music, building positive associations with the gallery for the whole family.
Incorporating a variety of spaces and experiences extend the duration and frequency of family visits. Some children need low sensory sessions with reduced stimuli to enjoy their visit. Others can use adjacent outdoor spaces and robust sculpture gardens to burn off excess energy, share lunch or even splash in some pink water.
These spaces are designed with kids in mind, engaging the senses and creating participatory ways of experiencing art. The way children encounter the work helps young children learn about the diverse and creative approaches and perspectives of artists in an engaging context.
The interactive experiences and programming mean children can explore their imagination and creativity and form a personal connections with the arts.
What about the older kids? Can they see themselves in the gallery? Teens need to connect, collaborate and to be included in cultural narratives in ways that are relevant to them.
Programs tailored for teens, such as workshops or art-making sessions, move beyond passive observation and encourage self expression and participation.
Installation view of Top Arts 2024 on display at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia from 14 March to 14 July. Photo: Kate Shanasy
Ambitious teen programs, like the out-of-hours teen parties in the National Gallery of Victoria or the youth council at the National Gallery of Australia, empower young people to interact with art and the institution in ways that are meaningful for them.
Exhibiting the best artwork from the year 12 graduating students is another effective way to demonstrate to teens their perspectives and presence matters. Seeing creative work by their age group displayed in a gallery builds confidence and demonstrates to older adults how much the younger generation have to contribute.
Growing lifelong learners
Galleries are unique learning environments, able to engage with and activate the school curriculum and develop essential skills like social and emotional capabilities and creative and critical thinking skills.
New institutions can consider how to meaningfully engage with children in the design phase, but even existing galleries can reconfigure and retrofit their spaces and exhibitions to enable kids to learn.
Neo at the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. Photo: Sam Roberts
Specifically designed studios, creative technology, classrooms and presentation areas open the doors to cultural exploration. Positive exposure fosters a sense of stewardship ensuring that future generations value and support the arts.
Intentionally designed spaces and programming ensure that children are not only welcomed but inspired to return – again and again – throughout their lives.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The battle to contain antisemitism in Australia finds both sides of politics embracing measures they’d otherwise abhor.
Spectacularly, the government capitulated this week to include mandatory minimum sentences of between one and six years in its hate speech legislation that passed the parliament on Thursday.
That flip flop was done in a day. You need a longer memory to recall the Coalition’s insistence that free speech had to be preeminent over dealing with hate speech.
Way back, when Tony Abbott was prime minister, there was a big (ultimately unsuccessful) push against Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. This civil law prohibits acts “likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate someone because of their race or ethnicity”. At the very least, libertarian Liberals wanted it reworded to remove “offend” and “insult”.
Before entering parliament, James Paterson worked for the right wing Institute of Public Affairs, which spearheaded attacks on 18C. Even after becoming a senator in 2016, Paterson remained a strong critic of 18C (although he says he always supported laws against incitement to violence).
Now as home affairs spokesman Paterson has been at the forefront of the opposition efforts to make the new hate speech law as strong as possible.
Until mid week the government firmly ruled out giving in to opposition’s demands for mandatory sentences for hate crimes. The government’s resistance was unsurprising. The Labor party platform rules out mandatory sentences.
But then late on Wednesday, leader of the house Tony Burke went into parliament with amendments including mandatory minimum sentences of between one and six years for various crimes under the anti-hate legislation.
Teal MP Zoe Daniel, from the Victorian seat of Goldstein, was among several crossbenchers who voted against that amendment.
She said later she supported the legislation but described the mandatory sentencing as “overreach”. “Community safety is paramount, and so is good policy-making. Mandatory minimum sentences do not reflect good parliamentary practice or good governance. Nor do they respect the sanctity of Australia’s constitution and separation of powers, and the importance of judicial independence.”
The antisemitism crisis is, on a number of fronts, leading to the actual or advocated curtailment of civil liberties. The federal government has outlawed the Nazi salute and hate symbols. The NSW government is to bring in more anti-hate provisions.
There is constant debate about the desirability of curbs of one sort or another on demonstrations. The antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal, has said, “There should be places designated away from where the Jewish community might venture where people can demonstrate”.
In our history we repeatedly see how government actions to confront perceived emergencies collide with civil liberties.
For example, strong security laws introduced in the wake of September 11 2001 triggered arguments about the extent to which they struck down people’s rights. Going back to the Menzies era, the Communist threat prompted the government to try (and fail) to carry a referendum to ban the Communist Party.
People of good intent will differ about the extent to which particular responses to a crisis are necessary and appropriate, or go too far, either being bad policy or an unjustified curb on civil liberties. Historical judgements may also differ from those made at the time.
This is not to dispute that we should be taking the strongest action against antisemitism. It’s merely to point out that with each particular measure, it’s important to be confident the end justifies the means, taking into account possible unintended or adverse consequences as well as what is to be achieved.
Having had a victory over mandatory minimum sentences, the opposition is pushing for an inquiry into when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was told about the caravan found at Dural, NSW filled with explosives and containing indications Sydney’s Great Synagogue and a Jewish museum could be targets.
The caravan was parked for several weeks on a street before it came to police attention. NSW police alerted Premier Chris Minns the following day. But it is unclear when the prime minister found out.
Albanese has steadfastly refused to say, citing operational reasons. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton suggested (without producing any evidence) the NSW police might have made a deliberate decision not to advise the Commonwealth “so that the prime minister wasn’t advised because they were worried he would leak the information”.
Dutton is calling for an “independent inquiry” into the circumstances by “an eminent Australian from the criminal intelligence and law enforcement intelligence community”.
The inquiry call is politically driven. The government is right in arguing it would have the downside of diverting resources. But nevertheless there are questions that need answering.
There seems no logical reason why the PM cannot reveal when he was first briefed on the caravan, other than to avoid disclosing some embarrassing timing gap. Any explanation around operational reasons would surely not explain why Minns was briefed but Albanese was not. Alternatively, if Albanese was briefed promptly, why doesn’t he say so?
When pressed at a parliamentary committee on Thursday, Australian Federal Police Force Commissioner Reece Kershaw would not be drawn, saying it was not appropriate to provide information about an ongoing investigation at a public hearing.
Later Greens member of the committee, senator David Shoebridge, said: “The AFP telling us when they informed the PM could in no way prejudice any ongoing police investigation. We had half a dozen senior AFP officials [before the committee] including the Commissioner and zero serious answers.
“This whole circus would be shut down by any half competent government by telling us when the PM knew with a simple explanation for any delay. Instead we get these bizarre performances from both the PM and the AFP.”
One question that should be answered by the authorities is why Jewish leaders, including those connected with the synagogue and the museum, were not informed. Though operational reasons might be relevant, surely safety considerations suggest the Jewish leaders should have been told.
The authorities believe the antisemitic attacks are not simply unconnected incidents. They say people are being paid to make them, suggesting some master minding behind them.
Of course that justifies secrecy while investigations proceed, but operational needs should not be a cover for refusing to provide enough information to give the public confidence the various authorities are working effectively together.
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.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University
This week, the federal government announced it will pay states and territories an extra, one-off, A$1.7 billion for public hospitals.
This has been billed as a way to fix some ailing hospitals, and shorten waits for care in emergency departments and for elective surgery. But will it really make a difference?
How are hospitals funded?
Australian public hospitals are funded through a collaborative arrangement involving state, territory and federal governments. The federal government provides 37% of public hospital funding annually, primarily through the National Health Reform Agreement. States and territories fund nearly all the rest.
Most federal government funding for public hospitals is determined by an “activity based funding” formula. Funding is based on the number of patients treated and the price of treatment, the latter calculated from average public hospital costs.
State and territory governments manage public hospitals. The federal government has little say on how public hospital money is spent. The exception is when funding relates to something specific, like a new hospital ward.
How the extra funding compares
The federal government will spend $30.19 billion on public hospitals this financial year. The extra funding will grow its public hospital spending by 12% in 2025–26.
Extra funding will likely impact Northern Territory hospitals the most. It will receive $51 million more, a 30% increase.
While larger states will receive additional funding, they have more public hospitals and patients. For example, New South Wales will receive $407 million, but this equates to only an 11% increase from the federal government.
The extra funding is less impressive when compared to total public hospital spending. That was $86 billion in 2022–23, suggesting the extra $1.7 billion will represent less than 2% in additional total funding to public hospitals in 2025–26.
But this extra spending is not in isolation. The federal government has already committed nearly $600 million to establish 87 urgent care clinics around Australia. Their primary purpose is to alleviate pressure on emergency departments and fill gaps in access to after-hours primary care.
Public hospitals are funded mostly by the states and territories, but receive some funding from the federal government. khuncho24/Shutterstock
Pressure in public hospitals
Public hospital pressure has been building for over a decade. Emergency departments are often clogged, leading to long wait times, mostly because of staff shortages. Around 10% of patients wait more than two hours. There is little slack in the system to counter unpredictable surges in demand for care.
The proportion of emergency department patients seen on time has declined since COVID. The proportion of patients requiring urgent emergency department care seen on-time, for example, has decreased from 67% to 61%. More non-urgent and semi-urgent patients are also not receiving care on time.
Patients are also waiting longer for elective public hospital surgery since COVID, despite an increase in the number of admissions from elective surgery waiting lists.
Proportion of patients seen on time in public hospital emergency departments
Waiting times vary by state and territories. Queensland has the lowest proportion of patients waiting more than 365 days for public hospital elective surgery at 3.9% in 2023–24, while the ACT had the highest at 8.9%.
While additional funding will help, there is no magic wand. Public hospitals need to substantially reorganise their staff, workflows, beds and buildings. This in an environment that has workforce shortages, burnout, and wage pressures, making major health system changes particularly difficult.
Some hospitals may reduce their waiting times substantially, if states and territories allocate their extra funding to poor performers.
However, poor performance can be related to systemic issues out of the hospital’s control, such as workforce shortages. Without an increase in total health-care workforce size, these poor performing hospitals may look for additional staff from other public hospitals, worsening their performance.
Whether any improvements last is another question.
Public hospitals face increased demand for emergency department care, only mitigated by the potential success of urgent care clinics.
Public hospitals also face an increase in demand for elective surgery, as the population ages and chronic disease prevalence increases.
The extra $1.7 billion is only a one off. Funds to reduce waiting times will mostly be spent on more staff, such as nurses, clinicians and administration staff.
Public hospitals will need additional, ongoing funding to keep up with demand, otherwise any initial improvement will dissipate.
All governments need to invest more in prevention programs to slow the growth in public hospital demand.
More Australians are obese, as a proportion of the population, compared to other OECD countries. This has created a heavy burden.
Reducing financial waste in the health-care system is of huge importance. Savings could be used for long-term improvements in waiting times once the extra funding runs out.
Around 40% of health care is of low value or causes harm. Reducing unnecessary medical tests, speeding up discharges, and reducing avoidable admissions is a good start.
setting national performance targets for states and territories to reduce their waiting lists
stronger monitoring of performance
holding public hospital managers more accountable for achieving their waiting time targets.
A new National Health Reform Agreement is due to take effect in 2026. Whoever wins this year’s federal election will have to finalise this agreement with the states and territories.
The Commonwealth and states are yet to commit to all of the recommendations from the mid-term review of the current agreement released in October 2023. The extent to which governments accept these recommendations has the potential to create a much greater, long-term impact on waiting times than this extra, one-off payment.
Henry Cutler has previously received funding from Northern Territory Health.