Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Deane, Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology

Businesses and philanthropic organisations are looking to invest in projects to protect and restore nature. We need to make this easier.

Which major political party’s minister said this? If you guessed Labor, correct – it was environment minister Tanya Plibersek last week. But the phrase is strikingly similar to one made by the Coalition’s David Littleproud.

In fact, Labor’s proposed biodiversity market borrows heavily from the previous government’s approach. In brief, landholders would be able to buy and sell biodiversity certificates. A farmer seeking to clear land could buy a certificate created by another farmer who has restored native vegetation elsewhere.

The federal government should tread very carefully here. New South Wales’ environmental offset scheme has been slammed for failing to do what it was meant to do, and with the major problems in Australia’s carbon offset program.

If not designed well, schemes like this can very easily be gamed and fail to actually achieve their goals.

Passing the baton

In February this year, the Morrison government introduced a bill aimed at creating a market for farmers to boost biodiversity on their land. It was heralded as a world first – but that is not quite true.

While both the Coalition and Labor governments want to claim credit for the invention of the scheme, similar biodiversity schemes have been introduced in other countries. The United Kingdom and Canada have matched market-based approaches with policies aimed at ensuring a biodiversity net gain. That is, any biodiversity loss through development must be offset with certificates that represent an even greater biodiversity gain. That is the theory at least.

Read more:
The Morrison government wants farmers to profit from looking after the land – but will anyone want to pay?

The Coalition’s proposed market was designed to reward landholders on farmland with a tradeable certificate when they agreed to undertake projects to protect and enhance native species. These certificates can be sold to a third party, who may use them to compensate for biodiversity loss through development or to support their sustainability goals.

Just six months later, Labor announced a seemingly very similar proposal, though details are currently sparse. We do know Labor’s version is intended to eventually be funded largely by the corporate sector.

This approach could help – but only if planned properly

One key difference is the scale. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made it clear the market would be open to all land managers, whether farmers, conservationists looking to re-wild land, or Indigenous land managers.

Although the government suggests the scheme would operate in a similar way to existing carbon credit legislation, the rhetoric indicates certificates may not only compensate for projects which cause biodiversity loss, but allow corporations to meet their environmental, social and governance goals. This is potentially legitimate, but could also be used for greenwashing.

Read more:
We can’t stabilise the climate without carbon offsets – so how do we make them work?

The problem is, offsets don’t always work. In the environment sector, offsets are seen as a measure of last resort, which can – depending on the specific transaction – actually lead to an overall loss of species or habitat.

The government must learn from the integrity questions around Australia’s carbon credit scheme.

For a biodiversity market to be effective, you need available land and willing participants, who expect a positive return on investment. That means the price for certificates has to be worth the cost of actually doing restoration work.

And the government must ensure the scheme is watertight, given the major integrity and transparency issues in the carbon credit scheme called out by whistleblowers and academics.

To avoid this, it is vital these biodiversity certificates represent provable biodiversity gains and that the details of these gains are known to any purchasers. Buyers will be a lot more confident if they know the certificates they are buying come from, say, a farmer restoring native vegetation along a previously cleared creek.

The government is aware of this. They are still deciding how best to measure and verify biodiversity benefits. This will be one of the greatest challenges of introducing this scheme.

A biodiversity market cannot stop degradation by itself

Sceptical commentators claim environmental markets are a false solution to a serious ecological emergency. This is true, if we rely on the market approach in isolation.

A biodiversity market is not a silver bullet to our many serious and overlapping environmental problems. Improving the outlook for our many ailing species and ecosystems will require work on many fronts, such as funding protected areas, working to bring back threatened species, tackling land clearing, working on carbon banking and accelerating climate action.

To give the scheme teeth, Australia should look to the UK and Canadian approach of requiring a net environmental gain on a national level.

Many Australian states already require no net loss of biodiversity from developments and policies. Even so, these policies have not always stopped large scale land clearing due to exemptions. Similarly, the loss of one habitat is not always compensated by gain of another habitat. Labor must tighten up these loopholes.

We must see this biodiversity market scheme clearly. It is only one method of improving environmental outcomes in this country. We’ll need many more.

Read more:
‘Environmental accounting’ could revolutionise nature conservation, but Australia has squandered its potential

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

– ref. Labor’s biodiversity market scheme needs to be planned well – or it could lead to greenwashing – https://theconversation.com/labors-biodiversity-market-scheme-needs-to-be-planned-well-or-it-could-lead-to-greenwashing-189557

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gemma Paech, Conjoint Senior Lecturer, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle

The latest TikTok trend has us listening to brown noise. According to TikTok, this has multiple benefits including helping you relax and quickly fall into a deep asleep.

Getting insufficient sleep, and insomnia are common. So it’s no wonder many people are looking for ways to improve their sleep.

But can brown noise help? If so, how? And what is brown noise anyway?

What is brown noise? Is it like white noise?

Brown noise, the better-known white noise, and even pink noise are examples of sonic hues. These are “constant” noises with minimal sound variation – highs, lows and changing speeds – compared with sounds such as music or someone reading aloud.

What distinguishes brown noise from white or pink is the pitch (or frequency).

White noise describes sound spread evenly across frequencies. It includes low, mid-range and high frequencies, and sounds like radio static.

Pink noise has more low- and less high-frequency sound. It is lower and deeper than white noise, similar to steady rainfall.

Brown noise contains lower frequencies than both white and pink noise. It sounds deeper, similar to a rushing river or rough surf.

Why does noise help some people sleep?

Some people are more sensitive to external stimuli than others. That includes human touch (such as hugs), strong smells, caffeine, bright lights, or noise.

So one person can find a sound soothing or relaxing while another finds it distracting and annoying.

Several theories may explain why some people perceive benefits from sonic hues.

1. Distraction and relaxation

Noise can redirect and distract you from excessive overthinking or worrying. Some research shows listening to music helps people to mentally relax, which may help sleep. However, if your thoughts are worrisome or strong, noise alone may not be enough to distract your busy mind.

2. Sound masking

Our brain continues to process external sounds when we sleep and loud noise can wake us. But masking, through constant background noise, “drowns out” isolated loud noise. In a quiet country town, the same car alarm or dog barking will sound much louder and may be more likely to wake us, than in a busy city centre.

3. Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning is a way of learning and can explain how we respond to noise during sleep. If noise is relaxing, then pairing noise with sleep may improve the person’s ability to fall and remain asleep. In this way, noise is a reinforced stimulus for good sleep. If noise is annoying then it will hinder sleep and be a reinforcing stimulus for interrupted sleep.

4. Auditory stimulation

Auditory stimulation is not specific to pink, white or brown noise. This involves low-frequency tones being played in an attempt to “boost” certain sleep stages (for instance, “deep” sleep), perhaps improving sleep quality.

Read more:
What the nap apps can really tell you about your sleep

So, is TikTok right? Does brown noise work?

Researchers have not specifically examined the impact of brown noise on sleep. However, there is some limited science about the impact of white or pink noise.

Some studies suggest white and pink noise helps us fall asleep quicker and improves sleep quality, but the quality of science is low.

Auditory stimulation may improve memory in young healthy people. Auditory stimulation using pink noise may increase slow-wave sleep (deep sleep) in older people.

Few studies have directly examined how improved sleep using noise benefits daytime mood and functioning. Ultimately, these are the benefits most of us seek from a good night’s sleep.

Read more:
Is it possible to catch up on sleep? We asked five experts

When to get your sleep problems checked out

If you have persistent difficulty falling or remaining asleep, are waking too early, and are feeling unrefreshed during the day, your problems should be checked by a medical professional. Your GP can diagnose, provide treatment options and refer you for treatment if needed.

Relaxation and noise may improve your sleep. However, evidence-based techniques, such as cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, delivered by a trained health expert, is generally required to address the cause of your sleep issues.

This therapy usually takes place with a psychologist, over four to five sessions. It involves addressing thoughts and behaviours around sleep, looks at why sleep problems may have developed, and how to improve them.

Treating sleep problems appropriately with evidence-based treatments and before they develop into a chronic issue – not relying on recommendations on TikTok – will ultimately lead to better sleep in the long term.

If you’re worried about your sleep, here are some great online resources and fact sheets from the Sleep Health Foundation.

Gemma Paech is a board member of the Sleep Health Foundation.

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

– ref. What is brown noise? Can this latest TikTok trend really help you sleep? – https://theconversation.com/what-is-brown-noise-can-this-latest-tiktok-trend-really-help-you-sleep-188528

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Sussex, Fellow, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University

Few world leaders have cut a more consequential but ultimately tragic figure than Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, whose death at the age of 91 has been announced by Russian state media.

In a way it was fitting that as the last leader of the USSR, Gorbachev was probably its only truly humane one. And it’s equally sobering that Gorbachev has passed away at a time when political repression in his native Russia has become stifling once more, and the spectre of conflict in Europe which long overshadowed the region during the Cold War has become reality.

These were outcomes Gorbachev strived to avert. He was a man who became associated with opening up Soviet society, encouraging hope and debate rather than stifling it. He sought to revitalise the USSR, foreseeing a coming century of peace in which the Soviet Union joined a “Common European Home”.

Read more:
This December is the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union – how does an empire collapse?

Gorbachev’s achievements

Gorbachev’s accomplishments were numerous. They included the negotiation of arms reduction treaties with the United States during a number of summits with US President Ronald Reagan. His suggestion to Reagan in Reykjavik that the US and USSR should eliminate nuclear weapons blindsided a US foreign policy establishment that initially saw Gorbachev as little more than a younger version of the gerontocrats he had succeeded.

After initially vacillating, he admitted the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, accepting that doing so would weaken him both at home and abroad. In 1988 he unilaterally drew down Warsaw Pact forces in Europe without waiting for a reciprocal agreement with NATO nations.

Earlier in his tenure he had developed a personal rapport with Margaret Thatcher, who famously told the BBC he was a man the West could do business with. He withdrew Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1988-9, and admitted their presence was a violation of international law.

He refused to intervene in many of the spontaneous demonstrations seeking to overthrow entrenched communist leaders across the Warsaw Pact, pressuring them not to use force against their own citizens.

And perhaps most notably, he was the chief architect of a grand plan to revitalise the Soviet Union’s economy (through “perestroika”, or restructuring), its society (via “glasnost”, meaning openness), and its politics (“demokratizatsiya”, or democratisation).

Gorbachev’s rise

There were few clues during Gorbachev’s unremarkable rise through the ranks of the “nomenklatura” system of Soviet elites that he would come to champion such a radical program. Born in 1931 as the son of peasant farmers in Stavropol, a region cataclysmically impacted by forced collectivisation of agriculture, Gorbachev followed an established path to influence in Soviet politics.

He joined the Komsomol, the youth league of the Communist Party, and was accepted to study law at Moscow State University. After becoming First Secretary of Stavropol, and then the province’s party chief, he began cultivating an image as a moderate reformer, offering bonuses and private plots of land to farmers who exceeded crop production norms.

Gorbachev’s political career could have ended there. But like many successful political elites, he benefited from networks of patronage, with the Communist Party’s main ideologue Mikhail Suslov and the KGB head Yuri Andropov both seeing him as a valuable fresh face in an increasingly sclerotic Soviet leadership.

Casting himself as a vigorous opponent of corruption, Gorbachev was promoted to the Party’s Central Committee, and then to the Politburo, the main policymaking body of the USSR. When the Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev died in 1982, Andropov took the reins and gave Gorbachev increasing control over the economy. He was effectively the second most powerful figure in Soviet politics until he eventually took over as General Secretary in 1985, following the deaths of Andropov a year earlier, and then the ailing General Secretary Konstantin Chernenko.

Although Gorbachev was venerated in the West as the man who ended the Cold War, he became almost equally reviled at home as a foolish leader who brought about something he didn’t even intend: the collapse of the USSR.

And while he will be most remembered in Europe and the US as one of history’s great peacemakers, Russians saw an entirely different face to Gorbachev, as the personification of instability and decline.

By the time the East European communist dominoes fell in 1989, culminating in the tearing down of the Berlin Wall in November and the defection of a large chunk of East Berlin’s workforce to the West virtually overnight, the USSR had lost its empire. It was also in the process of losing its unifying national idea.

The chief reason for this was that Gorbachev’s social reforms were far too successful, while his economic reforms were an abject failure. Perestroika served only to reveal how deeply inefficient and corrupt the Soviet command economy had become. Beginning as a program of economic acceleration, and ultimately morphing into a 500-day plan to shift the Soviet economy from the plan to the market, Gorbachev relied on a new cadre of younger technocrats to push through his reforms while many of the old guard remained in top positions.

Campaigns against alcoholism saw him publicly ridiculed as the “Mineral Water Secretary”, and his wife Raisa’s expensive tastes in Western clothing became an object of popular anger. As the gap between economic performance and the people’s ability to criticise it widened, Gorbachev blinked too late. In 1990, he intervened to put down civil unrest in Baku, and blockaded Lithuania, which had voted for independence.

Read more:
Writing history: 30 years on, a former Moscow correspondent reflects on the end of the USSR

While Gorbachev struggled to hold the USSR together, the old Soviet guard launched a hard-line coup in August 1991, placing Gorbachev under house arrest at his villa in the Black Sea resort town of Foros. Boris Yeltsin, the leader of the Russian Federation, became the face of the resistance, emulating Lenin by climbing onto a tank and demanding Gorbachev’s release as well as free and fair elections. With the Russian army refusing to fire on the crowd of demonstrators, the coup collapsed.

Gorbachev returned to Moscow but as a diminished figure, resigning as General Secretary of the USSR and eventually its President after the constituent parts of the USSR negotiated the end to the Union Treaty and the beginning of their own sovereign statehood. As President of Russia, the main component of the Soviet Union, Yeltsin inherited the USSR’s seat on the UN Security Council and eventually the entirety of its nuclear arsenal.

After losing power, Gorbachev initially ran in Russian presidential elections (never attracting more than a tiny fraction of the vote), wrote books and memoirs, and later as he gradually withdrew from public life came to express his regrets about how history had played out. Gorbachev initially praised Putin’s ability to unite Russia, but as the Russian journalist Alexei Venediktov revealed in 2022, he became bitterly disappointed that Putin had destroyed everything he had worked to create.

Ultimately, the tragedy of Gorbachev was his misplaced faith in Soviet economics, and how badly he mistook the desire of the people of the USSR for national self-determination for a willingness to revitalise the Soviet idea.

Yet his enduring belief in enlightened progress and a preparedness to take risks to achieve it stand in stark contrast to the caricature Russia resembles today, which celebrates what divides rather than what might unite us.

Sadly Gorbachev’s humanism, flawed though it was, has no place in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, which has turned its back on modernity, cultivating a culture of victimhood and glorifying Russian chauvinism in the cynical pursuit of personal power.

Like other tragic reformers in history, then, Gorbachev’s chief legacy is to remind us about what might have been, rather than what subsequently transpired.

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

– ref. ‘A consequential but ultimately tragic figure’: last leader of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev dies aged 91 – https://theconversation.com/a-consequential-but-ultimately-tragic-figure-last-leader-of-the-ussr-mikhail-gorbachev-dies-aged-91-189676

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sian Mitchell, Lecturer, Film, Television and Animation, Deakin University

Review: A Beginner’s Guide to Grief, directed by Renée Mao

We all experience grief in different ways. It is a powerful force that can affect our daily lives, making the simplest task feel difficult, at best, or entirely insurmountable at worst.

Grief is messy, surprising, revealing and honest at different times and all at once.

This is what lies at the heart of the SBS comedy A Beginner’s Guide to Grief.

Written by its star, Anna Lindner, and directed by Renée Mao, the six 12-minute episodes follow Harriet “Harry” Wylde as she navigates her way through the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance also provide the first five episode titles) after losing both her parents to cancer within a week – first her mum and then her dad on the day of her mum’s funeral.

Aunty Barb (Georgina Naidu) is the epitome of “putting on a brave face” as she attempts to offer Harry solace in the knowledge that at least her dad is “now in the arms of our Lord and Saviour”.

Harry’s very Christian Uncle Trev (Rory Walker) and creepy cousin Isaiah (Carlo Ritchie) take over her dad’s funeral preparations with the implication that men can deal with these kinds of emotional situations better.

The most interesting relationship in the series is between Harry and her foster-sister Daisy (Cassandra Sorrell), a pyromaniac who has spent time in prison after lighting a car on fire when she was young.

Their relationship is far from perfect, but Daisy is a welcome relief from the rest of the family’s suffocating presence.

Read more:
Iggy & Ace: a zany Aussie comedy about two gay best friends — and alcohol abuse

Contemporary traumedies

A Beginner’s Guide to Grief joins recent series like Netflix’s Never Have I Ever (2020-) and After Life (2019-2022) that centre on grieving characters who have lost loved ones and are left behind to cope in the aftermath.

These shows have been labelled “traumedies”: narratives that explore feelings of loss and pain presented through a comedic lens.

Traumedies can offer audiences an opportunity for catharsis, processing our feelings of loss and grief – particularly at a time of so much social and cultural upheaval.

Like these international examples, A Beginner’s Guide to Grief invites us to have frank conversations about and acknowledge the impacts of death, dying and grieving openly – rather than bottling those feelings away to maintain an image of strength.

It is through the series’ funniest thread, a self-help audio tape on dealing with grief that Harry listens to each episode, we truly feel permission to laugh at tragedy.

The tape’s grief therapist, brilliantly voiced by Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein, provides a bizarre distraction for Harry – and us – as each stage of grief is described in more and more ridiculous ways. Grief, the tape tells us, is:

an overwhelming emotion not unlike […] sitting down to your favourite breakfast cereal but then pouring its milky sweet contents over your lap, smashing the porcelain bowl with nothing but your forehead, and slowly swallowing shard after jagged shard of the broken remains until you realise you are indeed bleeding from your stomach.

A visceral yet poetic description.

Read more:
The five stages of grief don’t come in fixed steps – everyone feels differently

Grief is a mixed bag

The sixth and final episode, The Next Chapter, initially feels unnecessary. We have moved through the five stages of grief, after all. But Lindner is careful to acknowledge grief is not cured once you’ve reached “acceptance”.

The process of grieving is complex and can’t be miraculously solved by the end of a series.

Life must go on for Harry, but she still has some healing to do.

Throughout the series, flashbacks are interwoven with the present-day, depicting scenes of happier times with her parents next to ones showing the realities and ravages of cancer.

The show is semi-autobiographical. Lindner’s father died from cancer, and her mother was also diagnosed with the disease. She brings a deep perspective on her own grief. “I want people to know that grief and joy don’t just co-exist, but they belong together,” she has said.

A Beginner’s Guide to Grief does not offer a particularly unique perspective on grief, but it is a worthy local entry into the traumedy genre and an excellent example of contemporary Australian short form storytelling.

A Beginner’s Guide to Grief premieres on SBS On Demand on September 4.

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

– ref. A Beginner’s Guide to Grief: joy and sadness belong together in this new Australian ‘traumedy’ – https://theconversation.com/a-beginners-guide-to-grief-joy-and-sadness-belong-together-in-this-new-australian-traumedy-188818

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Byron Lamont, Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Plant Ecology, Curtin University

A major group of flowering plants that are still around today, emerged 150 million years earlier than previously thought, according to a new study published today in Trends in Plant Science. This means flowering plants were around some 50 million years before the dinosaurs.

The plants in question are known as the buckthorn family or Rhamnaceae, a group of trees, shrubs and vines found worldwide. The finding comes from subjecting data on 100-million-year old flowers to powerful molecular clock techniques – as a result, we now know Rhamnaceae arose more than 250 million years ago.

A widespread family

Today, the buckthorn family of shrubs is widespread throughout Africa, Australia, North and South America, Asia and Europe. The important fruit jujube or Chinese date belongs to the Rhamnaceae; other species are used in ornamental horticulture, as sources of medicine, timber and dyes, and to add nitrogen to the soil.

Flowering shoots of the shrub Phylica, now confined to South Africa, have recently been found in amber from Myanmar that is more than 100 million years old.

Together with Tianhua He, a molecular geneticist at Murdoch University, we combined skills to show these new fossils of Phylica could be used to trace the Rhamnaceae family (to which Phylica belongs) back to its origin almost 260 million years ago.

We did this by comparing the DNA of living plants of Phylica against the rate of DNA change over the past 120 million years, to set the molecular clock for the rest of the family.

Older than we could have imagined

It was previously believed that Phylica evolved about 20 million years ago and Rhamnaceae about 100 million years ago, so these new dates are much older than botanists could possibly have imagined. Since Rhamnaceae is not even considered an old member of the flowering plants, this means flowering plants arose more than 300 million years ago – some 50 million years before the rise of the dinosaurs.

But how did Phylica get from the Cape of South Africa to Myanmar? Our data on the history of the plant’s evolution show the most likely path is that Phylica migrated to Madagascar, then to the far north of India (most of which is under the Himalayas now), all of which were joined 120 million years ago.

India then separated and drifted north until it collided with Asia. The far northeast section, known as the Burma tectonic plate, became Myanmar about 60 million years ago. Sap, possibly released by fire-injured conifers, flowed over the Phylica flowers and preserved them intact as amber while India was still attached to Madagascar.

Read more:
How plate tectonics, mountains and deep-sea sediments have maintained Earth’s ‘Goldilocks’ climate

Forged in fires

In fact, the vegetation in which Rhamnaceae evolved was probably subjected to regular fires. The first clue was the charcoal researchers have found together with the Phylica fossils in the amber.

The second is that today, almost all living species in the Phylica subfamily have hard seeds that require fire to stimulate them to germinate.

I assessed the fire-related traits of as many living species as possible, then He traced them onto the evolutionary tree he had created, using a technique called ancestral trait assignment. This showed there was a strong possibility the earliest Rhamnaceae ancestor was fire-prone and produced hard seeds.

We have extensively studied the evolutionary fire history of banksias, which go back 65 million years, along with proteas, pines, wire rushes and the kangaroo paw family.

Our new results make the buckthorn family of plants by far the oldest to show fire-related traits of all the plants we have studied over the past 12 years.

Read more:
Climate change is testing the resilience of native plants to fire, from ash forests to gymea lilies

Dr Tianhua He was a co-author on the published study.

– ref. A new discovery shows major flowering plants are 150 million years older than previously thought – https://theconversation.com/a-new-discovery-shows-major-flowering-plants-are-150-million-years-older-than-previously-thought-189678

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew King, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science, The University of Melbourne

Extreme floods are devastating Pakistan, caused by a combination of heavy monsoon rains and melting glaciers. While Pakistan is no stranger to deadly floods, this event is especially shocking with more than 1,100 people dead so far and many millions more affected.

Pakistan’s climate chief has said one-third of the country is underwater – an area larger than the state of Victoria.

This Northern Hemisphere summer has seen extreme weather event after extreme weather event, from record-breaking drought in Western Europe, the United States and China, to flooding in Japan and South Korea.

This begs the question of the extent climate change is to blame. And, if so, is this what we should expect from now on?

A summer of extremes

The flooding in Pakistan is the latest in a sequence of exceptional disasters in the Northern Hemisphere.

Western Europe and central and eastern China have experienced record-breaking heatwaves and droughts leading to water restrictions. These heatwaves and droughts have also caused crop shortages, which are adding to the rising costs of food around the world.

China was plunged into an energy security crisis. And Italy’s longest river is flowing at one tenth of its usual rate. These droughts and their significant impacts are forecast to continue for the foreseeable future.

Severe downpours have caused floods in places ranging from Dallas in the United States to Seoul in South Korea, which experienced its heaviest torrential rain in a century.

Record-breaking heat extremes have also been recorded in Japan, the central US and in the UK, where temperatures exceeded 40℃ for the first time.

It has also only been a few months since we saw temperatures reach 50℃ ahead of the monsoon rains in northern India and Pakistan.

Putting it into perspective

While it’s true that several of this summer’s extreme events have been exceptional, we normally see more high-impact extreme weather events in Northern Hemisphere summer than any other time. This is because extreme heat, very heavy downpours, and drought are more likely at the warmest time of year.

Two-thirds of the planet’s land and more than 85% of the world’s population are in the Northern Hemisphere. This means there are more people to be affected by extreme weather than in the Southern Hemisphere, making the Northern Hemisphere summer the prime time for disasters to have severe impacts.

Additionally, extreme weather events can occur at the same time over different places, because of large-scale atmospheric waves called “Rossby waves”, which are a naturally occurring phenomenon, like La Niña and El Niño.

Back in 2010, western Russia experienced severe heat and wildfires while Pakistan had some of their worst floods to date. These events were connected by a Rossby wave causing a high pressure pattern to get stuck over western Russia and low pressure to persist over Pakistan.

Rossby waves can also result in heatwaves occurring at the same time, thousands of kilometres apart. Earlier this Northern Hemisphere summer, we saw simultaneous heatwaves strike the western US, western Europe and China.

Rossby waves may well have contributed to simultaneous disasters this summer, but it’s too soon to say for sure.

Read more:
‘Matter of national destiny’: China’s energy crisis sees the world’s top emitter investing in more coal

Climate change and the never-ending extremes

With so many extreme weather events causing mass deaths and large economic and environmental problems, it’s worth considering whether climate change may be making these events worse.

Human-caused climate change has warmed the planet by about 1.2℃ to date and this has caused some types of extreme weather to become more frequent and more intense,
particularly extreme heatwaves and record-high temperatures.

Every heatwave in today’s climate has the fingerprint of climate change resulting from our greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, rapid analyses have already demonstrated that the human effect on the climate greatly increased the likelihood of the extreme heat in India and Pakistan in May, and the record high UK temperatures in July.

Research also shows climate change is increasing the occurrence of simultaneous heatwaves in the Northern Hemisphere, mainly due to long-term warming.

It’s less clear whether the Rossby wave pattern that causes simultaneous heatwaves in different places is becoming more frequent.

Climate change is also shifting rainfall patterns resulting in worsening drought in some areas, such as in much of Western Europe.

And severe downpours and extreme short-duration heavy rain, such as that seen in Seoul and Dallas in recent weeks, are being intensified by climate change. This is because global warming results in the air being able to hold more moisture – for every 1℃ of warming, the atmosphere can hold 7% more moisture.

Indeed, the heavy rains in Pakistan follow an observed trend towards increasing extreme daily rainfall totals. This area of the world is projected to see a continued intensification of daily and multi-day extreme rain events over summer, as the planet warms.

Read more:
The world endured 2 extra heatwave days per decade since 1950 – but the worst is yet to come

Worse extremes to come

We can expect more extreme weather events in the coming years as global greenhouse gas emissions continue at near-record rates.

Scientists have been predicting worsening extreme weather events – particularly heatwaves – for decades. Now, we are seeing this happen before our eyes.

Some heat extremes in recent years have been far beyond what we thought would happen after just over 1℃ of global warming, such as western North America’s record heat of last summer. But it’s hard to tell if our projections are under-forecasting extreme heat.

In any case, the world must prepare for further possible record-shattering high temperatures in the months, years and decades to come. We need to rapidly decarbonise to limit the damage caused by future extreme events.

Read more:
The UK just hit 40℃ for the first time. It’s a stark reminder of the deadly heat awaiting Australia

Andrew King receives funding from the National Environmental Science Program.

– ref. A climate scientist on the planet’s simultaneous disasters, from Pakistan’s horror floods to Europe’s record drought – https://theconversation.com/a-climate-scientist-on-the-planets-simultaneous-disasters-from-pakistans-horror-floods-to-europes-record-drought-189626

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Lee, Associate Professor in Property and Real Estate, Deakin University

An interest-only home loan, as the name suggests, is where you only pay the interest on a loan and not the principal (the original amount you borrowed).

While authorities such as the Reserve Bank often see them as risky, interest-only loans can be helpful in some circumstances.

If you’re considering an interest-only loan, here’s what you need to know.

Read more:
More rented, more mortgaged, less owned: what the census tells us about housing

How long do they go for?

These loans are typically last for five years at most, before reverting back to principal and interest (where you have to pay back, through regular payments, both interest and the initial sum you borrowed).

You could potentially apply for another interest-only loan after your first one winds up, perhaps by refinancing (where you take a new mortgage to repay an existing loan). But you might not get it – and you’d still have to pay off the principal eventually.

What are the upsides of an interest-only loan?

An interest-only loan means you’ll have more cash available to cover other costs, or invest elsewhere.

You can use a mortgage calculator to work out how much extra cash you’d have if you switched from a principal and interest loan to an interest-only loan. It’s typically hundreds of dollars per week.

This may get you a bit more wriggle room for daily expenses. Or, some people use the extra cash to invest in other things – such as shares – in the hope they can make more money overall and pick up some tax benefits along the way. That’s why interest-only loans are often popular among investors. Of course, this strategy comes with risk.

An interest-only loan may also have a redraw facility, allowing you to add extra payments into the loan (above and beyond the interest) if you want, and withdraw money later when you need cash. This can allow people to avoid a personal loan, which usually has a much higher interest rate.

Regular principal and interest loans may also have a redraw facility but the regular payments of principal are unavailable for redraw. That means less flexibility for the borrower.

What are the downsides?

The interest rates on interest-only loans are generally higher than principal and interest loans.

For example, the RBA July 2022 indicator rate for owner-occupier interest-only rates is 6.31%.

But the equivalent variable rate for principal and interest loans is 5.77% (the indicator rate is just a guide; the actual difference varies from bank to bank).

Interest-only loans can cost you a lot more over time than a regular principal and interest loan.

This means a borrower needs to manage their finances well to ensure they can cover the interest payments now and still have enough to pay down the principal eventually. So you’ll need a plan for how you’re going to do that when the interest-only loan ends.

There is also a risk of a shock – such as job loss, personal crisis or housing crash – causing the borrower to default on the loan altogether.

If the borrower defaults on an interest-only loan, they may lose the house and the bank is left with a debt that was not substantially repaid (because the borrower had not yet made a dent in the principal). It’s a lose-lose situation.

Are interest-only loans common?

Interest-only loans represent 11.3% of all home loans in Australia.

This figure has been trending down over the past five years, due in part to tighter lending restrictions and the fact low interest rates have made principal and interest loans relatively cheap recently.

What does the research say?

One Dutch study found “households that are more risk-averse and less literate are significantly less likely to choose an interest-only mortgage”. This partly due to lower initial repayments and wealthy households preferring the financial flexibility.

Interest-only borrowing has also been found to fuel housing speculation and reduce housing affordability.

A US study found borrowers also tend to default more.

A Danish study found that once the interest-only lower repayment period is over and the loan reverts to principal and interest, those who didn’t make principal repayments suffered a large drop in disposable income.

Financial flexibility comes with a catch

With rates rising, interest-only loans may sound like an appealing way to have more cash available to cover other costs in life.

But just remember financial flexibility comes with a catch. An interest-only loan could be more expensive in the long run.

For some people, that cost will be worth it if it allows them to hold onto the house during a brief tough period or make more money investing elsewhere. But it’s a risk.

And when the interest-only loan ends, you’re still stuck with the task of paying off the money you borrowed from the bank in the first place (with interest).

Read more:
Should I pay off the mortgage ASAP or top up my superannuation? 4 questions to ask yourself

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

– ref. I’m considering an interest-only home loan. What do I need to know? – https://theconversation.com/im-considering-an-interest-only-home-loan-what-do-i-need-to-know-188817

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lubans, Professor, University of Newcastle

Many parents will understand the frustration of coming home from work to find their teens slumped on the couch with their eyes glued to their phones or the TV.

This is not unusual, and dozens of studies have shown physical activity levels decline during the teenage years. In Australia, less than 10% of older adolescents are getting enough physical activity.

Adolescence is also a time when there is a spike in mental health problems. It is a key period of human development characterised by rapid psychological and biological changes due to the onset of puberty and associated hormones.

During this time young people are developing a sense of identity and independence as they transition into adulthood and establish health-related behaviours. Introducing your teen to high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is one way to get them moving and feeling better.

Read more:
Don’t have time to exercise? Here’s a regimen everyone can squeeze in

What is high-intensity interval training?

High-intensity interval training is a time-efficient form of exercise that involves relatively short yet intense bouts of activity, combined with rest or low intensity activity.

The intensity of the exercise should be around seven to nine out of ten on a scale of perceived exertion.

What are the benefits?

In our recent study, we found two to three high-intensity interval training sessions per week, each lasting about eight minutes, improved students’ aerobic and muscular fitness over the six-month study period. The exercises included things like shuttle runs (running back and forth between two lines) and push-ups.

After the program, students who participated completed on average, four more laps on the shuttle run test, and had small increases in the number of push-ups completed. They also had reductions in the stress hormone cortisol, which we measured in their hair.

There is also emerging evidence that participating in high-intensity interval training can have short- and longer-term benefits for young people’s mental health and cognitive function.

We also conducted a review of studies on high intensity interval training and found participating in a single HIIT session can improve how young people feel.

There is emerging evidence participation in HIIT can improve children’s cognitive function. In this New Zealand study, children participated in video-based HIIT workouts five times a week over a six week period. Compared to a control group, the research team found significant improvements in cognitive control and working memory among children who participated in the HIIT sessions.

Read more:
HIIT workouts: just 15 minutes of intense activity can improve heart health

How to get started and make it enjoyable

1) Start simple: a good starting point is to do 30 seconds of exercise followed by 30 seconds of rest, repeated eight times. We have found this to be effective and enjoyable for teens in a number of studies

2) incorporate variety: we recommend teens complete a variety of aerobic activities (such as shuttle runs, running on the spot, or burpees), and resistance exercises (such as push-ups, squats, or lunges) designed to increase heart rate. And while high-intensity interval training can be done in the living room, changing the exercise setting can also help satisfy your teen’s need for variety. For example, doing a session on the stairs at the beach or park might be more motivating than doing the same session in the backyard

3) modify intensity: as teens improve their fitness, they can increase the duration of the work interval, decrease the rest interval, or increase the total number of intervals completed within a session to ensure they’re getting a good workout

4) make it enjoyable: playing music and exercising with friends and family are strategies that can make high-intensity interval training more enjoyable. Although most people do not feel great in the middle of an intense exercise interval, there is evidence they will feel good about 20 minutes after completing exercise. We’ve found participating in high-intensity interval training increases adolescents’ mood and vitality (energy and alertness). Reminding teens to think about how they’re feeling after participating in a training session helps them experience the psychological benefits

5) use technology: wearable technologies (such as activity trackers and heart rate monitors) can help increase engagement during exercise, as they can provide you with real time heart rate data to see how hard you’re working. While these can be expensive, lower-cost options are available. If you don’t want to design your own sessions, there are thousands of fitness apps and online training videos to choose from.

Participate in a variety of physical activities

High-intensity interval training is a great way to get teens moving and interested in physical activity, but it shouldn’t be the only type of physical activity they undertake. Rather, it should be part of your teen’s physical activity smorgasbord which includes:

• active transport (walking and cycling)

• team and individual sports, such as swimming, football, netball, basketball

• resistance training such as free weights, body weight exercises or exercises using elastic resistance bands to improve muscular fitness

• other forms of recreational activity, such as dancing, surfing, skiing, and mountain biking.

If we want our teens to be active now and into the future, we need to provide them with the motivation, confidence and knowledge to engage in a wide variety of physical activities.

David Lubans receives funding from the Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council, Medical Research Future Fund and the New South Wales Department of Education.

Angus Leahy receives funding from the Medical Research Future Fund and New South Wales Department of Education.

– ref. Can’t get your teen off the couch? High-intensity interval training might help – https://theconversation.com/cant-get-your-teen-off-the-couch-high-intensity-interval-training-might-help-185033

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Kaufman, PhD Candidate, Cities Research Institute, Griffith University

Earlier this month, New Zealand released a new plan for sustainable public transport to start shunting transport emissions from currently 39% of total domestic carbon dioxide production towards net zero.

Transport minister Michael Wood announced the plan would:

support the provision of ‘on-demand’ public transport services […] deliver routes and services that reflect community needs and incentivise the decarbonisation of the fleet.

However, what is missing is a roadmap to achieving these sustainability goals. Decarbonisation of the public transport fleet is already happening in parts of New Zealand and examples of current local best practice can help us understand what can be deployed at a national scale and where it is likely to have the most impact.

In October last year, Auckland Transport (AT) removed a low-performing diesel bus route operating in the suburbs of South Auckland. In its place, they launched AT Local, a fully electric on-demand public transit service powered by a fleet of small, electric vehicles and routed by technology from Liftango.

This cut AT’s annual carbon dioxide emissions by about 100,000kg. Our analysis suggests that appropriate nationwide deployment of on-demand services such as AT Local will help New Zealand reach net-zero targets.

What is on-demand public transit?

Imagine Uber buses: small vehicles operating within a zone and providing trips to and from the destinations you want to go to, when you want to. No more schedules, no more fixed routes. Instead of using physical bus stops, they use virtual stops placed throughout a service area. Drivers are guided by an algorithm that optimises routing for pick-ups and drop-offs.

On-demand services are typically supported by a user app, a driver app and a call centre. Users request rides which are communicated to drivers while trips sometimes pick up other passengers along the way to their destinations. The best part? Unlike private ride shares, they usually cost around the same fare as a traditional bus – and often integrate payments and transfers between services.

Read more:
1 million rides and counting: on-demand services bring public transport to the suburbs

On-demand is unique in its ability to provide a public service that can rival car ownership in terms of flexibility and convenience. It can ultimately improve the reach, frequency and quality of public transport and also helps reduce travel costs for individuals as petrol prices increase, making travel more affordable for low-income New Zealanders.

Each service covers a zone rather than a linear route. This means anyone living in that area now has access to public transit. For those who don’t live close to bus stops, this might be the first time they can use public transit for their daily travels.

In Auckland, our analysis shows AT Local covered 38% more people compared to the previous network, providing access for an additional 6,400 residents in Papakura. The majority of AT Local riders are from the outside of the previous public transit network catchment.

During the month from July 23 to August 22, 69.8% of trips started or ended more than 400m from a bus stop (the industry standard walking distance for access to transit) and 39.7% connected riders to the train network. This shows there is a huge demand from the community for better transit options.

On-demand public transport also provides a higher quality service for riders, picking them up closer to their homes and dropping them at their destinations. For riders who have trouble walking long distances to the bus stop, this is a game changer. Some services deploy wheelchair-accessible vehicles that can be allocated to riders based on their need.

On-demand removes roadblocks to fleet decarbonisation

Electric vehicles are difficult to come by and large electric buses even more so. Without using smaller vehicles, it will be difficult for fleets to fulfil the mandate to purchase only zero-emissions public transport buses by 2025.

On-demand works well with smaller electric vehicles and requires comparatively less charging infrastructure than full-size electric buses. Smaller vehicles are becoming easier to source, making it possible to deploy new on-demand services more quickly.

Reaching emission targets will be much easier if fleets transition to small electric vehicles now rather than having to wait years until electric buses are commonplace.

Read more:
No silver lining for climate change: pain at the petrol pump will do little to get us out of our cars

Developing a nationally scalable roadmap

In order to provide sustainable on-demand public transport, two questions need to be considered:

1. Where should we replace current public transport with on-demand transit?

By first evaluating our current networks, it will become clear which bus routes are performing well and where we could improve services.

The main routes that should be explored for replacement are called feeder or coverage services – ones that meander through neighborhoods providing limited coverage at low frequencies and limited value to customers. By replacing these routes with on-demand, riders can be given more direct access to their main destinations, encouraging people to shift away from private cars.

2. Where should we provide new services that help the most people?

Historically, transit has mainly been focused on serving densely populated urban areas, leaving those in the suburbs and rural regions under or un-served. This has led to large populations of people relying on expensive and polluting cars to complete their daily travels.

On-demand changes this perspective by providing zonal coverage of these areas rather than stop-based routing, providing equal access to all residents.

Delivering on-demand services to the suburbs will bring new riders to transit, as shown in our AT Local analysis. Greenfield residential developments should also be considered for on-demand deployments to allow new home owners to adopt sustainable travel patterns as soon as they move in.

AT Local proves it is possible to rapidly reduce carbon emissions from our public transportation using technology and vehicles already available, while simultaneously increasing a mode shift towards public transport.

Benjamin Kaufman is a PhD candidate at the Griffith University Cities Research Institute and a Transport Academic Scholar funded by the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. He also works as a New Mobilities Specialist for Liftango. Previously, he has consulted for global microtransit and micromobility providers Via and Bird.

Ainsley Hughes is an Honorary Associate Lecturer in the Discipline of Geography at the University of Newcastle. She also works as a New Mobilities Specialist for Liftango.

– ref. Electric on-demand public transport is making a difference in Auckland – now it needs to roll out further – https://theconversation.com/electric-on-demand-public-transport-is-making-a-difference-in-auckland-now-it-needs-to-roll-out-further-189438

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Van-Hau Trieu, Senior Lecturer in Information Systems, Deakin University

Social media are increasingly blurring the lines between our personal and professional lives, leaving us at risk of posting sensitive information that could have ramifications far beyond our “friends” list.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin recently found this out the hard way after a video of her dancing and drinking with friends, first posted to a private Instagram account, was leaked to the press. Marin was forced to apologise, and even volunteered for a drug test, after enduring a worldwide media storm.

Other kinds of oversharing can have consequences, too. In 2020, police in Australia shared photos of arrested ex-footballer Dani Laidley in a private WhatsApp group, and the photos were then made public. Thirteen officers were suspended or transferred, with some facing charges for privacy and human rights breaches.

Many employers are introducing policies to reduce this kind of risk. Our research shows what drives much online oversharing – and we can offer some tips to keep yourself clear of social media scandal.

The personal and professional risks of oversharing

People have different preferences for boundaries between their professional and personal lives. Some prefer to keep their work relationships formal, while others treat colleagues as friends.

However, even if we choose to maintain strong boundaries between our professional and personal lives, we may still find details of our lives divulged on social media by others.

Research has reported more than half of us feel anxious about family, friends and colleagues sharing information, photos or videos we do not want to be shared publicly. Yet many of us also reveal an inappropriate amount of detail about our own lives (“oversharing”) on social media, and regret it later.

Beyond the potential for embarrassment, indiscriminate sharing on social media can have significant negative consequences for your professional life. Many employers actively use social media to research job candidates, while some employees have lost their jobs due to social media posts.

Emotions drive oversharing

Why are so many of us prone to oversharing? Our research suggests emotions are central.

When we feel strong emotions, we often use social media to communicate with and get support from friends, family and colleagues. We might share good news when we feel happy or excited, or anger and frustration might drive us to vent about our employers.

Read more:
To overshare: the long and gendered history of TMI

When emotional, it is easy for us to cross the boundary between work and social life, underestimating the consequences of social media posts that can quickly go viral.

We have five simple tips for people to avoid oversharing and creating a social media scandal for themselves or others.

1. Set clear boundaries between personal life and work

Be clear about the boundaries between your social life and work. Set rules, limits and acceptable behaviours to protect these boundaries.

Let your friends, colleagues and family know your expectations. If someone oversteps your boundaries, raise your concerns. Consider your relationship with individuals who do not respect your boundaries.

You can also establish boundaries by maintaining separate professional and social accounts on different social media platforms, and only sharing things relevant to work on your professional account.

2. Respect the boundaries of others

Be aware of and respect the boundaries of others. Don’t share photos or videos of others without their permission.

If someone doesn’t want their photo to be taken, video to be recorded or their name to be tagged, respect their wishes. Treat others on social media the same way you would like to be treated.

3. Lock down your social media accounts

Adjust your privacy settings to control who can view your profile and posts.

Most social media platforms provide features to help users protect their privacy online. Facebook’s “Privacy Checkup tool”, for example, lets you see what you’re sharing and with whom.

Also consider what information you place in your profile. If you don’t want your personal social media profile associated with your employer, do not list your employer in your profile.

4. Share consciously to avoid mistakes

Do not use social media when you feel emotional. Especially if you are feeling strong emotions like hurt, anger or excitement, give yourself time to process your feelings before posting.

Ask yourself: How many people will see this post? Would anyone be hurt? Does anyone benefit? Would I feel comfortable if my colleagues or supervisors saw this?

Assume what you share can be seen by your friends, enemies, colleagues, boss and another 5,000 people. Stop if you don’t want any of them to see what you’re thinking about posting.

5. If you do overshare, try to remove unwanted content

Oversharing and accidental posting are not uncommon. If you have posted unwanted content, remove it immediately.

If you are concerned about information about yourself on someone else’s social media, raise your concerns and ask the person who posted to remove it.

If the information has spread through multiple sources, it is a bit tricky, but it is worth trying to contact the website or service that hosts the information or image to remove the content.

If you need further assistance with removing online content, you can also try a content removal service.

Posting is forever

Be aware that nothing shared over social media is private. Even “private” messages can easily be forwarded, screenshotted, posted and shared elsewhere.

You should treat social media content like your personal brand. If you wouldn’t say it to your colleagues and managers, don’t post it online.

Social media can enrich our professional and personal lives, but ill-considered posts and oversharing can be damaging to yourself and others. Being smart on social media is something we need to get better at in our professional lives, just as much as our personal lives.

Read more:
Want to delete your social media, but can’t bring yourself to do it? Here are some ways to take that step

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

– ref. Why do people overshare online? 5 expert tips for avoiding social media scandal – https://theconversation.com/why-do-people-overshare-online-5-expert-tips-for-avoiding-social-media-scandal-189528

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, PhD Candidate, School of History, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University

When stories about former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s secret ministerial roles emerged, John Howard was called on by all and sundry for comment. For some, Howard represents stability, convention and commonsense liberalism, a Menzies in our own time. (It is a parallel Howard has carefully cultivated).

But as it happened, Howard was available for comment (reluctantly, it seemed) because he was out promoting his new book, A Sense of Balance, published with HarperCollins Australia. That book offers Howard a powerful platform on which to speak about contemporary politics, national identity, and the state of the modern Liberal Party.

Balancing act

The essence of the 300-page tome is visible on its dustjacket. Here, a suited and serene Howard tells us that “balance” has been a formative Australian characteristic and will “safeguard our future” if we preserve that creed.

The book itself is a strange product, ranging from pointed and incisive (if sometimes provocative) discussion in the early chapters to anecdotal meandering in the later ones.

No less than 120 pages are spent reflecting on the big issues of his own prime ministership and their relevance to the present. His chapter on the Australia-China relationship, for example, is measured and even-handed; his chapter in defence of the Iraq War is far less compelling.

Like so many other conservatives, Howard blames “identity politics”, the “guilt” industry (particularly surrounding Australia’s colonial past) and modern “cancel culture” for much social ill. But he is at least unambiguous in his condemnation of former US President Donald Trump and his brand of politics – balance does not that way lead.

Read more:
View from The Hill: The Liberals would be better off with Morrison out of parliament

The substance of the book is its firm intervention in debates about the modern Liberal Party. He frets about the rise of factionalism in the state organisations, lampooning for instance the tendency of NSW Liberals to schedule competing factional dinners after their state conferences.

He rails against branch stacking and argues the rise of partisan staff in political offices compounds these problems. (The number of political staff continued to expand between 1996 and 2007, we might note.)

Like NSW Labor Minister Rodney Cavalier’s Power Crisis, partisans will find uncomfortable truths in this book.

The trick, Howard says, it to get back to the “broad church” liberalism of the his prime ministerial years. It is “respect for the individual”, “free enterprise”, “strong families”, and the “international liberal order” that define modern liberalism, with the nation-state as its instrument of expression. Climate change need not be a dividing issue among Liberals, he suggests, if nuclear power is placed in the picture. And gender problems should not undermine merit as a “basic Liberal value”. The party cannot be conservative or liberal, he declares: it must be both.

The bigger picture

A Sense of Balance is the latest contribution to a distinct genre of Australian political writing – the Liberal memoir. Since the 1960s, senior Australian Liberals have used their memoirs, written usually in the calmer waters of post-political life, to shape their party’s sense of identity. Given the Liberals have long suffered from, in Gerard Henderson’s terms, a “messiah complex” and a deficient sense of their own history, these books do seem to matter.

Robert Menzies, the party’s inaugural leader and two-time political memoirist, has much to answer for in this respect. His first memoir, Afternoon Light (1967), contained relatively little about his underlying philosophical values and beliefs (other than fealty to the British Crown). In his second book, The Measure of the Years (1970), he defended particular policy actions (such as the Colombo Plan, federal support for universities, and the expansion of the resources sector) but had little to say about liberal ideology. Not even his publishers and correspondents could agree that Menzies was liberal or conservative.

In Menzies’ own telling, liberalism was about “the individual, his rights, and his enterprise”, but the state was helpful in avoiding “large-scale unemployment”, which liberals took seriously in the wake of war and depression in the 1930s and 1940s. Tellingly, he said that the Liberals and the Country Party (today’s Nationals) essentially shared the same philosophy, without specifying what that entailed.

In truth, “anti-socialism” was the only hard and fast principle Menzies emphasised in his memoirs. Beyond that, he argued, a leader’s ideas “will break” if they “will not bend”.

The party chose for itself the name “liberal”, he said in Afternoon Light, because it rejected “reactionary” politics in favour of “progressive” reform. Moderates in the party have repeatedly used this line to attack their conservative opponents in recent years. Howard acknowledges this with scepticism in A Sense of Balance.

Few Liberals wrote memoirs in the decades after Menzies, and when they did, it was usually driven by personal and leadership conflict (especially between John Gorton and Billy McMahon).

But at the end of the Howard years, they began publishing again in earnest. Former treasurer Peter Costello and shadow minister Tony Abbott quickly rushed out books with Melbourne University Publishing. The former (writing with his father-in-law Peter Coleman) set out an agenda of progressive “unfinished business”, while the latter defended but also moderated his brand of social conservatism in the form of Battlelines (2009).

The rush to print

But it was Howard and his prime ministerial predecessor, Malcolm Fraser, who dominated these literary contests. Fraser co-authored a large memoir with independent journalist Margaret Simons, launched by MUP on March 4 2010. They argued that liberalism required humanitarian compassion, respect for the rule of law, and a commitment to promoting individual liberty. Fraser and Simons used their book tour to criticise Australia’s hardline stance on asylum seekers, their fingers pointed firmly at Howard. Human rights activists and cultural influencers celebrated the book, but it was criticised for several years by The Australian.

Howard published a political autobiography, Lazarus Rising, seven months later. Howard identified himself with Menzies’ “forgotten people” – the wage-earners and professionals of the modern middle-class – and stressed the importance of the party’s “broad church” encompassing many philosophies.

The book said much about “freedom” and “fairness”, but was unapologetic about his personal brand of “economic liberalism” and “social conservatism”. Howard promoted the book everywhere from the ABC to 2GB Radio, and was lauded as a “class act” when a protester threw shoes at him and his book on Q&A.

When Malcolm Turnbull published his memoir A Bigger Picture in April 2020, he offered a classic “moderate” liberal through-line in the tradition of Fraser. Turnbull saw himself as a “true” liberal, independent and rational in thought, compassionate where possible, and committed above all to the rule of law. A Bigger Picture was shunned by the Party, but earned Turnbull significant applause at (virtual) writers festivals.

Read more:
Julia Banks’ new book is part of a 50-year tradition of female MPs using memoirs to fight for equality

Return to the ‘broad church’

A Sense of Balance is Howard’s third contribution to the Liberal canon, having published a book about The Menzies Era in 2014. This latest effort, though well timed, trots out the same anecdotes a little too often. Howard’s discourse on the unrepresentativeness of the modern parties is compelling, though qualified by a relatively thin offering of suggested reforms to solve the issue.

Above all, the book is about restating the case for a “broad church” form of liberalism in which moderates and conservatives each have some purchase. For the progressive reader, Howard’s cultural politics remain exasperating. But for those whose task it is to chart a course for the Liberal Party, there are meaningful prompts in this book.

This research is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.

– ref. John Howard calls for ‘a sense of balance’, but can he help the Liberal Party find it? – https://theconversation.com/john-howard-calls-for-a-sense-of-balance-but-can-he-help-the-liberal-party-find-it-189059

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Turbill, Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, Western Sydney University

Am I not pretty enough? This article is part of The Conversation’s series introducing you to unloved Australian animals that need our help.

Golden-tipped bats are peculiar creatures. By night, they hunt the understorey for orb-weaving spiders, plucking them carefully from their sticky webs. By day, they roost in excavated basements at the bottom of nests made by two rainforest birds.

Unfortunately, while their rainforest nests usually keep them safe from fire, our new research found that’s no longer guaranteed. Rainforests grow in areas normally unburnt by fires. But ahead of the 2019/2020 Black Summer of fire, many of these areas had dried out, setting the stage for fires of unprecedented size and intensity. As a result, large areas of rainforest along the coasts of south-eastern Australia were badly burnt.

Our study confirms expert predictions that rainforest-dependent golden-tipped bats would be hard hit. We found the fires caused a large reduction in suitable habitat.

Why is this rainforest bat so special?

Like birds, Australia’s many bat species come in many different shapes and sizes. Some fly fast in open air while others fly slowly with great agility amongst cluttered vegetation. The delicate golden-tipped bat is a “clutter specialist”, hunting in the understorey and plucking its favourite orb-weaver spiders from their webs without getting caught. Its wings are optimised for slow, careful flight.

Amazingly, golden-tipped bats roost in chambers they dig out underneath the elaborate suspended nests of two birds, the yellow-throated scrubwren and brown gerygone. These birds make their nests in patches of moist vegetation, which infiltrates the dryer eucalypt forests along a network of gully lines, up and down Australia’s east coast.

Read more:
5 remarkable stories of flora and fauna in the aftermath of Australia’s horror bushfire season

The birds have the top bunk, and the tiny bats – all six grams of them – make room in the basement. The woolly, golden-coloured fur of the roosting bats matches their mossy bird-built homes.

These daytime rainforest refuges give these bats access to wet and dry forests, allowing them to forage more widely at night.

Why are fires such bad news in rainforests?

Animals in fire-prone eucalypt forests have evolved mechanisms to cope with bushfires. But rainforest plants and animals have not had to learn these tricks. In rainforests, fire is a rare and destructive event.

Fire events classified as extreme occur infrequently (by definition) and we rarely have an opportunity to measure their impacts on forest wildlife. Climate change has been linked to increasingly dangerous fire weather conditions and more frequent extreme-level megafires in south-eastern Australia.

To find out what this means, our study measured the impact of the 2019/20 megafires on this bat.

What did we do?

A year after the fires, we set harp traps in rainforest sites ranging from badly burnt to entirely unburnt. Our goal was to understand if golden-tipped bats occurred at each site and to use these data to model the effects of the fire on habitat for this species.

The result? At sites where high intensity fire had raged, we found modelled occupancy fell sharply from 90% to 20%. Even a year later, badly burnt rainforest was no longer used by this species.

At burnt sites there were also few scrubwrens and gerygones, and almost none of their nests. On the plus side, in unburnt rainforest, we captured 66 golden-tipped bats, showing this elusive and poorly studied species persists in reasonable numbers.

We attached tiny radio-transmitters to our captured bats to see how they moved and roosted in fire-affected habitat. Tracking bats across steep gullies of thick bush was hard work, as they moved almost daily to new roosts.

The bats chose their roosts in unburnt patches, which wasn’t surprising given that their preferred bird nests were readily consumed by fire. Their avoidance of burnt areas could suggest movements will be limited across fire-affected landscapes.

Our study also tested whether a humble mop head could act as a stop-gap roost for these bats until the scrubwrens and gerygones could return and build new nests.

Why mops? Because these bats have previously been found roosting in an old mop head.

So far, we haven’t recorded them making use of the mops but we will continue to monitor them over the coming breeding season.

What happens if extreme fires become common?

In many dry eucalypt forests, corridors of rainforest following gullies and creeks offer vital food and shelter for wildlife like the golden-tipped bat, significantly increasing local biodiversity.

Climate change poses a threat to rainforest-dependent wildlife in south-eastern Australia, by drying out soils, intensifying drought and increasing severe fire weather. Combined, these make it possible for unburnt rainforest to go up in flames.

Animals that rely on rainforests are not adapted to cope with fire. Increases in frequency of extreme fire events as the world warms will cause major disruption to the forests of south-eastern Australia.

Read more:
A staggering 1.8 million hectares burned in ‘high-severity’ fires during Australia’s Black Summer

Christopher Turbill received funding for this project from Australian Government’s Wildlife and Habitat Bushfire Recovery Program, and receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, and the Department of Planning and Environment.

– ref. This spider-eating, nest-sharing bat was once safe from fire – until the Black Summer burnt its rainforests – https://theconversation.com/this-spider-eating-nest-sharing-bat-was-once-safe-from-fire-until-the-black-summer-burnt-its-rainforests-187464

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Welch, Professor of Education, University of Sydney

Australia is facing an “unprecedented” teacher shortage. The federal government projects a shortfall of more than 4,000 high school teachers by 2025, but shortages are being felt across the board, especially in rural and remote schools, and in maths and science.

One of the possible solutions being touted by politicians is bringing in more teachers from overseas. This has happened before: in response to teacher shortages in Australia in the 1970s, teachers were brought in from the United Kingdom, United States and Canada.

Education Minister Jason Clare has asked Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil to fast-track visas for those with teaching qualifications. As he said earlier this month:

One of the things that we’ve got to do is prioritise visas for teachers from overseas who want to come and work here.

New South Wales Education Minister Sarah Mitchell has even proposed fast-tracking citizenship for teachers. But how realistic is this strategy when similar countries have their own teacher shortages?

How does it work?

Teachers from New Zealand have automatic recognition of their qualifications. But those from other countries need to meet conditions imposed by state teacher registration boards, or similar bodies.

For urgent cases, employers can apply for limited registration, for individuals who do not (yet) meet such requirements. The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership also provides skills assessment for overseas trained teachers, and it is also possible to do a bridging course.

Teachers want to quit in the UK

The signs from overseas, where COVID made pre-existing shortages worse, are not encouraging.

In England, a recent survey revealed 70% of teachers had considered resigning, with poor pay cited as a key factor by more than half of respondents. Another survey showed almost 50% of head teachers or principals planned to resign after the COVID pandemic, citing crushing workloads, poor pay and difficulties recruiting staff.

Lack of staff has already lead the UK to combine classes and it is now looking to recruit foreign teachers, including from Australia.

Extreme measures in the US

The US is following a similar trend: widespread teacher shortages compounded by the COVID pandemic. A pre-pandemic survey in 2018 estimated the shortage at 112,000, particularly in maths, science and special education.

A 2021 survey has since revealed 75% of school principals and districts were having trouble finding enough substitute staff to cover teacher absences.

Read more:
The most recent efforts to combat teacher shortages don’t address the real problems

States are having to resort to extreme measures to fill teaching positions during the pandemic. One school district in Texas asked parents to work as substitutes to fill the shortage. Some Texan schools have also moved to a four-day week.

Meanwhile, New Mexico has used National Guard members and state employees as volunteer substitute teachers to cover COVID shortages. Arizona now allows people without a college degree to begin teaching (as long as they’re enrolled in a degree).

Several states are already working with job agencies to find qualified foreign teachers.

Retired teachers back in Canadian classrooms

Canada is also suffering from a significant teacher shortage, especially in special needs, early childhood and at the upper secondary level.

High levels of teacher attrition (as much as 40% in the first five years of service in some provinces) is blamed.

The pool of substitute teachers has also shrunk. In Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario, school boards are contacting retired teachers and instructors without certification to fill gaps. Saskatchewan and Ontario are offering final year education students temporary permits as substitute teachers.

Manitoba has introduced a “condensed training program” of 30 hours, that promises to teach basic classroom skills to those with a limited teaching permit.

Canada is also searching internationally. Somewhat like the priority accorded to skilled workers in Australia’s migration scheme, Canada’s Federal Skilled Worker program allocates substantial points to those with foreign education credentials, including teachers.

Migration unlikely to work

So, if migration is seen as a solution to Australia’s teaching shortage, the question needs to be asked: where are they going to come from?

Read more:
It’s great education ministers agree the teacher shortage is a problem, but their new plan ignores the root causes

Although poor pay in the UK and some states in the US might make Australia seem attractive, current teacher shortages in England, the US and Canada make it unlikely that many will be found there.

While it is possible teachers can be found in other countries, such as India, Malaysia and Singapore, they are unlikely to be found in significant numbers, partly due to lengthy registration procedures and some discrimination when seeking employment.

A more likely scenario is of intensifying international competition for a shrinking pool of qualified teachers around the world.

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

– ref. Teacher shortages are a global problem – ‘prioritising’ Australian visas won’t solve ours – https://theconversation.com/teacher-shortages-are-a-global-problem-prioritising-australian-visas-wont-solve-ours-189468

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harrington, Senior Lecturer in English and Cultural Studies, University of Canterbury

The premiere episode of Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, The Heirs of the Dragon, establishes its central themes of gender and power in a bloody fashion. Its shocking depiction of a fatal cesarean birth is notable for its brutality – but also for how it reflects on histories of pregnant representation and reproductive politics.

The series dramatises a civil war in which factions of the Targaryen family fight for the Iron Throne of Westeros. As we start, young Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) has been overlooked by her father, King Viserys (Paddy Consedine). He desires a male heir, even as queen consort Aemma (Sian Brooke) suffers through stillbirths and miscarriages.

We quickly see how women are at the mercy of men’s decisions. “Here you are surrounded by attendants all focused on the babe – someone must attend to you”, says Rhaenyra to her heavily pregnant mother. “This discomfort is how we serve the realm”, Aemma replies; “The childbed is our battlefield”.

The king calls a tournament to celebrate the impending birth of what he hopes will be a male heir. Violent, rhythmic scenes showing knights jousting and bludgeoning each other to a bloody pulp are crosscut with upsetting images of Aemma’s labour.

Brutality and betrayal

Showrunner Miguel Sapochnik, speaking with the Los Angeles Times, notes that as with Game of Thrones’ battles, each birth on this show will explore a theme. This theme was “torture”.

The baby is breech, and the labour difficult. A male doctor tells the king that fathers must make impossible choices. Viserys quietly approves a plan to cut the baby out, in the hope that it is a boy.

It is a terrible betrayal: he holds Aemma’s hand while she is restrained and sliced open. She bleeds to death – and her newborn son only lives a short while. It is a shocking depiction of the world’s priorities.

Read more:
Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon confirms there will be no sexual violence on screen. Here’s why that’s important

Pregnancy in visual culture

Beyond its brutality, the scene illustrates vividly changes to the visibility of pregnancy in visual culture.

Throughout most of the 20th century, pregnancy and birth were largely invisible in visual media. Pregnancy was deemed private and domestic, even vulgar. Notably, scenes of childbirth were banned and pregnancy deemed taboo in Hollywood films from 1927-68, thanks to various censorship regimes. Later, pregnant actors in television series would be written out, or have their bodies hidden through costuming or editing.

Now, images of pregnancy and childbirth are significantly more visible and varied. A watershed moment came in 1991 when Annie Leibovitz’s impactful (and controversial) portrait of Demi Moore – naked, beatific, and 7 months pregnant – graced the front cover of Vanity Fair. It challenged the notion that pregnant bodies should be hidden.

More recently, British series such as historical drama Call the Midwife and the docu-drama One Born Every Minute, and American film Tully, have foregrounded female-led emotional and realistic representations of pregnancy and birth.

Pregnancies are more likely to be written in, not out, of television series. We have also seen the slow rise of sexy maternity fashion that shows off one’s “baby bump”, recently exemplified by singer and entrepreneur Rihanna’s boundary-pushing outfits. The overt images of Aemma’s pregnant body sit within this cultural shift.

Read more:
Madness, miscarriages and incest: as in House of the Dragon, real-life royal families have seen it all throughout history

Monstrous births and bodily autonomy

But this scene’s graphic nature is unusual in mainstream media. Instead, it resonates with the long history of monstrous births in science fiction and horror.

These genres offer a subversive language with which to explore reproductive anxieties openly. The paranoia and gaslighting in Rosemary’s Baby (1968), the chest-bursting scene in Alien (1979), the gruesome forced caesarean in A’ l’Interieur (2007), and the maternal dread in Mother! (2017) all illustrate fears about embodiment, maternity and personhood.

The content and tone of this scene, and its place as an inciting incident within the series’ narrative, also reflects contemporary issues regarding women’s bodily autonomy. These speak to widespread cultural tensions about the competing rights of the adult and the unborn.

This is an issue everywhere, but currently has particular political resonance in the United States in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade. This has quickly opened the doors to oppressive bans on abortion in some US states, even in cases where a pregnancy endangers the life of the mother.

At its most conservative and adversarial, this positions female reproductive bodies as little more than vessels. This misogynistic position suggests that an unborn person has more of a right to life than an adult subject, and that a woman does not have the right to make choices about her own life and body. It is dehumanising.

House of the Dragon dramatises this dynamic in the context of a deeply patriarchal system that is in ways not that far removed form our own. A war of succession is prompted because a society can’t countenance the idea of a woman taking the throne.

In a show that is interested in exploring the dynamics of gender and power through the lens of medieval fantasy, the conflict is not just that of ambitious uncle against powerful niece, but whether a woman has a right to be more than a womb.

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

– ref. Torturous births in House of the Dragon dramatise the question of whether women deserve to be more than just a womb – https://theconversation.com/torturous-births-in-house-of-the-dragon-dramatise-the-question-of-whether-women-deserve-to-be-more-than-just-a-womb-189529

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Barrett, Associate Professor in Commercial Law and Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Tax has again become an election issue, more than 12 months before voters go to the polls. Part of the current debate centres around tax brackets and whether the current cut-off points are fair.

New Zealand’s income tax system uses progressive rates. Higher slices of income are taxed at higher rates. Every dollar earned up to NZ$14,000 is taxed at 10.5%. Income above that level is progressively taxed higher until the final tax rate of 39% applies to every dollar earned over $180,000.

“Fiscal drag”, sometimes known as “bracket creep”, occurs when an increase in a taxpayer’s income takes their highest slice of income into a higher tax bracket without an increase in real income. This often happens when wages rise to compensate for inflation but tax bands are not adjusted.

The return of inflation

Addressing fiscal drag was an important policy focus in the last decades of the 20th century as countries tried to manage persistent inflation. But since 2000, most economically developed countries have experienced no or low inflation, putting fiscal drag on the back burner.

The COVID pandemic, however, led to supply chain interruptions and labour shortages. As a consequence, many countries are experiencing rates of inflation not seen for decades.

Arguments for linking income tax brackets to rising costs of living, also known as index linking, didn’t disappear in the era of low or no inflation but have recently been revived, including by the National Party.

While fiscal drag could be considered tax increase by stealth, when the Tax Working Group delivered its final report in 2019 the authors noted that “whether fiscal drag is of sufficient concern is a value judgement”.

Responding to fiscal fiscal drag

While the decision to address fiscal drag may be a value judgement, it’s worth understanding what it is and why successive governments have not fixed what intuitively appears to be an unfairness in the tax system.

Governments have long relied on inflation to reduce the real value of government debt. This allows them to take advantage of fiscal drag in times of economic rebuilding – notably when debt is high in comparison with gross domestic product, as they are now in many countries (though not currently in New Zealand).

However, if a government considers fiscal drag to be of sufficient concern, the most direct ways of overcoming the problem are to have a flat rate of income tax or to link tax brackets to an inflation measure, such as a consumer price index.

Read more:
Inflation is 2022’s boogeyman. How can we address rising living costs, while helping bring it down?

A flat rate of income tax would skew the overall tax system away from the usual expectation of ability to pay, with the wealthy benefiting the most. But index linking is, in effect, a tax cut that reduces a government’s capacity to provide public services.

The National-led government of John Key considered changing tax bands but recognised this would affect the funding of public services. In effect, they opted for fiscal drag. At the same time, Key’s government increased the rate of GST. If consumers keep spending during periods of rising inflation, the government’s GST take will also increase.

Current revenue minister David Parker has a different approach. He opposes readjustment of tax brackets in favour of identifying untaxed income, although it’s not obvious these are mutually exclusive.

Focusing on the middle

Different taxpayers are affected differently by tax increases, including fiscal drag. While many people will focus on their marginal tax rate – the tax rate paid on every extra dollar they earn – the focus should lie with average tax paid.

Let’s take the example of Anna who earns an income of $48,000. Her salary puts her right at the upper limit of the $14,000–$48,000 tax bracket. Her marginal tax rate is 17.5% but her average tax rate is 15.46%. If she receives a 5% salary increase, her marginal tax rate will rise to 30% and her average rate will be 16.15%.

Compare this with Bella who earns an income of $65,000 – placing her under the upper limit of $70,000 for the 30% tax bracket. Her marginal rate is also 30% but her average rate is 20.76%. So, crossing a bracket threshold and having more of your income taxed in a higher band increases your average tax rate. Fiscal drag affects both.

Read more:
With their conservative promises, Labour and National lock in existing unfairness in New Zealand’s tax system

Employees have little scope for reducing their taxable income and so may be affected more than some other earners. Research into tax bunching around so-called “kink points” (income levels just below a higher tax rate) indicates that non-employees – business people and contractors – are able to manipulate their incomes to ensure they fall below a higher tax bracket.

A tradie, for example, may inflate their expenses. A company director may retain funds within the company which is taxed at a flat rate of 28%.

From a policy perspective, therefore, it’s important to understand who is most affected by fiscal drag. Such an understanding might lead to increases in lower tax bands but not higher ones.

Drag less noticeable than a tax increase

Why do many employees not seem to care about fiscal drag? Perhaps it’s because, psychologically, it doesn’t feel the same as an overt tax increase. Even if the real value of your pay decreases, the amount you take home is stable.

Conversely, index linking may not feel like a tax cut. People understand that prices are rising but they may not necessarily link inflation to their tax levels.

We may hope for full transparency on the part of government, but some obscurity is inherent in the tax system. As Louis XIV’s finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert once observed, “the art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing.”

That hissing may grow louder as taxpayers increasingly experience fiscal drag.

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

– ref. Feeling that fiscal drag? Why you could be worse off even if your pay has gone up – https://theconversation.com/feeling-that-fiscal-drag-why-you-could-be-worse-off-even-if-your-pay-has-gone-up-188287

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

For Treasurer Jim Chalmers, this week’s jobs and skills summit is the prelude to what will be his main game, the October budget.

The summit, to be held in Canberra on Thursday and Friday, still has many moving parts, notably in the intense debate we’re hearing about what changes should be made to the wages system. But Chalmers can already welcome “a broad appetite” for raising permanent migration from the present cap of 160,000.

“We’ve got these skills and labour shortages running rampant through our economy,” he says. “So we need to move on this front, as well as other fronts simultaneously – not as a substitute for doing something meaningful on skills and training, but in addition to doing that”.

He accepts that boosting immigration will impose pressures, notably on housing. “That’s why I’ve been speaking a lot in the last week or so about housing, trying to work with the super funds and other big investors to see where we can incentivise some more investment in housing.”

On skills and training, Anthony Albanese will speak to premiers on Wednesday about “some of the things we might be able to advance”.

Ahead of the summit, Chalmers has been pleasantly surprised he’s had to do less beating back demands than he’d expected. “I thought that there was a risk that I’d just be sent a whole bunch of invoices for big, expensive policy ideas and asked to sort it out.” But people had recognised the constraints of the debt situation and that everything couldn’t be funded.

So for him, “there’s been less of the saying no, and there’s been more facilitating really productive conversations.”

Looking to the budget, Chalmers says it will be “very workmanlike” and not a great surprise packet. “I think it will be a budget where people know what’s coming.”

Despite calls for the government’s childcare package to be brought forward, Chalmers says the start date will remain at July next year. Acceleration was ruled out because of expense and possible operational difficulties.

He has an “open mind” on allowing older people to work more without losing their pension but “we would need to make sure that the costs would be worth it”.

“A theme of the budget will be around resilience – at a personal level, the community level, and at the national level,” Chalmers says.

A decade of conflict and “warped priorities” has made the Australian economy and its people more vulnerable to international shocks and health shocks, he says. “So my job, as I see it, and our job as a government is to take a community and an economy and a budget which is more vulnerable than it should be and to make it more resilient.

“And that’s why implementing our commitments, providing cost of living relief, trying to get value for money in the budget, dealing with the issues in the labour market [are] all so important.”

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

– ref. Treasurer Chalmers on boosting migration and a ‘resilience’ budget – https://theconversation.com/treasurer-chalmers-on-boosting-migration-and-a-resilience-budget-189632

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia

In December 2018, former professional rugby league player and high school teacher Chris Dawson, then aged 70, was arrested and charged with murdering his wife Lynette almost forty years previously.

Today, in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Justice Ian Harrison declared: “I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the only rational inference (is that) Lynette Dawson died on or about 8 January 1982 as a result of a conscious or voluntary act committed by Christopher Dawson”.

Thus he found Dawson guilty of her murder. Dawson has now had his bail revoked and has been remanded in custody pending sentence.

How did we get here?

Beyond reasonable doubt

Lynette Dawson had gone missing from her home at Bayview in Sydney’s northern beaches between January 8 and 9, 1982. Soon thereafter Chris Dawson reported the disappearance to police.

He thereafter moved his teenage lover, referred to in the trial as “JC”, into his home. They later married.

After an acrimonious divorce, JC went to police and said she believed her former husband had murdered Lynette. A police investigation began, and JC was to become a key witness against him.

Justice Harrison presided over the trial without the benefit of a jury because of a perception that the publicity in the lead up to Dawson being charged was so prejudicial that a jury could not have been able to exercise their fact-finding without bias.

The prosecution case was that Dawson murdered Lynette so he could have an “unfettered” relationship with JC whom he had met when she was a year 11 student.

Dawson’s defence counsel, Pauline David, argued, to the contrary, that there was no weapon, and nor was there any forensic or scientific evidence of any murder. She questioned how the accused could have killed his wife and carried her body out to his car when the car was parked outside.

Defence arguments are always designed to raise doubts. In this case they failed. Justice Harrison said he was persuaded beyond reasonable doubt that the prosecution had made out their case.

Dawson has always maintained he was not involved with Lynette’s disappearance. Her body has never been found.

The Teacher’s Pet

What makes this case so interesting is that a journalist with The Australian, Hedley Thomas, had engaged in his own fact-finding exercise.

He was scathing of the police investigation. He published a podcast, The Teacher’s Pet, which was broadcast between May and December 2018. It reached an estimated audience of 60 million listeners in which Thomas presented evidence that he maintained pointed clearly to Dawson’s guilt.

The podcast was taken offline in 2019 to avoid prejudicing the trial and influencing potential prosecution witnesses.

Notwithstanding, Dawson’s defence team attempted, unsuccessfully as it turned out, to get a permanent “stay of proceedings” (meaning the prosecution is halted in its tracks) on the basis that the podcast was so prejudicial that their client would not be able to get a fair trial.

Indeed, Thomas had been criticised for his extrajudicial enthusiasm, but Justice Elizabeth Fullerton, who heard the application to stay proceedings, was unmoved by the defence team’s pleading.

There are two other extraordinary features of this case. The first is that unedited conversations that Thomas had recorded were used as evidence in the trial, notwithstanding that the persons who were being interviewed would not have received the usual formal warnings concerning the use to which those interviews may later have been put.

Second, the trial judge heard that former NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller had directed senior investigating police to join Thomas for lunch at a Surry Hills restaurant before Dawson was charged. While such a conversation is not damning of a prosecution case, it can be frowned upon for police to engage in familial interviews with persons who have had no direct evidence of the matters at hand and who have formed their own conclusions concerning guilt and innocence.

It’s not uncommon for a journalist to go into bat for a person whom he or she thinks has been wrongly convicted. One of the more celebrated cases involved the conviction of Edward Splatt for the murder in Adelaide of Rosa Simper in 1977. The fearless case mounted by Stewart Cockburn in publishing a series of articles in May 1981 led to a Royal Commission and, finally, Splatt’s exoneration after he had spent more than six years behind bars.

But it’s highly unusual for a journalist to pursue someone he thinks has been involved in foul play, and to do so by publishing a popular podcast that presents a particular view of the facts in dispute. As he and his editors knew, the podcast would stray perilously close to being so prejudicial as to prevent the trial ever proceeding.

That being said, the trial verdict is one that will give Hedley Thomas enormous gratification, and is a clear victory for dogged investigative journalism.

But watch this space – Dawson’s lawyers have flagged an appeal.

Rick Sarre is affiliated with the SA Labor Party and the SA Council for Civil Liberties.

– ref. ‘A clear victory for dogged investigative journalism’: Chris Dawson found guilty of murdering wife Lynette in 1982 – https://theconversation.com/a-clear-victory-for-dogged-investigative-journalism-chris-dawson-found-guilty-of-murdering-wife-lynette-in-1982-189625

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ana Estefanía Carballo, Honorary Research Fellow in Mining and Society, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne

Chile may soon be the second country in the world to grant constitutional rights to nature, under astoundingly progressive reforms proposed by the government. If approved in the national referendum on 4 September, the new constitution would deliver profound changes to the country.

It’s no surprise that 50 of the 387 constitutional provisions concern the environment. Like Australia, Chile is facing mounting environmental pressures. This includes an escalating water crisis made significantly more challenging by the mining industry, long seen as a key pillar of the economy.

The proposed constitution seeks to rapidly pivot Chile toward ecological democracy, one that can transition an economy long dependent on mineral extraction toward cleaner, less resource-intensive, and more socially just forms of living – _buen vivir_.

While the votes aren’t yet in, there are valuable lessons in this process for Australia and other countries grappling with similar concerns.

An era of change

This era of constitutional change began in 2019, when over one million Chileans took to the streets to voice their discontent over economic and social conditions in the country.

Initially unstructured and spontaneous, the protests were sparked by an increase in public transport costs, but quickly coalesced into a widespread constitutional crisis.

This crisis was an outcry against the deeply entrenched socio-economic inequalities seen as rooted in and perpetuated by the country’s legal framework. This is a legacy of the Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990), which saw soaring wealth inequalities and power concentrated in the hands of business elites and private corporations.

Read more:
Chile’s political crisis is another brutal legacy of long-dead dictator Pinochet

In the face of both social and ecological breakdown, further intensified by the arrival of COVID-19, over 80% of Chileans voted in favour of re-writing the constitution in 2020.

In May 2021, a constitutional convention was elected, formed by 155 representatives from across the country. Notably, 50% of them were women, and it was led by Mapuche linguist and Indigenous rights activist Elisa Loncón.

In July 2022, the convention delivered the much-anticipated draft constitution, which was immediately heralded by supporters as an “ecological constitution”.

What are the reforms?

Over the last decade, both Ecuador and Bolivia have been at the global forefront of advocating for the “rights of nature” or “the rights of Mother Earth”. These rights have made it possible to bring cases on behalf of ecosystems into courts, and to challenge the extractive imperatives of state ministries.

The proposed changes to Chile’s constitution build on these experiments, but take them considerably further.

Not only would Chile become the second nation after Ecuador to grant nature constitutional rights, they would also create an “ombudsman for nature” tasked with monitoring and enforcing them. According to the draft text, it would be the duty of the “state and society to protect and respect these rights”.

Citizens would also be empowered to bring environmental lawsuits, even before an environmental impact assessment has been approved. The monitoring of these rights would extend all the way down to the local level, decentralising environmental regulatory authority that has historically been concentrated in the capital of Santiago.

But perhaps even more significant are the proposals aiming to reverse another legacy of the Pinochet dictatorship: Chile’s decades-long privatisation of water.

Chile is in an unprecedented water crisis, with over half of its 19 million people living in areas of severe water scarcity. Communities have fought numerous legal battles against extractive companies over a water allocation system that’s strongly biased toward industry.

Read more:
Chile: election of progressive indigenous academic to oversee constitutional reform is a blow to right-wing establishment

Articles in the proposed constitution concerning water rights, the human rights of water, and the protection of glaciers and wetlands significantly roll back these trends. They declare that water is not a commodity but, instead, incomerciable or “unsellable”.

Overturning this decades-long controversial market mechanism is the direct result of involving social and Indigenous movements in the constitutional process. It reflects and affirms their often-repeated recognition that Agua es vida, or “water is life”.

Beyond enshrining water protection measures, the draft constitution represents a renewed effort to bolster Chile’s natural resources governance, a move with significant impacts on the mining industry. It specifies that exploration and exploitation of mineral resources should ensure environmental protection and the interest of future generations.

There are also requirements to ensure sustainable management of land sites after a mine has closed, and for the promotion of value chain linkages (where mineral processing occurs in the country and benefits its people).

Read more:
We need lithium for clean energy, but Rio Tinto’s planned Serbian mine reminds us it shouldn’t come at any cost

Such considerations are particularly crucial for the global transition towards renewable energy, which poses high demands on Chile’s copper and lithium industry, minerals used for energy storage.

The global rush for these minerals is increasing governance challenges and putting pressure on communities already under environmental and water stress. Strong legal support for a more equitable, fair and sustainable governance framework is imperative.

Lessons for the world

Many questions remain about how these reforms would be put into practice. Nevertheless, they represent the culmination of dialogue between sectors that have historically been excluded from political power.

Australia has much to learn from this process. Most important, perhaps, is that despite the resistance of pro-market sectors, including the mining industry, sweeping and rapid transformations are indeed imaginable in the climate crisis. Other worlds are possible. Other forms of democratic practices are possible.

Addressing climate change while ensuring a sustainable energy transition with inter-generational and inter-cultural equity means prioritising the voices of those who have been systematically excluded – particularly Indigenous communities. Australia would do well to heed this lesson.

And the lessons aren’t just for Australia. While many countries have reluctantly acknowledged the climate emergency that continues to engulf us, Chile is nearly alone globally in acting with the sense of urgency required. What it has already achieved is historic.

From an outcry in the streets to the election of an outstandingly diverse constitutional convention, Chile has crafted one of the most progressive and environmentally conscious legal texts on the planet. Chile’s experience demonstrates that bold, just, and democratic action is not only possible, but necessary.

Read more:
Chile abolishes its dictatorship-era constitution in groundbreaking vote for a more inclusive democracy

Ana Estefanía Carballo is a Research and Programme Manager, Accountable Mining, Transparency International Australia.

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

– ref. ‘One of the most progressive and environmentally conscious legal texts on the planet’: Chile’s proposed constitution and its lessons for Australia – https://theconversation.com/one-of-the-most-progressive-and-environmentally-conscious-legal-texts-on-the-planet-chiles-proposed-constitution-and-its-lessons-for-australia-189389

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Gleeson, Associate Professor in Public Health, La Trobe University

Inequitable access to COVID-19 vaccines has turned out to be the catastrophic moral failure the World Health Organization’s director-general warned about at the beginning of 2021.

International efforts to equitably distribute COVID-19 vaccine doses failed miserably during 2020-2021, when wealthy countries bought up the bulk of the global supply, leaving insufficient doses for countries that couldn’t afford to buy vaccines on the private market. This resulted in hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths in low-income countries.

Unsettling (and familiar) trends emerge

Even today, with more than 12.5 billion doses now administered around the world, only around one in five people in low income countries have yet received a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. And because the underlying problems of equitable distribution of previous vaccines haven’t been solved, inequitable access to monkeypox vaccines is set to be the next global disgrace.

Already we’re seeing the same patterns emerge: vaccine nationalism, as wealthy countries hoard the limited doses available, and exclusive rights to make medical products that are carefully protected by pharmaceutical companies in the West, while poor countries go without access to both the existing supply or the means to make their own.

Read more:
Monkeypox in Australia: should you be worried? And who can get the vaccine?

If we don’t reverse these trends, it will be very difficult to bring the monkeypox epidemic under control globally, and poor countries will once again bear the brunt of the health and economic effects.

Monkeypox or MPX: a public health emergency that calls for global solidarity

Monkeypox does not present the same level of threat as COVID-19, but it is still a major public health problem, with more than 44,000 cases reported in at least 99 countries since the beginning of 2022.

So far, most cases in 2022 have been in men who have sex with men, but anyone can get monkeypox. Some population groups, including young children, pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems are at greater risk of severe disease.

To reduce the risk of stigma associated with the term monkeypox, the World Health Organization is planning to change its name. A new name has not yet been announced, but many community organisations have started using MPX or similar terms.

Read more:
We need to talk about monkeypox without shame and blame

The 2022 outbreak is the first time there has been sustained transmission of MPX outside of Africa. The seriousness of the situation is reflected in the WHO’s decision to declare it a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on July 23.

The global pattern of MPX cases and deaths

During the 2022 outbreak, the overwhelming majority of MPX cases have been reported in the Americas and Europe, accounting for over 62% and almost 37% of cases respectively in the last four weeks. Almost 89% of cases have been reported in the United States, Spain, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Peru, Canada, the Netherlands and Portugal. Currently, new infections appear to be declining in Europe, but continuing to rise quickly in the United States.

Human cases of MPX have been reported in central and west Africa since 1970, but in 2022, there have been only 350 confirmed cases in these regions reported to WHO, representing 1% of global cases. However, Africa is over-represented when it comes to deaths. Six of the 13 deaths reported to WHO in the current outbreak (46%) have occurred in West and Central Africa.

During the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of MPX cases and hundreds of deaths occurred in Africa, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). But this situation drew little international attention, and the continent had no access to vaccines.

Vaccines for MPX are in short supply

Fortunately, there are several smallpox vaccines that can be used to prevent MPX.

The preferred vaccine is Modified Vaccinia Ankara – Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN), a third-generation vaccine that has fewer side effects than older vaccines and can be safely administered to immunocompromised people and pregnant women. Two doses are needed to provide sufficient protection.

One company in Denmark, Bavarian Nordic, is the only supplier of MVA-BN. Its factory has reportedly been closed for months due to a planned expansion, and is not expected to be able to produce new doses until 2023.

According to the WHO, there are approximately 16 million existing doses of MVA-BN. Most of these are in bulk form rather than ready for use.

It’s currently unclear exactly how many doses will be needed to bring the outbreak under control, but 16 million doses may not be enough, especially if they are unequally distributed rather than available to the most high-risk groups in each country.

Wealthy countries are hoarding existing vaccine supplies

Most of the 16 million or so vaccine doses are either owned by or contracted to the United States, which funded some aspects of the vaccine’s development. Millions of doses made from the bulk vaccine will be “filled and finished” at facilities owned by the US government or by US-based companies.

Other wealthy countries have raced to secure doses from the remaining supply. The European Commission announced it had secured approximately 109 million doses from Bavarian Nordic in June 2022 and a further 54,000 doses in July.

The UK has also secured more than 100,000 doses, and Canada has also reportedly signed a multi-million dollar contract for a supply of the vaccine.

On August 4, Health Minister Mark Butler announced that Australia had ordered 450,000 Jynneos doses, of which 22,000 would arrive the same week and the remainder over 2022-2023.

While WHO has asked countries that have doses to share them, there is no sign this is happening to date.

It seems no African country has yet received a single dose. While the Africa CDC is attempting to negotiate access to the vaccine, news reports suggest there are no doses left to purchase from the private sector.

Bavarian Nordic recently announced it had entered an agreement with the Pan American Health Organization to provide access to the MVA-BN vaccine for Latin America and the Caribbean. Details of this agreement, including the number of doses and the recipient countries, are not yet publicly available.

Exclusive rights prevent more widespread manufacturing of vaccines

Currently, Bavarian Nordic essentially controls the global supply of a vaccine desperately needed by at least 99 countries. While it can’t make the vaccine itself right now due to its factory redevelopment, it can still prevent others from manufacturing the vaccine because of intellectual property rights underpinned by the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

These intellectual property rights include, among others, patent protection and trade secrets protection. Patent protection provides at least 20 years of exclusivity, during which no one else can make or sell the product without permission from the patent-holder. While TRIPS does allow for exceptions to patent protection in certain circumstances, trade secrets protection presents a formidable barrier to wider manufacturing of vaccines.

Attempts to negotiate a temporary waiver of TRIPS rules for COVID-19 vaccines did not produce a meaningful outcome, and a waiver limited to COVID-19 would not have helped to make vaccines available for other diseases like MPX.

As a global community, we need to do better

If the same mistakes are made in the global response to MPX as were made with COVID-19, it is unlikely the outbreak will be quickly controlled. The virus could become established in animal reservoirs and become endemic in many more countries.

The burden of suffering and death will fall most heavily on the countries that are least able to access the tools to prevent and manage it. We must do all we can to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Deborah Gleeson has received funding in the past from the Australian Research Council. She has received funding from various national and international non-government organisations to attend speaking engagements related to trade agreements and health. She has represented the Public Health Association of Australia on matters related to trade agreements and public health

– ref. Monkeypox – the next global vaccine equity failure? – https://theconversation.com/monkeypox-the-next-global-vaccine-equity-failure-189045

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Bennett, Chair in Epidemiology, Deakin University

New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet is driving a push to reduce isolation requirements for people who test positive for COVID from seven to five days. It’s slated for discussion at tomorrow’s National Cabinet meeting, with Perrottet urging a consistent approach across all states and territories.

Others, including Health Services Union president Gerard Hayes, have called for the isolation requirement to be scrapped altogether, and instead, urging people to stay at home if they’re infectious.

So what will states be weighing up? Here’s what the available evidence says.

How many infectious people are in isolation?

Not everyone tests for infection, even if they suspect they might have COVID. Many people won’t know to test if they have mild or no symptoms and are unaware they’ve been exposed.

Our latest serosurvey data, which tests for antibodies in blood donations, suggests around one quarter of the population has had a COVID infection in the three months up to June. That equates to about 6.8 million people.

But only 2.7 million infections were reported in that time period. And these will include cases where the same people had multiple infections. Therefore, it’s likely four to five million infections went untested or unreported.

Read more:
Can we really rely on people to isolate when they’re told to? Experts explain

Some people who don’t test or report a positive result might still isolate. At the same time, some who do report their infections may not isolate properly.

This isn’t just about people being compliant or not. It also reflects the large number of asymptomatic infections, as well as other respiratory symptoms that can mask COVID.

Read more:
Could I have had COVID and not realised it?

A survey of 210 people in the United States found only 44% were aware they’d had a recent Omicron infection. Among those, 10% reported having had any symptoms which they mostly put down to a common cold or other non–COVID infection.

For those who do test and isolate, it’s important to also ask how far into their infections they are when they start isolating.

Isolation starts with a positive test which, in most cases, follows the onset of symptoms, possibly by a day or two. If someone knows they have been a close contact of a case, they may be on the lookout for signs of infection, knowing they have been exposed. Others may miss the signs initially if they commonly experience respiratory symptoms from other causes.

How long are we infectious?

A UK study in The Lancet of 57 people who developed COVID while under daily monitoring tracked participants’ infectious viral load and symptoms.

It found half had an infectious period that lasted up to five days. One-quarter had an infectious period that lasted three days or less. Another quarter were infectious beyond seven days – though with much lower levels of live viral shedding late in their infection.

However, the infections in this study were the Delta variant, so may overstate the duration of infectious periods nowadays.

Read more:
How does Omicron compare with Delta? Here’s what we know about infectiousness, symptoms, severity and vaccine protection

A JAMA review of the time from exposure to symptoms found the mean incubation period has shortened with each new variant. It went from an average of 5 days for infections caused by Alpha, to 4.4 days for Delta, and 3.4 days for Omicron variant. Omicron may therefore also have a shorter overall infectious period on average than Delta.

In the Lancet study, vaccinated people also had a faster decline in their infectious viral load than those not fully vaccinated. The high rates of vaccination and hybrid immunity in Australia could also be shortening the time we are infectious compared to Delta infections.

The Lancet study also reported one-quarter of people shed infectious virus before symptoms started. Interestingly, it found RATs had the lowest sensitivity during the viral growth phase and viral load peak. This means people were less likely to have a positive result in the first days of their most infectious period.

So some people will not test positive, and therefore not isolate, until one or two days into their infections, even if they’re testing with a RAT every day.

Overall, when you sum up the infectious time for those who do not isolate, and the days before isolation for those who do, people with COVID spend more time infectious in the community than they do in isolation. And this includes the time they are at their most infectious.

So, how many exposure days are prevented by current isolation rules?

It’s impossible to know, but based on the above, at most it would be around one quarter, and will probably be much lower than that.

The question, then, is whether reducing isolation by two days towards the tail of the infectious period when infectious viral loads are low will have an impact.

This is unlikely, and that has been the experience overseas, probably because this is a marginal change to a risk-mitigation strategy that can only be partially effective at this stage in the pandemic.

However, there are ways to make the transition from seven to five days safer. This includes:

• requiring acute symptoms experienced in the initial stage of the COVID infection to have resolved before they end isolation, especially fever

• using negative RAT tests to allow people with a persistent cough or other lingering symptoms that may not be associated with an active infection to leave isolation

• screening workers from high-risk settings such as health care and aged care before they return to work

• providing clear information on the infection risk to others in the week following isolation, and how to minimise risk.

Whether we take half steps away from isolation or a large leap, the small risk that people may still be infectious enough to pass the virus on to others on leaving isolation – whether that’s at five or seven days – needs to be managed.

It will always be important to wear well-fitted masks, preferably respirators, when around others and avoid people with compromised immune systems for those first two weeks after a COVID infection begins when you may still be shedding live virus.

Catherine Bennett receives funding from the National Health & Medical Research Council, Medical Research Future Funds, and VicHealth, and an independent scientific advisor on the AstraZeneca Australian Vaccine advisory group, ResApp Health, and Impact Biotech Healthcare.

– ref. Should states cut COVID isolation from 7 to 5 days? Here’s what they’ll need to consider – https://theconversation.com/should-states-cut-covid-isolation-from-7-to-5-days-heres-what-theyll-need-to-consider-189387

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

One word gets mentioned more than “jobs” and more than “skills” in the briefing paper for Thursday’s jobs and skills summit. It’s “productivity”.

Which is odd, because although many of us think we know what productivity is, and although many more assume productivity can be easily measured, it’s a surprisingly slippery concept.

In a report released earlier this month, the Productivity Commission (yes, we have an entire commission devoted to productivity) makes the idea sound simple.

It presents an equation:

productivity = output divided by input

The commission makes the reasonable point that producing more output (of anything – flowers, healthcare, food) per unit of input, so long as the quality is maintained, ought to be the goal of life.

Who wouldn’t want to clean a house in five hours instead of ten? Who wouldn’t want to manufacture a car in five hours instead of ten?

Who wouldn’t want more for less?

You could use the freed-up time to kick back or make more of what you really want. And because you were producing more per hour worked, you would be in a good position to get a pay rise.

The commission is careful not to say you would get a pay rise. Instead it says that where there have been sustained pay rises above inflation, they have almost always been underpinned by increased productivity.

How much of the pay-off from an increase in output per hour worked goes to wages depends, among other things, on bargaining power.

Since 1990, the share of the spoils (technically, the share of total factor income) going to profits has climbed from 24% to 31%, while the share going to wages has fallen from 55% to 50%.

But it ought to be beyond doubt that the only guaranteed way to be able to lift living standards is to lift productivity. Beyond a certain point, working more hours won’t help, because, in the words of the commission, “there are only so many hours in the day to work”.

Nor will using more resources. They are finite. The only certain way to continue to get more of what we want is to get more from what we’ve got – which is the definition of productivity.

And just lately, productivity growth has slowed to a crawl, to what the briefing paper for the summit describes as the lowest rate in half a century.

Lifting productivity has become harder

It’s probably not because we’ve run out of ideas, although it might be because we used up a lot of good ones. Back when enterprise bargaining was introduced in the early 1990s, when we were asked to find improved ways of doing things at work in return for pay rises, we did it. But it became harder to keep finding gains as big.

More broadly, the extraordinary success of the productivity gains we made in manufacturing and agriculture have made them less important as employers. Now most of us (almost 90%) work in services. And services are hard to automate.

Worse still, it’s hard to tell what the output of many services is. There’s a reason the debate about the government’s commitment to defence is couched in terms of spending. It’s hard to tell what we get.

Productivity has become harder to measure

What about hairdressing? A hairdresser who trims twice as many heads per day isn’t necessarily twice as good, even if the quality of each trim remains the same. Part of a good hairdresser’s service is the quality of attention they offer each customer.

It’s the same for health care and education. That’s one of the reasons the Australian Bureau of Statistics doesn’t produce estimates of the productivity of the “health care and social assistance” or “education and training” industries, two of Australia’s biggest industries.

Read more:
Why productivity growth stalled in 2005 (and isn’t about to improve)

And many education and health services are provided free or subsidised, making the price charged an unhelpful measure of output.

(The bureau is planning to introduce “experimental” estimates of the productivity of the education industry next year, but it is finding it hard. It wants to define the output as the “organised communication of knowledge from teacher to student”, which gives an idea of how murky the whole idea is.)

Putting quality of work and life on the summit’s agenda

Economy-wide, the Productivity Commission relies on the bureau’s rough and ready measure: gross domestic product per hour worked, but it’s misleading for the same reason.

Labor came to office promising every Australian living in aged care would receive an average of 215 minutes of care per day.

When that happens, it will be a drag on measured productivity – on GDP per hour worked. Yet it will hugely improve the lives of Australians.

It makes sense for the summit to focus on productivity, given that measured productivity growth has slowed, but it should only be part of the conversation.

Other more personal things matter as well, among them the quality of our lives, the quality of our care, and the quality of our jobs – something those attending would be wise not to forget.

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

– ref. Summit cheat sheet: what is productivity, and how well does it measure what we do? – https://theconversation.com/summit-cheat-sheet-what-is-productivity-and-how-well-does-it-measure-what-we-do-189548

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Ledbury, Professor of Art History and Visual Culture, University of Sydney

In this new series, our writers introduce us to a favourite painting.

How can anyone love this dark and gruesome painting?

We’re a long way from Monet, Van Gogh and the perennial favourites of museum visitors.

Jacques-Louis David’s The Lictors Bringing to Brutus the Bodies of his Dead Sons is a history painting: a kind of art that attempts to give visual life to stories from history, religion and myth. This genre was regarded for centuries as the pinnacle of artistic achievement.

These days, many epic stories have faded from cultural memory and eyes used to modern art and the moving image can see history painting as dull, stilted dress-up.

But let’s not speed past the painting. Take a moment to dwell on its strange and compelling beauty.

Painting history

Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) was a leader among the painters of a generation enthused by the revival of interest in ancient histories, cultures and art we now call neo-classicism.

After a rocky start, and a life-changing stay in Rome, David made his reputation with spectacular paintings derived from ancient history, shown at the Salon – the enormously popular public exhibitions of contemporary art held every two years in the Louvre palace.

These works included the Oath of the Horatii, which caused a sensation in 1785 and the equally remarkable Death of Socrates.

He painted The Lictors Bringing to Brutus the Bodies of his Dead Sons over the course of two years, before it premiered at the Salon in 1789.

It was first seen six weeks after the storming of the Bastille. The exhibition closed on October 6, the same day a revolutionary crowd spearheaded by Parisian women extracted Louis XVI and his family from the Versailles and placed them under house arrest in the Tuileries palace.

Read more:
What is Bastille Day and why is it celebrated?

An unorthodox composition

The Brutus depicts a terrible moment in the life of the (perhaps legendary) founder of the Roman republic Lucius Junius Brutus who, after the brutalisation of his own family and the rape of Lucretia, led the successful revolt that ended the reign of Tarquinius Superbus and founded the Roman republic.

After this coup, the exiled Tarquins attempted a counter-revolution. Brutus’s sons and his wife’s brothers were involved in this plot.

Uncovering their treason, Brutus was forced to follow his own anti-treason decree and presided over the judgement and execution of his sons.

David chose not to show the execution itself, described in Livy and Plutarch. Instead he imagined the moment when the lictors – the physical executioners and the bodyguards of the Republic – return the bodies to Brutus’ household for burial.

At the left of the 14-square-metre canvas, we see the tense, numb Brutus seated, uncomfortably, in the shadow of the Goddess Roma.

His facial expression is inscrutable, but his clenched feet, toes and right hand, clutching his anti-treason decree, betray his tension and pain. The corpses and the weight of history, office and the law seem to impose on him a heavy bodily and psychic burden.

The centre, where we might typically find the main actor of the scene, is occupied by furniture, a sewing basket and empty space.

This central still life is as powerful as it is unexpected.

The empty chair is a brilliant metaphor for the disruptions, absences and family disintegration brought about by Brutus’ submission to his own law.

The sewing basket, a bold and beautifully painted detail, seems banal and domestic, but the pin and thread, the ball and the scissors recall in miniature the scourging and execution of the sons.

To the right of this, brightly lit, is the maternal group.

The statuesque, shocked but defiant mother is the most active of all the figures. She makes eye contact with one of the executioners and past him to the corpses.

Her daughters collapse in grief, seeking shelter from the presence of death.

At the right edge of the painting sits another figure, a veiled servant, whose face David hides, perhaps echoing Timanthes’ depiction of the grieving Agamemnon. Her tense muscles and veins hint at grief and despair.

Pointing to the future

This unorthodox compositional strategy – the gaps, reversals and displacements, nuanced, sublimated emotions, the disjointed and scattered nature of its participants – gives the painting its power.

But notice, too, the strange beauty of David’s rough stone floors, polished and incised wood surfaces and tensely folded fabrics, all heavy with the weight of loss and uncertainty of the future.

That uncertain future happened to be unfolding right around the display of the painting in Paris at the beginning of the French Revolution.

In this context, Brutus took on unexpected new meanings: virtue and sacrifice; the violence and courage needed to overthrow tyrannical kings and maintain liberty; vigilance, loyalty, treason and death.

Events granted the painting new momentum and relevance and emboldened its creator, catalysing his transition from court artist to political painter.

David became ever more involved in Revolutionary politics, designing Revolutionary festivals and dress, signing death warrants and creating its most enduring image, the Death of Marat.

Brutus resonates not just because it demonstrates how politically alive painting can be, but also because it bends the rules of composition. By doing so, it enabled new generations of experiment. It broke the mould and redefined what is possible.

It points not to a distant past, but to the future.

Read more:
Hidden women of history: Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, prodigiously talented painter

Mark Ledbury has received funding for his work on Eighteenth-Century art and theatre from the ARC, and his work at the Power Institute is funded by the John Power Bequest and by a number of Philanthropic Foundations.

– ref. Jacques-Louis David’s The Lictors Bringing to Brutus the Bodies of his Dead Sons is a gruesome and compelling painting – https://theconversation.com/jacques-louis-davids-the-lictors-bringing-to-brutus-the-bodies-of-his-dead-sons-is-a-gruesome-and-compelling-painting-186745

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nareen Young, Industry Professor, Jumbunna Institute of Education and Research, University of Technology Sydney

On the eve of the federal government’s jobs and skills summit, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers, union representatives, peak bodies and researchers gathered in Canberra this week to ask some critical questions.

Now we have a new government and a new policy environment, what do First Nations people want around work and work policy? And how do we ensure Indigenous-led policy is a feature of the mainstream employment landscape?

This symposium was hosted by the First Nations Employment Alliance (which includes the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, the ACTU, Reconciliation Australia, Kara Keys Consulting and PWC’s Indigenous Consulting). It aimed to

listen to mob and establish a work plan and strategy to explore the future of First Nations employment that is First Nations-led and implemented.

I attended the symposium as an organiser from Jumbunna and a researcher interested in workplace diversity and Indigenous experiences at work.

Hearing attendees talk about their experiences of work (paid and unpaid) was illuminating. It’s clear First Nations workers are everywhere, but labour market experiences can be very different to those of non-First Nations workers. Existing policy doesn’t always address those needs or relate to the experiences of First Nations workers.

Read more:
A law on workplace gender equality is under review. Here’s what needs to change

Regional jobs and the Community Development Program

One key reform area is the Community Development Program – introduced by the Abbott government – under which people who engage in “work-like activity” could be provided welfare benefits. The program is “a remote employment and community development service administered by the National Indigenous Australians Agency”.

The Australian government has already promised to replace this program with one developed in partnership with First Nations people.

“Work-like activity” is work. People who do this work should be paid proper wages, and be provided decent working conditions, superannuation and other rights at work. As outlined in one of seven goals developed by the symposium:

no community employment program should do work-like activities, unpaid or paid for long periods of time.

Creating a healthy regional jobs market has long been a wicked, intractable problem for governments and policymakers. But it is one the federal government must urgently address so Indigenous workers can find employment on Country and in their communities.

Redefining ‘work’

One crucial element of the regional jobs discussion is the need for a redefinition of “work”, to include community responsibilities, care and caring for land and Country (as outlined in another of the seven goals discussed at the symposium).

We know Indigenous people care for Country, and do enormous amounts of important community or caring work as part of cultural responsibilities. Redefining “work” to include these things would allow people to be paid for this work. These are jobs that need to be done and if they are not, broader society suffers.

Paying people for this work is not without precedent. See, for example, the way policy has been designed to ensure Indigenous rangers are paid for caring for Country work, to the great benefit of wider Australian society.

Policymakers could consider ways to expand such programs, and fund them properly.

Caring work done by Indigenous people as part of cultural responsibilities benefits wider Australia by easing pressure on the aged care and public health systems.

Redefining this as “work” could lead to people being paid for it, perhaps through an Indigenous-designed community development program run through the NDIS.

Read more:
10 ways employers can include Indigenous Australians

We have some data – but not enough

The Gari Yala report, which I co-authored, reveals many Indigenous people face workplace challenges that non-Indigenous workers do not.

Gari Yala, which means “speak the truth” in the Wiradjuri language, involved a survey of 1,033 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander workers. It found:

• 38% reported being treated unfairly because of their Indigenous background sometimes, often or all the time

• 44% reported hearing racial slurs sometimes, often or all the time

• 59% reported comments about the way they look or “should” look as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person

• only one in three had the workplace support required when they experienced racism.

If these experiences recorded by people in paid work are any indication, there are clear problems with the way the labour market is experienced by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers. Those in unpaid “work-like” jobs (via the Community Development Program) may also have had such experiences, or worse – but without high quality data on this question, we cannot say for sure.

The lack of proper data on First Nations workers – their numbers, pay, working conditions and experiences more generally – is a reccurring theme. The onus is on unions and governments to start collecting these data.

For example, we know anecdotally Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are concentrated in the health, education and care sector but we don’t have very good statistics on this. That makes it hard to identify what exact policy changes are needed.

The recent discussion about industry-wide bargaining could theoretically improve wages for Indigenous workers, but again we need to know more about where they are, their pay and working conditions. We must find the gaps so we can address them via Indigenous-designed policy.

First Nations workers are everywhere, working in mainstream employment, as your coworkers and staff. Australia needs industrial policy reflecting this fact, and Indigenous-led policy design to meet the needs of First Nations workers.

Nareen Young is a member of the NTEU and the ALP.

– ref. First Nations workers are everywhere. The jobs summit must tackle Indigenous-led employment policy too – https://theconversation.com/first-nations-workers-are-everywhere-the-jobs-summit-must-tackle-indigenous-led-employment-policy-too-189623

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paola Magni, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science, Murdoch University

A crime scene can present itself in any form and size.

In recent weeks, an Aotearoa New Zealand family who’d purchased abandoned goods from a storage locker made the harrowing discovery of two sets of human remains hidden inside two suitcases.

Sadly, this is not a unique case – bodies of murder victims are found in suitcases with astonishing regularity. But they present a particular challenge for police investigating the crime, which is where forensic science comes in.

Why suitcases?

Forensic case history and crime news are sadly full of bodies found in suitcases, bags, wheelie bins, car trunks, fridges and freezers. Examples of such finds include a suitcase in a busy Tokyo train station in 2015, a suitcase on a Seattle beach in 2020, and the 2019 case of human remains in a suitcase left on the side of a South Australian highway.

There’s a simple reason why suitcases are so common in these situations. While most crime movies depict bodies abandoned above ground or buried in clandestine shallow graves, in reality murder victims are more often concealed in items arranged at the last minute.

These are things that are easy to obtain, accessible, large enough to fit a body, and easy to transport (preferably with wheels). They may also hide the smell of decomposition for a time – useful for the criminal to find an alibi or disappear.

Forensic researchers call such places “limited access environments”, because they limit, delay or totally impede one of the natural steps that happen after death: the arrival of hordes of insects.

The job of scientists like forensic entomologists is to assist crime investigation, but also to develop research that makes this task less difficult.

Read more:
Forensic entomology: the time of death is everything

Insects are key

In a criminal investigation involving a decomposing body, forensic entomologists can use insects to help estimate the time since death, retrace the movements of criminals and victims, and identify the presence of drugs and foreign DNA.

Carrion insects – such as blue and green bottle blowflies, flesh flies, house flies and coffin flies – have highly specialised olfactory systems they use to detect the smell of decomposition.

If a cadaver is left undisturbed on the ground in a temperate environment, carrion insects will soon colonise it, attracted by the smells produced by the bacteria-mediated decay process. Within a few hours, the insects will lay eggs on the body’s orifices and wounds, and the tiny larvae hatched from them will start consuming the body.

But a suitcase physically limits access for the insects. And so far, forensic research on how insect involvement changes in such limited access environments has received little attention.

To date, only two pilot studies on decomposition process in suitcases have been completed, one in the United Kingdom and another by our team in Western Australia. Both studies show carrion insects are extremely resourceful when it comes to getting access to concealed bodies.

Read more:
Forensic science isn’t ‘reliable’ or ‘unreliable’ – it depends on the questions you’re trying to answer

Suitcases in the bush

Hidden in a patch of bushland in Western Australia, we are currently running the largest-ever experiment on decomposition process in suitcases and wheelie bins, with almost 70 samples.

This first-of-its-kind work will provide useful data to investigate similar cases around the world. Each suitcase and wheelie bin contains a stillborn piglet, simulating a dead body; controls are placed in the environment for comparison. We have placed instruments for recording temperature, humidity and amount of rain both in the field and inside the containers.

The experiment started in early winter 2022 and will end in the summer; the first data will be presented in the world’s largest forensic science conference in February 2023.

Despite an initial delay in insect access during the cold and rainy WA winter, within a month of placing the suitcases we have observed egg clusters of blowflies on and around the suitcase zippers.

As we opened the suitcases at set intervals, we found the larvae of blowflies, along with coffin flies and some beetles active in the remains. This means the offspring of large flies and beetles must reach the body through the teeth of the zipper. Meanwhile, smaller flies can cross through the zipper as adults, and lay their eggs directly on the decomposing remains.

Once larvae complete their life cycle and emerge as adult flies, none of them can escape the suitcase. These trapped insects represent a rich source of information, as we know the habits and growth rates of various species, and can find toxicology data preserved in their exoskeletons.

From this, a forensic entomology expert can infer the time or season of death, possible relocation of the body, and assist in the interpretation of the causes and circumstances of death.

The investigation of human remains in a suitcase can often represent a Pandora’s box, full of complicated problems. But with the help of a humble carrion-eating fly trapped within, we gain a treasure trove of vital information that can help us solve crimes.

Read more:
Identifying the dead after mass disasters is a crucial part of grieving. Here’s how forensic experts do it

Research ongoing is performed in collaboration with Miss Hannah Andrews and Prof. Ian Dadour.

– ref. When remains are found in a suitcase, forensics can learn a lot from the insects trapped within – https://theconversation.com/when-remains-are-found-in-a-suitcase-forensics-can-learn-a-lot-from-the-insects-trapped-within-189315

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paola Magni, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science, Murdoch University

A crime scene can present itself in any form and size.

In recent weeks, an Aotearoa New Zealand family who’d purchased abandoned goods from a storage locker made the harrowing discovery of two sets of human remains hidden inside two suitcases.

Sadly, this is not a unique case – bodies of murder victims are found in suitcases with astonishing regularity. But they present a particular challenge for police investigating the crime, which is where forensic science comes in.

A suitcase is a ‘practical’ option

Forensic case history and crime news are sadly full of bodies found in suitcases, bags, wheelie bins, car trunks, fridges and freezers. Examples of such finds include a suitcase in a busy Tokyo train station in 2015, a suitcase on a Seattle beach in 2020, and the 2019 case of human remains in a suitcase left on the side of a South Australian highway.

There’s a simple reason why suitcases are so common in these situations. While most crime movies depict bodies abandoned above ground or buried in clandestine shallow graves, in reality murder victims are more often concealed in items arranged at the last minute.

These are things that are easy to obtain, accessible, large enough to fit a body, and easy to transport (preferably with wheels). They may also hide the smell of decomposition for a time – useful for the criminal to find an alibi or disappear.

Forensic researchers call such places “limited access environments”, because they limit, delay or totally impede one of the natural steps that happen after death: the arrival of hordes of insects ready to consume the body.

The job of scientists like forensic entomologists is to assist crime investigation, but also to develop research that makes this task less difficult.

Read more:
Forensic entomology: the time of death is everything

Insects are key

In a criminal investigation involving a decomposing body, forensic entomologists can use insects to help estimate the time since death, retrace the movements of criminals and victims, and identify the presence of drugs and foreign DNA.

Carrion insects – such as blue and green bottle blowflies, flesh flies, house flies and coffin flies – have highly specialised olfactory systems they use to detect the smell of decomposition.

If a cadaver is left undisturbed on the ground in a temperate environment, carrion insects will soon colonise it, attracted by the smells produced by the bacteria-mediated decay process. Within a few hours, the insects will lay eggs on the body’s orifices and wounds, and the tiny larvae hatched from them will start consuming the body.

But a suitcase physically limits access for the insects. And so far, forensic research on how insect involvement changes in such limited access environments has received little attention.

To date, only two pilot studies on decomposition process in suitcases have been completed, one in the United Kingdom and another by our team in Western Australia. Both studies show carrion insects are extremely resourceful when it comes to getting access to concealed bodies.

Read more:
Forensic science isn’t ‘reliable’ or ‘unreliable’ – it depends on the questions you’re trying to answer

Suitcases in the bush

Hidden in a patch of bushland in Western Australia, we are currently running the largest-ever experiment on decomposition process in suitcases and wheelie bins, with almost 70 samples.

This first-of-its-kind work will provide useful data to investigate similar cases around the world. Each suitcase and wheelie bin contains a stillborn piglet, simulating a dead body; controls are placed in the environment for comparison. We have placed instruments for recording temperature, humidity and amount of rain both in the field and inside the containers.

The experiment started in early winter 2022 and will end in the summer; the first data will be presented in the world’s largest forensic science conference in February 2023.

Despite an initial delay in insect access during the cold and rainy WA winter, within a month of placing the suitcases we have observed egg clusters of blowflies on and around the suitcase zippers.

As we opened the suitcases at set intervals, we found the larvae of blowflies, along with coffin flies and some beetles active in the remains. This means the offspring of large flies and beetles must reach the body through the teeth of the zipper. Meanwhile, smaller flies can cross through the zipper as adults, and lay their eggs directly on the decomposing remains.

Once larvae complete their life cycle and emerge as adult flies, none of them can escape the suitcase. These trapped insects represent a rich source of information, as we know the habits and growth rates of various species, and can find toxicology data preserved in their exoskeletons.

From this, a forensic entomology expert can infer the time or season of death, possible relocation of the body, and assist in the interpretation of the causes and circumstances of death.

The investigation of human remains in a suitcase can often represent a Pandora’s box, full of complicated problems. But with the help of a humble carrion-eating fly trapped within, we gain a treasure trove of vital information that can help us solve crimes.

Read more:
Identifying the dead after mass disasters is a crucial part of grieving. Here’s how forensic experts do it

Research ongoing is performed in collaboration with Miss Hannah Andrews and Prof. Ian Dadour.

– ref. When a dead body is found in a suitcase, forensics can learn a lot from the insects trapped within – https://theconversation.com/when-a-dead-body-is-found-in-a-suitcase-forensics-can-learn-a-lot-from-the-insects-trapped-within-189315

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paula Ross, Sessional psychology lecturer, Australian Catholic University

It’s not uncommon these days to hear someone – such as an ex romantic partner or a politician – described as a “narcissist”.

Singer Robbie Williams recently told an interviewer he took an online test to see if he was one. He revealed the test suggested a “mild indication of narcissistic personality disorder”.

But what is narcissism, when is it a problem and can an online test really provide a reliable diagnosis?

A fixation on oneself

According to the Greek myth, a beautiful young man called Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. He stayed staring at it for the rest of his life. His name gave rise to the term “narcissism”, characterised by a fixation on oneself.

Narcissism is a cluster of traits along a range of severity. At one end of the spectrum, people may be confident, charming and well-adapted.

In the middle of the spectrum, people may be overly focused on seeking out status, success and admiration at work or in their social lives. They can have a need to appear perfect, special or superior to others in order to feel OK about themselves.

At the very extreme end, it may become a disorder in which people can be self-centred, grandiose and destructive.

Read more:
Narcissists: there’s more than one type – and our research reveals what makes each tick

What’s ‘narcissistic personality disorder’?

“Narcissistic personality disorder” is a mental health diagnosis given to people with extremely narcissistic traits. These traits have reached the point where they start to impact on the person’s ability to function at work or socially.

Narcissistic personality disorder is relatively rare. It is estimated around 1% of the population has a diagnosable form of the condition.

Men tend to be more narcissistic than women. There is no evidence that young people are more narcissistic than previous generations at the same age.

Their symptoms are described as “pervasive”, meaning they are obvious across all of a person’s activities, not just in specific situations. So, on the face of it, pop star Robbie William’s insistence his score on the quiz reflected only his narcissistic personality on stage is not quite accurate.

People with narcissistic personality disorder tend to overestimate their abilities and exaggerate their achievements. And they are surprised or angry when others don’t notice their accomplishments.

They need constant confirmation of their value, specialness or importance. They may have fantasies about power, success, having perfect lives or relationships, believing these are not only achievable but deserved.

Specialness by association

People with narcissistic personality disorder might talk a lot about how people in their lives are extra special in some way – such as being the very best at something or leaders in a particular field – because it increases their own sense of specialness by association.

When their status or superiority is challenged they can respond with extreme anger, rage or belittling the person and their opinion. They find it difficult to tolerate the thought they may be flawed or vulnerable in some way.

In relationships, they can have exceedingly high expectations of devotion from partners and friends, but may themselves be low in empathy and lack of awareness of others’ needs. They may be envious of and unable to celebrate the success of others, and respond by devaluing them.

They are often unaware of the impact of their behaviours on others.

Read more:
‘Impulsive psychopaths like crypto’: research shows how ‘dark’ personality traits affect Bitcoin enthusiasm

How is it diagnosed?

Diagnosis should only be made by a mental health professional. Trying to diagnose yourself or someone else with an online quiz may give you results that are misleading and unhelpful.

Narcissistic personality disorder is a cluster of symptoms on a continuum and many diagnoses share similar symptoms. For a proper diagnosis, a clinician needs to assess which cluster of symptoms is present, how far along the continuum they are, and which other diagnoses to exclude.

But a symptom checklist might help you work out whether you should consider seeing a mental health professional for further assessment or support.

Read more:
Before you judge personality tests, consider what they don’t judge

How do people get this way?

We don’t know exactly what causes narcissistic personality disorder.

There is probably a genetic component. Traits such as aggression, poor emotional regulation and low tolerance to distress tend to be high in people diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder.

Certain experiences in childhood are also more likely to lead to narcissistic personality disorder. These might be either particularly negative, such as trauma or rejection, or overly positive, such as excessive praise or being constantly told you have extraordinary abilities. Parenting styles that are either very neglectful or overly protective are also associated with the development of narcissism.

People with narcissistic personality disorder often have other mental health conditions, particularly mood disorders. They also have a high rate of suicide. These conditions may have a common cause or they may be a result of the difficulties people with narcissistic personality disorder have with social interactions.

Can it be treated?

Narcissistic personality disorder is a lifelong condition that is considered manageable but not curable. There is no standard medicine or psychological treatment for narcissistic personality disorder.

Psychological treatment aims to reduce the severity of symptoms, improve mood, manage impulses, and build communication and relationship skills. One of the main goals of therapy is to develop more realistic expectations of others.

Medicines that help with other mental health problems like anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder may also help reduce some symptoms.

People are more likely to seek help for another mental health condition, such as depression. Getting treatment for these conditions can also positively impact on personality disorder symptoms.

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

Paula Ross is a psychologist and consultant in the alcohol and other drug sector and has a private practice.

Nicole Lee works as a consultant in the health sector and a psychologist in private practice. She currently and has previously been awarded funding by Australian and state governments, NHMRC and other bodies for evaluation and research work.

– ref. Is narcissism a mental health problem? And can you really diagnose it online? – https://theconversation.com/is-narcissism-a-mental-health-problem-and-can-you-really-diagnose-it-online-188360

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Virginia Barbour, Director, Open Access Australasia, Queensland University of Technology

Last week, the United States announced an updated policy guidance on open access that will substantially expand public access to science not just in America, but worldwide.

As per the guidance, all US federal agencies must put in place policies and plans so anyone anywhere can immediately and freely access the peer-reviewed publications and data arising from research they fund.

The policies need to be in place by the end of 2025, according to President Biden’s White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

A substantial step

The new guidance builds on a previous memo issued by then president Barack Obama’s office in 2013. That one only applied to the largest funding agencies and, in a crucial difference, allowed for a 12-month delay or embargo for the publications to be available.

Now we’re seeing a substantial step forward in a lengthy effort – extending back to the beginning of this century – to open up access to the world’s research.

We can expect it to act as a catalyst for more policy changes globally. It’s also especially timely given UNESCO’s Open Science Recommendation adopted in 2021. The new OSTP guidance emphasises the primary intention is for the US public to have immediate access to research funded by their tax dollars.

But thanks to the conditions for opening up said research, people worldwide will benefit.

Read more:
Busting the top five myths about open access publishing

A discriminatory system

It might seem obvious that with our ubiquitous internet access, there should already be immediate open access to publicly funded research. But that isn’t the case for most published studies.

Changing the system has been challenging, not least because academic publishing is dominated by a small number of highly profitable and powerful publishers.

Open access matters for both the public and academics, as the fast-moving emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic amply demonstrated.

Even academics at well-funded universities can mostly only access journals their universities subscribe to – and no institution can afford to subscribe to everything published. Last year, estimates suggest some 2 million research articles were published. People outside a university – in a small company, a college, a GP practice, a newsroom, or citizen scientists – have to pay for access.

As the new guidance notes, this lack of public access leads to “discrimination and structural inequalities… [that] prevent some communities from reaping the rewards of the scientific and technological advancements”. Furthermore, lack of access leads to mistrust in research.

The accompanying OSTP memo highlights that future policies should support scientific and research integrity, with the aim of increasing public trust in science.

COVID-19 is not the first rapid global emergency, and it won’t be the last. For example, doctors not being able to access research on Ebola may have directly led to a 2015 outbreak in West Africa.

In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House led calls for publishers to make COVID-19 publications open to all. Most (but not all) did and that call led to one of the biggest databases of openly available papers ever assembled – the CORD-19 database.

But not all of those COVID-19 papers will be permanently openly available, since some publishers put conditions on their accessibility. With the current spread of monkeypox, we are potentially facing another global emergency. In August this year, the White House once again called for publishers to make relevant research open.

The OSTP guidance will finally mean that, at least for US federally funded research, the time of governments having to repeatedly call for publishers to make research open is over.

Read more:
Not just available, but also useful: we must keep pushing to improve open access to research

The situation in Australia

In Australia, we don’t yet have a national approach to open access. The two national research funders, the NHMRC and ARC, have policies in place similar to the 2013 US guidance of a 12-month embargo period. The NHMRC consulted last year on an immediate open access policy.

All Australian universities provide access to their research through their repositories, although that access varies depending on individual universities’ and publishers’ policies. Most recently, the Council of Australian University Librarians negotiated a number of consortial open access deals with publishers. Cathy Foley, Australia’s Chief Scientist, is also considering a national model for open access.

So what’s next? As expected, perhaps, some of the larger publishers are already making the case for more funding for them to support this policy. It will be important that this policy doesn’t lead to a financial bonanza for these already very profitable companies – nor a consolidation of their power.

Rather, it would be good to see financial support for innovation in publishing, and a recognition that we need a diversity of approaches to support an academic publishing system that works for the benefit of all.

Read more:
Making Australian research free for everyone to read sounds ideal. But the Chief Scientist’s open-access plan isn’t risk-free

Virginia Barbour is the Director Of Open Access Australasia, which advocates for Open Access in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

– ref. The US has ruled all taxpayer-funded research must be free to read. What’s the benefit of open access? – https://theconversation.com/the-us-has-ruled-all-taxpayer-funded-research-must-be-free-to-read-whats-the-benefit-of-open-access-189466

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carolyn Holbrook, Senior Lecturer in History, Deakin University

The solicitor-general’s recent finding that former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s furtive accrual of ministerial portfolios “fundamentally undermined” the principles of responsible government has drawn attention to the precarity of democracy. In seeking to safeguard our democracy, we must consider the extent to which Australians’ long-standing apathy about our democratic system allowed Morrison to treat it with such contempt.

Democracy is under threat around the world. Donald Trump’s autocratic populism and the attempted coup at the Capitol in January 2021 are familiar to Australians, but so-called “strongmen” have been white-anting democratic conventions in countries including the Philippines, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Venezuela and Brazil for the past two decades.

Democratic government is a compact between the people and the state. It relies on robust institutions and an engaged and informed citizenry that holds its elected representatives to account. Complacency and ignorance provide fertile ground for populists and autocrats to spread misinformation, undermine institutions and disregard democratic conventions.

Read more:
Morrison’s multiple portfolios: why the law has nothing to do with it

Australians have recently shown enough concern to reject Morrison’s secretive and misleading government even before the ministries scandal was revealed.

Yet, worryingly, there is plenty of evidence that Australians remain both apathetic and ignorant about their democracy and its institutional guardrails.

Civics education was reintroduced in Australian schools in 1997. Yet, the most recent review of the civics curriculum indicated only 38% of Year 10 students – the level at which the compulsory civic curriculum finishes – are proficient in civics and citizenship knowledge. Young people care passionately about issues such as gender equality and climate change, yet are ill-equipped to participate in Australian democracy.

The data about civics education sit within a wider context that is highly concerning. Faith in our democracy has been plummeting since the early 21st century.

The 2019 ANU Australian Election Study found that trust in government had reached its lowest level on record, with only one in four Australians saying they had confidence in their political leaders and institutions.

The Edelman Trust barometer indicated a spike in trust in democracy in Australia during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. That pattern has not been sustained. The 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer found trust in democracy among Australians had fallen six points since 2021, the second biggest decline behind Germany.

If we are to protect our democracy from bad-faith actors in the future, we need to restore faith in government and equip people with the skills to be vigilant custodians. This formidable task must begin with encouraging a sentimental attachment to Australian democracy.

Federation disappeared from view

Unlike Americans, whose precarious democracy is extravagantly mythologised, Australians are not inclined to celebrate their democratic achievement. This tendency can be traced to our national beginnings.

When the Commonwealth of Australia was created in 1901, Australians were more inclined to believe that nations were made in war rather than an act of the British parliament. Some, like the first Attorney-General Alfred Deakin, sought to establish a commemorative tradition on January 1. Deakin suggested the date be known as Commonwealth Day but found little support among his colleagues. The Federation poet George Essex Evans tried to muster pride in the fact that Australia was “Free-born of nations, Virgin white, Not won by blood nor ringed with steel”. But the sentiment of journalist and author A.G. Hales more accurately represented the view of the majority:

A nation is never a nation

Worthy of pride or place

Till the mothers have sent their firstborn

To look death on the field in the face […]

The peaceful achievement of a national democratic government at Federation simply disappeared from view.

Anzac became our founding myth

Australians manufactured a creation myth 14 years later, during the first world war. According to the Anzac legend, Australia was born on April 25 1915 when Australian and New Zealander soldiers stormed the cliffs at Gallipoli.

The popularity of the Anzac legend declined during the 1960s and 1970s but has undergone a massive resurgence since then. Bob Hawke’s “pilgrimage” to Gallipoli with a group of elderly veterans in 1990 began the pattern of prime ministers inserting themselves at the heart of Anzac commemoration.

Since 2012, governments have channelled more than A$1 billion of taxpayer money into Anzac commemoration. This spending bonanza includes $550 million on the centenary of the first world war – more than any other nation and possibly more than all other nations combined. Governments have also spent $100 million John Monash Centre at Villers-Bretonneux in France and the controversial $500 million renovation of the Australian War Memorial.

This extraordinary outlay of money would be more wisely spent by our political leaders on sponsoring a mythology of Australian democracy.

Why we need a mythology of Australian democracy

Australia has more than enough material with which to build a democratic legend. As the political scientist Judith Brett has written, the Australian colonies and the early Commonwealth were

a laboratory for new ideas about democracy, and new methods of achieving them.

The colonies pioneered government-provided ballot papers and provided separate voting booths, which allowed people to cast their votes in secret. Women were early to get the vote, though when the Commonwealth enfranchised women in 1902 it disenfranchised Indigenous women and men.

In 1911, Saturday voting was introduced, making it easier for working people to cast their ballots. Preferential voting was introduced in 1918 and compulsory voting in 1924. Along with our non-partisan, bureaucratically managed election campaigns, compulsory voting helps Australia ameliorate the polarisation and voter suppression that are eroding American democracy.

While the Anzac legend is rooted in Australia’s Anglo-Celtic heritage, a democratic legend has the potential to appeal more widely. The latest census results confirm the cultural diversity of our population: 27.6% of us were born overseas, and 48.7% have at least one parent born overseas.

In addition to those who feel no connection to the Anzac legend, some of us come from places where democratic mores are not culturally entrenched. We need to include all Australians in the democratic project.

A concerted public education program must reckon with the failures of Australian democracy. These are most glaring in the treatment of Indigenous Australians and non-white people. The United States stands as a cautionary tale of a nation whose democratic swagger does not match reality.

Creating a sense of civic custodianship will not only protect our democratic system. It is also essential to achieving major initiatives such as an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, a republic and the federation reform that is urgently needed. Only eight of 44 referendums have succeeded since Federation, because Australians who are uncertain or disengaged simply vote “No”.

Read more:
Changing the Australian Constitution is not easy. But we need to stop thinking it’s impossible

Humans protect what they value. Australians are not inclined to learn about their democracy because they feel little attachment to it. This sentimental deficit must be filled by a concerted effort by government to enthuse Australians about our democratic system.

Imagine if the Commonwealth showed the same commitment to fanning a mythology of Australian democracy as it has to propagandising the Anzac legend. A $1 billion campaign to mythologise the democracy sausage – that could work.

Carolyn Holbrook receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She volunteered for the independent candidate for Goldstein in the May 2022 federal election.

– ref. Democracies are fragile. Australians must act urgently to safeguard ours – https://theconversation.com/democracies-are-fragile-australians-must-act-urgently-to-safeguard-ours-188580

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roy Robins-Browne, Honorary Professorial Fellow, medical microbiology, The University of Melbourne

While much of our attention during the past few years has been focused on COVID, a more insidious and more dangerous pandemic has been spreading unabated. This pandemic concerns antimicrobial resistance, which is when bacteria evade the antibiotics we use to treat them. You’ve probably heard these bacteria called “superbugs” in the mainstream press.

A recently published study found that in 2019 around 5 million deaths were associated with antibiotic resistance, more than twice those due to COVID in 2020.

Read more:
We know _why_ bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, but _how_ does this actually happen?

The two main contributors to the emergence and persistence of antibiotic resistance are the ways antibiotics work and the ability of bacteria to combat them.

Bacteria are highly evolved lifeforms that have significant evolutionary advantages over us. One of these is their doubling time, which, for many of the common varieties of bacteria that infect us, is only 15 to 40 minutes.

In addition, bacteria grow exponentially, which means the time for one bacterium to become two, is the same as that for 100 million to become 200 million.

One consequence of this is if we kill 99.99% of bacteria, they can restore their numbers within a few hours. Importantly, some or all these bacteria may be resistant to the agent that originally killed most of their ancestors.

This process of bacterial survival is driven by evolution and the Darwinian principle of natural selection (survival of the fittest), which applies as much to microorganisms as it does to animals and plants.

How does antibiotic resistance come about?

Almost all current antibiotics work by killing microbes or inhibiting their replication. Bacteria acquire resistance to these antibiotics in two ways: mutation and horizontal gene transfer.

Mutations occur when cells replicate. Some random errors in the replication process may make bacteria better able to evade our treatments.

Horizontal gene transfer is the transfer of genes between bacteria. Most organisms only pass on genes vertically – that is from parent to offspring. But bacteria can exchange genes among themselves, including genes that enable them to resist antibiotics.

Another worrisome feature of current antibiotics is the fact they are indiscriminate. If you consume an antibiotic for an infection in your foot, it does not magically go to your foot alone, but is distributed throughout the body, affecting some of the “good” bacteria that live on and in us.

For this reason, many of the 100 trillion bacteria that live in each of us have become resistant to commonly used antibiotics. These “good” bacteria can then transfer resistance to their disease-causing companions.

Read more:
Five of the scariest antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the past five years

We need to change how antimicrobials work

In order to control antibiotic resistance we need to think about antimicrobial therapy in new ways. One of these ways is to tackle disease-causing bacteria selectively, without killing them.

This can work because most bacteria don’t need to cause disease in order to survive, and if our treatments aren’t designed to kill them, the selection for resistant mutants will be weak, and they can go on living, while causing us no harm.

This may sound fanciful, but it is already proving effective. For example, there are drugs for urinary tract infections, that do not kill the bacteria, but instead target the molecules the bacteria need to stick to the bladder wall. This means the bacteria can’t colonise our bladders and make us sick. But as we are not trying to kill them, they have no need to learn to evade our treatments.

Another approach is to target the genes bacteria require to cause disease, making them harmless without killing them.

An advantage of antimicrobials which target pathogens specifically is that they won’t affect the “good” bacteria some of which contribute to our resistance to infection.

One limitation of these types of treatment is they will need to be specific for each type of bacterium. This means it will take significant time and effort to develop treatments for the many different types of bacteria that infect us. However we know this can be done, since we already do it for viruses (anti-virals).

What has to happen now?

Until recently, major pharmaceutical companies responded to antibiotic resistance by developing new drugs to which bacteria were susceptible. Now, however, few such companies are showing interest in new agents. This is because it isn’t cost-effective to develop traditional, resistance-inducing antibiotics, which will become obsolete within a few years.

Read more:
Use them and lose them: finding alternatives to antibiotics to preserve their usefulness

As with climate change and other existential threats, antibiotic resistance will need to be tackled by governments in collaboration with scientists and industry.

There are other ways to combat bacterial resistance, including vaccines and ensuring antibiotics are used appropriately. But a coordinated effort comprising these strategies together with specially targeted anti-bacterial drugs, similar to those currently being used to treat viral infections, offers our best hope.

If we don’t act, we face an era resembling that before the advent of penicillin when a minor scratch could result in a fatal infection.

Roy Robins-Browne has received funding from The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, The Australian Research Council, the Bill and Melinda Gates Research Foundation, The US National Institutes of Health. He is affiliated with The University of Melbourne, The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, The Royal Children’s Hospital, The University of Maryland, The Australian Society for Microbiology.

– ref. We need to change how antibiotics target bugs if we want them to keep working – https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-change-how-antibiotics-target-bugs-if-we-want-them-to-keep-working-183135

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gill Armstrong, Senior Project Manager – Buildings, Climateworks Centre

Energy-efficiency standards for new homes in Australia are being upgraded for the first time in a decade. New homes will be required to improve minimum performance from 6 stars to 7 stars under the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS). Federal, state and territory building ministers agreed on the change last Friday.

The rating will also use a whole-of-home energy “budget”. This will allow homes to meet the new standard in different ways. The standard will come into force in May 2023, and all new homes will have to comply by October 2023.

On Monday, the NSW government also announced large commercial developments, as well as big state projects, will have to submit a “net-zero statement” to gain planning approval. The statement must show their buildings are either all-electric or can fully convert to renewable energy by 2035. In addition, new homes and renovations will have to reach a 7-star rating under the state’s Building Sustainability Index (BASIX). The current minimum is 5.5 stars.

These upgrades represent a step in the right direction, but much more remains to be done to future-proof Australian homes. Buildings account for about 20% of the nation’s emissions. Further upgrades to the National Construction Code (NCC) are needed before 2030 to achieve Australia’s climate targets.

Read more:
Better building standards are good for the climate, your health, and your wallet. Here’s what the National Construction Code could do better

We’re still short of zero-carbon buildings

Across Australia, more than 5.5 million houses are predicted to be built between 2023 and 2050. The upgraded construction code means they will perform better in climate extremes and emit less carbon.

So this long-overdue change is good news for households and the planet. It means new houses will use an average of 24.5% less energy to keep warm and cool. And new condensation provisions will help to control mould growth, a health problem for tightly sealed homes with poor ventilation.

The International Energy Agency recommends advanced economies such as Australia have a “zero-carbon-ready building code” in place by the end of the 2020s. This would ensure all new buildings in the 2030s will be zero or near-zero carbon.

Governments around the world have already moved in this direction, including the European Union and California. Australia is still well behind international best practice in design and construction.

Best-in-class energy efficiency, full electrification and renewable energy supply will be crucial to fully decarbonise the building sector. Further updates to the National Construction Code in 2025 and 2028 will need to ensure Australia implements a “zero-carbon-ready” building code by 2030. Only then can Australia deliver on its legislated climate targets and protect Australians from a warming climate and higher energy prices.

Cost arguments against further upgrades don’t stack up

Australia can’t wait another decade to upgrade building standards again. Arguments against higher standards tend to focus on the ticket price of new houses, but most homes are bought with mortgage loans and monthly repayments.

Higher standards would reduce energy consumption to near zero, providing a buffer against energy price spikes and increases. Low or negative energy bills (as a result of payments for exporting electricity) will largely offset the initial cost of building better-performing homes. Households will also be less vulnerable to wider climatic events such as heatwaves.

A cornerstone of the policy-making process is cost-benefit analysis undertaken by government. The analysis behind the NCC update failed to fully grasp the economic, social and environmental benefits of higher standards.

Cost-benefit guidelines, which are set by the Office of Best Practice Regulation, should be reviewed. Any analysis must properly reflect costs and benefits over the lifetime of a home, including the impacts of reduced energy and health bills on mortgage repayments. Ensuring further changes to the NCC accurately represent the full benefits will be critical to avoid another decade of stalled action.

Banks have already started to recognise the value of sustainable housing. Their lowest mortgage rates are for new green homes.

What about all the existing homes?

While ensuring all new buildings are built to zero-carbon standards after 2030 will be important, improving the quality and performance of the majority of Australia’s 10.9 million homes is equally if not more important. Existing building stocks are inadequate – most housing was built before energy performance standards existed.

Read more:
The other 99%: retrofitting is the key to putting more Australians into eco-homes

A major wave of retrofitting is needed to upgrade these homes. Deeper upgrades can be done during renovations to deliver improved performance, safe indoor temperatures and lower energy use and bills.

Existing Australian homes for the most part rate below 2 stars in energy performance. Their occupants experience extremes of temperature during summer and in winter in areas such as Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Tasmania.

Extreme hot and cold are harmful to human health. The impacts are greatest for people on low incomes and/or who rent.

We have many examples of how to cost-effectively retrofit housing. These changes can have significant impacts on household bills and health.

Retrofitting will be more resource-efficient than demolishing and rebuilding. It will also retain the architectural and heritage value of our cities and suburbs.

However, a number of measures will be required to retrofit housing on the scale needed. These include financial incentives from banks, government subsidies, minimum requirements at point of sale, minimum rental standards, education of landlords, etc.

Read more:
Keen to retrofit your home to lower its carbon footprint and save energy? Consider these 3 things

Net-zero code and retrofitting should be top of the agenda

Australian building ministers are due to meet again early next year. They must quickly turn their attention to ensuring the 2025 and 2028 upgrades pave the way to a zero-carbon-ready building code by 2030.

Governments should also work towards a national retrofit wave strategy that aims for a step change in the energy performance of existing homes. Essential elements of the strategy include the introduction of mandatory disclosure of home energy performance and the full electrification of Australian homes.

Without such changes, Australian housing and households risk being locked into poor-quality, under-performing and costly housing for decades.

Gill Armstrong is part of Climateworks Centre which receives funding from several philanthropic foundations, and project-specific financial support from a range of private and public entities. Gill is also part of a research project at University of Technology Sydney, which has received funding from City of Sydney for the STAR Toolkit research project

Alan Pears receives funding from RACE for 2030 CRC, Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity, Energy Efficiency Council and University of Melbourne. He is affiliated with Renew and several other community groups.

Margot Delafoulhouze is part of Climateworks Centre, which receives funding from several philanthropic foundations, and project-specific financial support from a range of private and public entities. Margot is a Board Director of Climate for Change, a not-for-profit organisation empowering individuals to act on climate.

Trivess Moore has received funding from various organisations including the Australian Research Council, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Victorian Government and various industry partners. He is a trustee of the Fuel Poverty Research Network.

– ref. 7-star housing is a step towards zero carbon – but there’s much more to do, starting with existing homes – https://theconversation.com/7-star-housing-is-a-step-towards-zero-carbon-but-theres-much-more-to-do-starting-with-existing-homes-189542

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Beryl Exley, Professor, Griffith Institute for Educational Research, Griffith University, Griffith University

Australia’s state and federal education ministers recently agreed to work on a plan to fix the country’s teacher shortage.

The plan is due in December and one of five priority areas is “strengthening initial teacher education”.

Initial teacher education is the university degree students undertake to become registered classroom teachers. Worried that too many students are not completing their teaching degrees, federal Education Minister Jason Clare has asked Sydney University vice-chancellor Professor Mark Scott to report back on the issue by the end of the year.

We draw on our experience as teacher educators and educational researchers to suggest four ways to help increase the pace and rate of students completing their teaching degrees.

But first: what is the problem?

It looks like there is no shortage of people wanting to be a teacher – at least to begin with.

Figures from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership show there is actually a modest increase in students signing up to initial teacher education courses. Between 2005 and 2019, numbers rose from 24,285 students to 28,694.

Even accounting for some natural attrition, these numbers are enough to sustain the teaching workforce. But the figures for program completion are significantly lower.

In 2005, 16,526 teachers graduated and in 2019 it was 16,644. We also know that while the number of students graduating from all fields of study at university increased by 40% from 2009 to 2019, the number of students graduating from teacher education declined by 5%.

Why might this be so?

1. Unreasonable testing demands

LANTITE is the national Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education. It’s a two-hour literacy test and a two-hour numeracy test, undertaken in formal exam-like conditions. All student teachers must pass both components in order to graduate.

There are logistical challenges with undertaking LANTITE. Opportunities to sit the test are limited to four testing windows a year, with in-person testing centres in a relatively small number of locations.

Read more:
‘It hurt my heart and my wallet’: the unnecessary test stressing teachers before they even make it to the classroom

This forces student teachers from regional and rural areas who prefer to attend a physical test centre to bear the extra effort associated with time away from home, including travel and accommodation costs.

The test is in addition to other university courses and costs A$196 per attempt. Research has found the test is not only highly stressful, but also expensive and not an accurate indicator of teacher quality.

It’s time to find more convenient and less costly ways to assess student teachers’ literacy and numeracy skills.

2. Costs of getting qualified

Student teachers must undertake uninterrupted blocks of professional experience in schools in each year of their degree. While this is a critical part of the degree, it comes at great personal cost.

The intensity of the professional placement, including full days in schools and time spent in the evenings gathering resources, planning lessons and marking students’ work, means student teachers can’t do other paid work.

It may mean they can’t earn an income for up to six weeks at a time. On top of this, there are also travel expenses to get to school each day. They may also need to buy stationery and resources to use in their lessons.

A guaranteed stipend that takes into account the real costs of undertaking a teaching placement is essential.

3. No guarantee of a permanent job

Despite the media talk about the teacher shortage, many student teachers are unable to secure permanent employment in their preferred subjects, especially in city areas. The greatest need for teachers, and the greatest opportunity for permanent employment, is in rural and remote areas. However, it is not possible for all graduates to relocate for work.

Many new teachers seeking a job close to home are forced to cobble together a series of part time or short-term contracts, across a range of schools, year levels and subjects. Teaching out of their field of expertise is not unusual.

This means student teachers face uncertainty around their careers and the links between their studies and job prospects. High-performing student teachers need to know at the outset that there will be fair and reasonable opportunities to get a secure job close to home in their areas of expertise.

4. Declining status

In March 2022, when he was acting federal education minister, Stuart Robert blamed
“dud public school teachers” for the decline of academic results of Australian students.

Read more:
No wonder no one wants to be a teacher: world-first study looks at 65,000 news articles about Australian teachers

Recent research that looked at media reporting on teachers in Australia for the past 25 years also found “teacher bashing” to be the norm. The media also made out that teachers’ work was simple, and easy.

This reporting devalues the profession and weighs heavily on students when they are considering their commitment to their teaching studies (which are already costly and don’t guarantee a job close to home and in their area of expertise).

We need to make sure student teachers know they are doing important and complex work and that it is valued by the schools and communities where they teach.

Beryl Exley is an AITSL Accreditation Panel Chair and interstate panellist.

Donna Pendergast is a Director of AITSL and Chair of the Queensland Council of Deans of Education.

– ref. Too many people drop out of teaching degrees – here are 4 ways to keep them studying – https://theconversation.com/too-many-people-drop-out-of-teaching-degrees-here-are-4-ways-to-keep-them-studying-189233

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darryl Gobbett, Visiting Fellow, South Australian Centre for Economic Studies, University of Adelaide

This article is part of The Conversation’s series looking at Labor’s jobs summit. Read the other articles in the series here.

With historically low unemployment and “we’re hiring” signs all over the place, there’s an understandable push for more skilled migrants. There’s a session on it at the jobs summit on Friday morning.

But there’s a quicker fix: an untapped source of hundreds of thousands of skilled workers, who are already in the country, many of whom would like to work but would be penalised for it.

Age pensioners who earn more than a minimal amount from paid work (A$490 a fortnight for singles) lose 50 cents out of every extra dollar they earn in reduced pension payments.

It’s a powerful disincentive. $490 a fortnight is $245 per week: that’s about nine hours’ income for a worker on the minimum wage with a casual loading.

Read more:
Forget more compulsory super: here are 5 ways to actually boost retirement incomes

Relaxing the income test – or at least the test on income from work – would have benefits beyond helping to meet our immediate need for skills and experience.

Longer term, it would reduce the need for bureaucrats to compile lists of skill shortages and attempt to pick migrants with the right skills to fill those gaps.

It would also ease the pressure that higher migration puts on the housing market, putting upward pressure on prices.

Given the jobs summit is looking for solutions with widespread support, unlocking retirees’ skills would be a good place to start.

Few pensioners work

The idea is backed by small and big business lobby groups, as well as National Seniors Australia and key federal independent MPs.

As of March 2021, about 2.5 million people were receiving the age pension. Only 92,000 – just 3.6% of them – declared earnings from employment.

There are three main ways we could make it easier for pensioners to work:

1. lift the income test threshold for how much can be earned from working

2. cut the income test when the threshold is reached

3. remove the income test entirely

The third option isn’t as radical as it seems. Several countries, including Britain and New Zealand, don’t apply an income test.

The simplest would be option 1, allowing age pensioners to earn (say) an additional $500 per fortnight, which would amount to $990 per fortnight, or $25,700 per annum.

Getting more into work needn’t cost much

Our calculations suggest giving age pensioners who are currently working these hours the full pension would cost less than $442 million per year.

This cost would amount to 0.8% of the $54,153 million budgeted to be paid as support to seniors in 2022/23.

If more pensioners worked more hours, the cost would climb to $1,664 million, which is 3.1% of this year’s budgeted support for seniors.

The benefits would be substantial.

Each one percentage point increase in workforce participation of those 65 years and older would boost the Australian labour force by around 43,000.

Hundreds of thousands more workers

As importantly, Australians aged 65 years and over are expected to be the fastest growing population group by 2030.

On current population projections, by then each one percentage point increase in labour force participation by this age group would amount to 54,000 people.

If the change boosted participation by several percentage points, it would produce hundreds of thousands more workers, all of them already locals and most already trained.

It looks to us to be an idea too good for the summit to pass up.

Read more:
Is education or immigration the answer to our skills shortage? We asked 50 economists

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

– ref. A fast fix for the jobs summit: let retirees work without docking their pension – https://theconversation.com/a-fast-fix-for-the-jobs-summit-let-retirees-work-without-docking-their-pension-188704

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Forsyth, Distinguished Professor of Workplace Law, RMIT University

This article is part of The Conversation’s series looking at Labor’s jobs summit. Read the other articles in the series here.

The trade union movement’s push to reform Australia’s enterprise bargaining system looks set to be a major issue at this week’s Jobs and Skills Summit.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions’ plan for sectoral or industry-level bargaining was outlined by secretary Sally McManus last week:

The way we’d see it working is that, where it makes sense to have multi-employer bargaining, both the workers’ representatives and the employers sit down and negotiate across their sector.

Innes Willox, chief executive of Australian Industry Group, labelled the proposal “seriously misguided” and a “throwback” to the 1960s. He warned it “would reduce opportunities for employers and employees to negotiate genuine improvements in productivity and work conditions that suit their workplace”.

But employer groups’ reactions have been far from unanimous.

The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia has agreed to work with the ACTU on industry bargaining reforms. The council’s chief executive, Alexi Boyd, said:

The current bargaining system was not built for us. It is not efficient and is too complicated. We welcome the opportunity to explore new flexible single- or multi-employer options that can be customised to our circumstances. The one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work.

What is industry bargaining?

Industry bargaining is a common approach to wage negotiations in most European countries. It involves representatives of workers and employers negotiating over the pay and conditions to apply across specific sectors of the economy.

New Zealand is in the midst of introducing a form of industry bargaining through its Fair Pay Agreements Bill, currently before the NZ parliament.

An industry-level approach to award wage negotiations also operated in Australia up to the early 1990s, before the Hawke-Keating government introduced enterprise bargaining (negotiating agreements by workplace).

Enterprise bargaining is broken

Hawke and Keating saw enterprise bargaining as the way to modernise the industrial relations system in line with their mission to make Australia globally competitive.

Thirty years on, though, it is not delivering for employers or workers.

Unions can be involved in enterprise bargaining where they are strong enough. However, in many workplaces there is no negotiation. The employer simply puts out its proposed agreement for a vote by the employees, then submits it to the industrial relations umpire (the Fair Work Commission) for approval.

It has become increasingly apparent over the past decade that enterprise bargaining is broken. In 2012, 27% of employees were covered by an enterprise agreement. By 2021 it was just 15%.

Read more:
There’s one big reason wages are stagnating: the enterprise bargaining system is broken, and in terminal decline

Fears of militant unions

A major concern of business advocates such as the Australian Industry Group is that industry bargaining – backed by the right to take industrial action – will further empower unions such as the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union to pursue “pattern bargaining” claims – by which a union secures gains from one employer and then demands the same from others.

There is indeed a risk that extending the right to bargain and strike across industries will add to the potency of some already powerful unions.

But this cannot be the perennial excuse for doing nothing to give greater leverage to hundreds of thousands of low-paid workers, doing the vital work that keeps our economy and society functioning.

The ACTU’s proposal will not be a return to the 1960s or ‘70s, when union membership was more than 50% of the workforce and there were regular strikes in support of wage demands.

In those days, unions were able to push for better pay and conditions through adjustments to awards, overseen by the industrial relations court, the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. Awards no longer serve that purpose, now being a “safety net” for workers on minimum wages.

Why care workers would benefit

Changing the Fair Work Act to enable industry bargaining would particularly benefit workers in industries such as child care, aged care and disability support.

These are highly feminised sectors where enterprise bargaining has not delivered for a variety of reasons – including the role of government funding in setting wages, and workers’ reluctance to take industrial action that is detrimental to their clients. This has led to care workers being stuck on award-level wages.

Read more:
Wages and women top Albanese’s IR agenda: the big question is how Labor keeps its promises

Industry bargaining would enable funding bodies to be brought into pay negotiations in these sectors.

It would also enable workers and unions to negotiate with other business entities beside direct employers that have influence over the wages ultimately paid to employees.

This is important given the use of franchising structures, labour hire arrangements and complex supply chains to obscure the employment relationship between the worker and the business employing their labour.

To take one example, a union representing cleaners and security guards working out of the same CBD building must currently make separate agreements with the different contracting firms that employ those workers.

In a system of multi-employer bargaining, the building owner or building services management company – which ultimately benefits from the workers’ labour and determines its price through the contracts it makes with the cleaning and security companies – would be brought into the equation.

In this way, industry or multi-employer bargaining would ensure a level playing field.

Businesses would not have to fear a competitive disadvantage from having to pay higher wages than rival businesses. Nor could they undercut each other by outsourcing to avoid higher wages and conditions in an agreement.

Anthony Forsyth is affiliated with the Centre for Future Work (Australia Institute) and the Migrant Workers Centre in Victoria. He has received funding from the Australian Research Council Linkage Program (industry partners: Australian Council of Trade Unions & The Union Education Foundation).

– ref. Why unions and small business want industry bargaining from the jobs summit – and big business doesn’t – https://theconversation.com/why-unions-and-small-business-want-industry-bargaining-from-the-jobs-summit-and-big-business-doesnt-189394

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helena Gjone, PhD candidate (creative writing), Griffith University

As an international student at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow in 2012, I remember studying Rekviem (requiem) by Russian poet Anna Ahkmatova, an elegy she penned in secret as a tribute to the countless victims of Stalin’s murderous purges.

Akhmatova’s writing revived the atrocities, delivering their darkness into the light.

Her words spoke of constant fear permeating lives; of distrust, anxiety and betrayal; of the secret police arriving to drag you or your family away.

To avoid detection and retribution, Ahkmatova whispered the poem to her friends who committed it to memory. She burned the incriminating scraps of paper.

In the first four-and-a-half months following Putin’s attack against Ukraine, over 13,000 anti-war protesters were detained in Russia.

Some estimates are that hundreds of thousands fled Russia in early 2022, among them thousands of artists who no longer felt safe in the climate of increasing censorship.

Some of these artists have found themselves in Kirkenes, a small Norwegian town 15 kilometres from the Russian border.

Russia’s protest art

Russian and Soviet artists have a long history of art as protest.

The poem Stalin’s Epigram (1933) authored by Osip Mandelstam depicted Stalin as a gleeful killer. Authorities imprisoned and tortured Mandelstam, then deported the poet to a remote village near the Ural Mountains.

After returning from exile, he persisted writing about Stalin until he was sent to a labour camp in Siberia, where he died in 1938 at the age of 47.

Under the comparatively liberal rule of Stalin’s successor Nikita Khrushchev from 1953, the Soviet Union began to enjoy previously unimagined freedoms.

Protest art reflected these newfound liberties, becoming increasingly provocative and experimental.

Many famous art movements surfaced during this period, including Sots Art — a fusion between Soviet and Pop Art — as Russian artists tested the boundaries, exposing the grim realities and unhappiness of life under Stalin’s regime.

In 1962, the legendary composer Shostakovich set his 13th symphony to a series of poems by his contemporary, Yevgeny Yevtushenko. One of these poems was Babi Yar, which criticised the Soviet government for concealing the massacre of 33,371 Jews in a mass grave outside Kyiv.

Read more:
Decoding the music masterpieces: Shostakovich’s Babi Yar

In contemporary Russia, Pussy Riot came to the attention of the world in 2012 when members stepped behind the altar in Moscow’s golden-domed Christ the Saviour Cathedral wearing neon-coloured balaclavas to deliver a “punk rock prayer”.

Their voices echoed off the cavernous, hand-painted ceilings, raging against Putin’s affiliation with the Orthodox church and the homophobic, anti-feminist policies that followed.

They were sentenced to two years imprisonment.

Today, pictures from Russia reveal anonymous anti-war graffiti on the sides of buildings, “no war” chiselled into a frozen river, and yellow and blue chrysanthemums and tulips left at the feet of Soviet war memorials.

Cross-border collaborations

Pikene på Broen (girls on the bridge) is an arts collective based in Kirkenes.

They have spent the past 25 years curating art projects to promote cross-cultural collaboration and tackle political problems in the borderland region.

Pikene på Broen is host to the the annual art festival Barents Spektakel (spectacle), an international artist residency including Russian, Norwegian and Finnish creatives, the gallery and project space Terminal B in Kirkenes town, and the debate series Transborder Café.

The venue has become a hub for open discussions relating to current political and cultural issues, drawing contributions from artists, musicians, writers, politicians and researchers.

Evgeny Goman, an independent theatre director from Murmansk, Russia – about 200 kilometres from Kirkenes – has been collaborating with Pikene på Broen for over 10 years.

After moving to Norway in early 2022, Pikene på Broen worked with Goman to organise Kvartirnik (from the word kvartira, meaning apartment), an online talk group for Russian and Norwegian artists to exchange ideas.

Following Putin’s attack on Ukraine, Kvartirnik shifted to an underground movement for dissident artists. Ironically, the name Kvartirnik derives from the clandestine concerts arranged in people’s apartments during the Soviet Era when musicians were banned from performing in public.

Party of the Dead is one of several Russian protest art groups who participated in Kvartirnik.

Pictures from the snow-decked Piskaryovskoye Cemetery in Saint Petersburg reveal members dressed as skeletons, holding placards reading: “are there not enough corpses?”.

I spoke with Goman about the art coming out of Kvartirnik today.

“In peaceful times, art is more about entertaining,” he says.

But in war and conflict, art is more important because it’s the language we use to express our pain. And through metaphors and symbolism, it allows us to speak about things that are censored.

Countering propaganda

Kvartirnik collaborators in Murmansk have also produced and distributed Samizdat (self-publishing), an anonymous newsletter containing art suppressed by the state.

“We have to be really smart now about how we do things in Russia,” Goman says. “Subtle.”

Goman is pessimistic about Russia’s future. But he believes the key to moving forward is keeping communication open. He tells me the West’s decision to ban Russian culture has backfired on their plan to pressure Putin into ending the war against Ukraine.

Instead, he says, the divide is steadily increasing, leaving dissident artists isolated inside a country operating on fear and propaganda, furthering Putin’s agenda.

“Putin wants us to not affect Russian minds. And that’s why we have to keep the dialogue going,” he says of the importance of cross-border collaborations like those he has undertaken in Kirkenes.

If we stop communicating, Putin wins. Propaganda wins.

Read more:
A former journalist recalls Ukraine’s 1991 vote for independence — and how its resilience endures

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

– ref. ‘If we stop communicating, Putin wins. Propaganda wins’: how a Norwegian organisation is supporting Russian protest art – https://theconversation.com/if-we-stop-communicating-putin-wins-propaganda-wins-how-a-norwegian-organisation-is-supporting-russian-protest-art-186911