Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) has announced it will expand its “crackdown” on the cosmetic surgery industry. As the agency responsible for registering, accrediting and disciplining health practitioners, AHPRA is well placed to reshape conduct in what sociologists once called the appearance industry.

It plans to develop stricter guidelines for non-surgical cosmetic procedures – especially advertising practices, consent procedures and pre-procedure suitability screening.

The regulator’s primary targets are health practitioners authorised to prescribe restricted drugs (schedule 4 medicines) to patients for aesthetic enhancement. The compounds are regulated differently across each state and territory, but they are generally restricted to medical and nursing practitioners or people directly supervised by them.

But how does the regulator propose to make aesthetic medicine safer for patients, and what problems might lie beyond its reach?

Safe and effective … in skilled hands

AHPRA’s statement sets out a range of treatments it hopes to make safer for patients. Among them is the most common cosmetic procedure in the world: botulinum toxin type A, commonly known as Botox.

Widely used to reduce wrinkles, Botox is also the most potent neurotoxin ever discovered and was first proposed as a chemical weapon. It’s also injected to treat eyelid spasms, excessive sweating, some bladder disorders and migraine.

Botox functions only at extremely low doses and has been approved for market supply since the early 2000s. Research demonstrates it is safe and effective for cosmetic purposes. But a comprehensive study from the United Kingdom found about 16% of patients reported adverse events including bruising, headache and paresis (muscle weakness or paralysis).

One critical aspect of its safety is the injector’s skill. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia recently updated its position statement on cosmetic injections, underlining the skills expected.

The other injectables to be reviewed – dermal fillers, such as the widely used hyaluronic acid and fat-dissolving agents like deoxycholic acid – present their own safety issues. The death of a patient given fillers in Sydney in 2017 drew attention to the risks of these treatments and the importance of oversight.

Read more:
COVID or COVID vaccination can cause dermal fillers to swell up

Body image: a hidden source of harm

As AHPRA acknowledges, a different kind of risk is presented by the connection between Botox and body image disorders. One recent study found recipients of Botox reported fewer body dysmorphic symptoms than a control group. Others have shown patients with histories of body image distress tend to express dissatisfaction with cosmetic procedures and their mental health may worsen after treatment.

But the prospect of a patient with body dysmorphia also raises important legal questions for the law of medical consent and the practitioner’s duty to warn a patient of relevant harms.

The Australian legal standard of medical consent, established in 1991, requires a practitioner to warn the patient of all “material” risks – those that the specific patient does or would consider significant – posed by the treatment or procedure. The same principle was adopted by the English courts in 2015.

For patients with mental health issues, a practitioner would usually identify the likelihood of increased mental distress as a material risk. Valid consent would therefore entail discussion of the psychological risks of treatment.

The review will also home in on the risks of “thread lifting”, where barbed absorbable sutures are threaded under the skin to pull it into a certain position, and intense pulsed light (IPL) treatments for scar resurfacing and hair removal.

Read more:
What’s the connection between cosmetic procedures and mental health?

Vulnerable patients and the media

Manipulative media environments can exacerbate patients’ vulnerability.

While some doctors may seek to capitalise on insecurity, other promotions might normalise interventions and understate the risks.

COVID lockdowns and the closure of clinics reportedly increased stress for patients seeking cosmetic procedures. Others expressed increased concern about their facial appearance due to the apparently unflattering light of teleconferencing.

A recent study of Tiktok videos tagged with #dermalfillers found most videos, many of which were promotions, lacked any reference to the risks of treatments.

AHPRA proposes to address these issues by reformulating the guidelines for advertising, introducing stricter rules to control “before and after” images, social media influencing and reinforcing the ban on testimonials for health services.

Read more:
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A long time coming

Almost exactly a year ago, AHPRA published an independent report into doctors who performed cosmetic surgery. The report followed widely reported cases of poor cosmetic surgery practices resulting in terrible patient outcomes.

As a result, the medical regulator created new advertising guidelines and a cosmetic surgery hub for complaints.

At the same time, an agreement was reached between Australia’s health ministers that the title “cosmetic surgeon” – virtually unregulated for 20 years – would become restricted. The amendment Bill is expected to pass and will mean no medical practitioner can call themselves a surgeon without meeting a new accreditation standard.

Yet GPs said the reforms had neglected non-surgical procedures.

Read more:
Doctors may soon get official ‘endorsements’ to practise cosmetic surgery – but will that protect patients?

Regulating modern cosmetics: it’s complicated

There are multiple centres of regulatory enforcement for cosmetic procedures.

While AHPRA and its national boards regulate health practitioners and the advertising of health services, other agencies co-regulate.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) reviews and approves all injectable products for market supply. While it has approved many products for cosmetic injection, the TGA identifies such interventions as serious medical procedures.

And while AHPRA deals with the advertising of health services, the TGA will prosecute some advertising breaches while Australian Consumer Law will control others.

Mind the gaps

Because AHPRA has no real authority to regulate the actions of those who are not health practitioners, the reforms are unlikely to affect those operating outside a medical setting, such as self-injectors or people who go to so-called “Botox parties”.

Still, state laws will make the unauthorised use of schedule 4 drugs an offence in each jurisdiction.

While it is too early to tell if the proposed reforms will improve patient outcomes dramatically, reforms like this play a critical role in setting standards and clarifying patient expectations.

Christopher Rudge has received research funding from the Commonwealth Medical Research Future Fund for a project about improving patients’ decision-making for stem cell therapies.

– ref. Botox and fillers to come under greater scrutiny by the medical regulator. Will it be too little too late? – https://theconversation.com/botox-and-fillers-to-come-under-greater-scrutiny-by-the-medical-regulator-will-it-be-too-little-too-late-212866

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Partlett, Associate Professor, The University of Melbourne

The “no” campaign’s primary argument in the current referendum debate focuses on the dangerous consequences of a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament.

This argument is relevant to the parliamentary debate about how a constitutional Voice to Parliament will be set up through legislation. But it has no bearing on the referendum debate.

This debate involves a different, moral question: do you support the idea of recognising First Australians in the Constitution by giving them a voice on matters that affect them?

What exactly is the ‘no’ campaign arguing?

Although the “no” campaign opposes a constitutionally enshrined Voice, some of its key leaders are not against the general idea of a Voice institution itself. Instead, many “no” campaigners, including Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, support legislated Voice institutions at the regional level.

The “no” side also does not oppose constitutional recognition for First Australians. Dutton has recently promised that if the Voice referendum fails, the Coalition would hold another referendum on First Nations constitutional recognition if it is returned to power.

The “no” side’s main argument, therefore, is a very specific one. It focuses on what it claims are the dangerous consequences of recognising First Australians by placing a Voice institution in the Australian Constitution.

Read more:
Why can’t we just establish the Voice to Parliament through legislation? A constitutional law expert explains

In its official campaign pamphlet, the “no” side claims that doing this will:

• be “legally risky” and lead to litigation

• “risk delay and dysfunction” in government

• be a “costly and bureaucratic” institution with “no issue beyond its scope”.

Finally, the “no” side claims the Albanese government has not put forth any details on how this Voice body would function, and it would be a “permanent” change that will open the door for “activists”.

The nature of constitutions

These concerns, however, fundamentally misunderstand how constitutions work.

Constitutions are not detailed documents that anticipate every possible circumstance. On the contrary, they are by nature short and incomplete documents. They inherently contain large gaps.

In Australia, the evolution of constitutional institutions has been primarily shaped by parliament through legislation.

Take the constitutional provision creating the High Court as an example. The Constitution contains very little detail on how the High Court operates. It does not even specify how many justices will be on the court. It merely says:

The High Court shall consist of a Chief Justice, and so many other Justices, not less than two, as the Parliament prescribes.

Indeed, it was left to parliament to establish the jurisdiction and powers of the High Court in the Judiciary Act in 1903. And since then, parliament has passed numerous amendments that continue to shape the operation of the court, ensuring it continues to develop in line with the needs of contemporary Australian society.

For instance, the court has increased in size from three to seven justices in order to handle its increasing case load, which many in the early 20th century thought would be very light.

The Voice to Parliament proposal

The proposed Voice body will operate in the same way. The proposal is typical of other clauses already in the Constitution – it contains little detail other than there “shall be a body” called the “Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islanders Voice” that will make “representations” to parliament.
Details on how the body is selected and how it will operate are explicitly left to parliament.

The final section of the proposed Voice provision states:

the parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.

If the October referendum vote is successful, it will be up to the current parliament to pass the foundational legislation setting up the Voice body. But this law will always be subject to change by subsequent parliaments. If there are problems with the way it functions, future parliaments can fix those issues through amending legislation (just as the functioning of the High Court has changed over time).

The proposed constitutional Voice will, therefore, operate in much the same way as a legislated Voice would. In the end, both would be controlled by parliament.

The various concerns of the “no” side are best suited to this legislative debate. For instance, it will be important to ensure the legislation creating the Voice does not lead to dysfunctional government or become a costly or ineffective bureaucracy.

But the “no” side’s concerns have no bearing on the constitutional question we all must answer in the referendum.

Read more:
The Voice to Parliament explained

A moral question

Instead, we face a clearer, moral question on October 14: do we support the idea of recognising First Australians in the Constitution by giving them a voice in matters that affect them?

In answering this question, it is worth considering the findings of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody from more than 30 years ago.

The commission linked the shocking number of First Australians dying in state custody to the historical fact that Aboriginal people have faced “deliberate and systematic disempowerment” for more than a century. It said:

Decisions were made about them and for them and imposed upon them.

Only First Nations empowerment, the report concluded, would overcome this disadvantage.

This empowerment process began with a series of First Nations regional dialogues that ultimately called for a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament in 2017. This empowerment is not real, however, until we heed this call.

William Partlett 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. No, the Voice proposal will not be ‘legally risky’. This misunderstands how constitutions work – https://theconversation.com/no-the-voice-proposal-will-not-be-legally-risky-this-misunderstands-how-constitutions-work-212696

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shasha Wang, Senior lecturer, Queensland University of Technology

If you spend much time online you’ve probably seen one of Temu’s colourful ads – punctuated by its catchy tagline: “shopping like a billionaire”.

Temu specialises in selling various everyday items, including clothing, toys and household goods, for extremely low prices. Shanghai-based company PDD Holdings launched the online marketplace late last year (initially in the United States) to cater to overseas customers.

Since then, Temu’s reach has skyrocketed. The total value of products sold went from US$3 million in September last year, to US$400 million in April. At the time of publishing this article, Temu was the most popular free iPhone app in the US, United Kingdom, Australia and Germany.

Why has Temu been such a massive success? It’s safe to say the platform has some winning strategies that keep consumers coming back. But beyond that, similar to other e-commerce platforms, using it isn’t entirely risk- or guilt-free. Here are some things to consider if you’re thinking of giving it a shot.

What are Temu’s secrets to success?

1. Value

Many Australians might associate “made in China” with cheap price tags and low quality. However, Temu’s consumers are beginning to view it as offering affordable products that do not necessarily compromise on quality. In some cases, 10-20 products will only set you back US$20-30.

Temu claims it can offer these prices as a result of cutting out the middlemen in the supply chain. While the manufacturers provide the product details and the products themselves, Temu handles everything else – from customs processing to international shipping. This streamlining helps reduce unit costs.

Nonetheless, achieving such value doesn’t come without a cost. Concerns are rising that Temu and its suppliers may be operating at a loss. However, it’s common for startups to experience negative cash flow in their initial years due to heavy marketing investments, including offers of competitive prices and marketing campaigns – all of which is done to build brand awareness and gain acceptance.

This is especially true in the fast-paced e-commerce sector, where success and failure happen swiftly. Temu and its suppliers, who are mainly from Temu’s sister e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, are likely aware of this dynamic.

2. An effective marketing strategy

Unlike other e-commerce platforms that focus on functional benefits such as saving money, Temu caters to consumers’ emotional needs. It overlays the shopping experience with the idea of “shopping like a billionaire” – which also aligns with its value-based strategy.

Temu entered the market at a time when consumers were grappling with global inflation, leading them to seek “value”. In the first month after its launch in the US, Temu invested some US$200 million in advertising and planned a US$2 billion budget for the year.

Given China’s leadership in live-streaming influencer marketing, Temu is now recruiting social media influencers, suggesting it might leverage its Chinese expertise to explore a social-commerce strategy. Social commerce harnesses a sense of “friendship” conveyed by influencers, making the online shopping experience more engaging and product recommendations more convincing. It also works especially well with sales promotions.

Sales promotion tactics

While Temu employs common sales tactics seen on other e-commerce platforms, it uses what is arguably the broadest array of these techniques. Here are just some examples:

• Gamified experiences. Gamified advertising hinges on two core elements: challenge and reward. Interacting with Temu’s spinning wheel is a minor challenge, but the substantial discount offered is a major reward. Such “games” create the illusion of getting lucky, and therefore generate positive emotions in consumers – while the reward gives them an incentive to engage more seriously with their browsing, increasing the likelihood of spending.

• Lightning deals and limited-time offers. One commonly used promotion tactic involves creating the illusion of scarcity through supposedly “exclusive” offers that are time-sensitive and won’t come by again. This can trigger a fear of missing out in consumers.

• Discounts and free shipping Offering simple price reductions and very affordable sales is a time-honoured way of securing a loyal customer base. In addition, Temu has the allure of offering free shipping on orders with a very low minimum spend.

• Loyalty program. Consumers can opt in to Temu’s marketing emails in exchange for receiving more promotional content, including email-only promotions. E-commerce companies often have access to your personal information (such as your name, address, age and phone number) and behavioural data (such as from your search history and online sessions). With this data, the company can build your user profile and target you with personalised promotions and content to encourage spending.

• Search engine marketing. Many consumers will see Temu ads at the top of their search results on Google (in the form of “sponsored” posts) when they search for a product.

• An AI-powered promotional strategy. Temu’s sister company operating in China, Pinduoduo, is renowned for its AI-driven recommendation system. It’s likely Temu uses similar AI algorithms, drawing on users’ browsing and purchase history to provide personalised recommendations (a practice Amazon also partakes in).

Defending against manipulation

Temu’s greatest benefit to consumers lies in its offer of value. It may still have lower-quality items, but this is common among all e-commerce platforms.

Also, Temu’s business model is built around emphasising top-selling products, which helps filter out low-quality products. Its 90-day free return policy further acts as a buffer for unsatisfactory purchases.

Nonetheless, Temu’s value-oriented approach may not be a good thing for consumers on all fronts. Exposed to such a wide array of marketing tactics, users might become more prone to overconsumption – which leads to environmental waste and post-purchase regret.

It’s worth considering your actual needs before using an e-commerce platform such as Temu. You should also familiarise yourself with the sales promotion tactics being used. Research suggests understanding these tactics, as well as advertisers’ intentions, can even empower young children to be sceptical and form a cognitive defence against them.

Also, in light of Temu’s gamified advertising strategy, consumers ought to temper their enthusiasm for rewards. Moving forward, one useful approach may be for schools and governments to introduce educational programs or social marketing campaigns that teach advertising tactics, and recommend coping strategies.

Temu didn’t respond to The Conversation’s request for comment.

Read more:
Blind bags: how toy makers are making a fortune with child gambling

Xiaoling Guo receives funding from Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.

Shasha Wang 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. New Chinese shopping app Temu is set to overtake Amazon. What makes it so addictive? – https://theconversation.com/new-chinese-shopping-app-temu-is-set-to-overtake-amazon-what-makes-it-so-addictive-212463

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Phoebe Holdenson Kimura, Lecturer and GP, University of Sydney

Heavy menstrual bleeding or heavy periods affect up to a quarter of women and people who menstruate, and can impact quality of life. Women who have had heavy periods for a long time often consider this normal, or something to be simply put up with.

Diagnosing heavy periods has traditionally been based on the nature of bleeding. Women might describe bleeding through clothing, having to change pads and tampons every two hours or sooner, or passing clots larger than a 50 cent coin. Doctors consider a woman to have heavy periods if she regularly loses more than 80 millilitres of blood during one menstrual period. That’s four Australian tablespoons’ worth. Women diagnosed with heavy bleeding should follow up with their doctor to establish the cause of their bleeding and guide treatment.

But estimating blood loss and getting a sense of when it’s outside the normal range can be difficult. Recent research on how best to manage menstrual blood could help.

Read more:
Heavy periods are common. What can you do, and when should you seek help?

More period options than ever

There are now a variety of menstrual products for women to choose from.

These include disposable pads and tampons, as well as reusable products such as menstrual cups and discs, washable pads and period underwear. There are multiple factors which influence choice of menstrual product, including comfort, cost, capacity, environmental benefits and potential health risks.

A 2022 French survey of over 1,100 women showed traditional sanitary protection was still the most widely used there (81% used disposable pads and 46% used tampons) but 16% of respondents were using alternative products. A recent study in Victoria indicated many young people are choosing reusable products, with environmental impacts an important motivator.

Another benefit of reusable menstrual cups and menstrual discs is they can remain in the vagina for up to 12 hours. A menstrual cup sits in the vagina below the cervix and extends into the canal. A menstrual disc, on the other hand, fits back into the vaginal fornix, which is where your vaginal canal meets your cervix. Discs are usually wider and shallower than cups and can be worn during sex. There are now reusable and disposable options for menstrual discs.

Read more:
Does anyone have a pad? TV is finally dismantling the period taboo

What holds the most blood?

There has been very limited research into the maximum capacity of different menstrual products. Manufacturers can report collection capacity of their products using liquids such as water.

A recent research study from the United States aimed to more accurately measure the capacity of menstrual products in the laboratory using expired donated human blood, which is more similar to menstrual blood.

Some 21 different menstrual products were tested in the study. Menstrual discs showed the greatest capacity (61ml on average) and period underwear held the least (2ml on average).

Tampons, pads, and menstrual cups held similar amounts of blood (approximately 20–50mL). The authors noted it is difficult to accurately approximate capacity for patients with heavy menstrual bleeding due to “flooding” (high-velocity flow) and passing clots.

The comparison shows period underwear, despite its advertised capacity, may actually only absorb a small amount of blood and very slowly. Women with heavy periods tend to use period underwear as “back up” for another method.

We need a standardised scale for menstrual bleeding

Currently, the ways to determine whether someone is having heavy menstrual bleeding is through asking detailed questions and using the Pictorial Blood Loss Assessment Chart, which relates to the saturation of menstrual pads and tampons.

The overall impact of the heaviness of menstrual bleeding on a woman’s quality of life is also important.

Even with pads and tampons, there is significant variability in terms of capacity. The introduction of newer products potentially introduces more confusion, with both users and clinicians uncertain about the storage capacity of each category of product, and specific brands within these categories.

With heavy menstrual bleeding often underdiagnosed and undertreated, clinicians need to ask specifically about the menstrual products used and how they are used to better understand a person’s bleeding patterns. The fresh US research could help women and their doctors better assess the heaviness of their periods.

Read more:
Health Check: are painful periods normal?

3 tips for managing heavy flow

• 1. Experiment with period products. It may be good to try out different types of products (and even different products in the same category) to find the ones that suit you best. The advertised capacity of each product may not ring true with your own experience, due to the nature of your flow (particularly if it is heavy or “gushes”).

• 2. Monitor the heaviness of your period. The capacity of different menstrual products varies widely. Menstrual discs have very high storage capacity in comparison to other products. That can actually lead to an underestimation of menstrual loss. Looking up the storage capacity of each product can help you work out whether you are having heavy periods or not, even though we know this may be based on liquids like water. This information can be found on the product website or the new study.

• 3. When to seek medical advice. If you think you might be having heavy periods, feel tired or dizzy during your period, or you feel your periods are interfering with your life, talk to your GP or other healthcare professional. It can help to track the heaviness of your periods and how often you are changing your period product and to bring this record to your appointment. Your GP can talk to you about treatment with medications (both hormonal and non-hormonal) and other management options.

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. How much period blood is ‘normal’? And which sanitary product holds the most blood? – https://theconversation.com/how-much-period-blood-is-normal-and-which-sanitary-product-holds-the-most-blood-211418

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Treena Clark, Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Indigenous Research Fellow, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people. This story also contains examples of outdated language

During the campaign for the 1967 First Nations referendum, which would go on to receive a 90.77% “yes” vote, the late human rights campaigner Faith Bandler believed fashion and clothing could play a key role in encouraging voters.

A South Sea Islander/Scottish Indian woman, Bandler played a lead role in the 1967 referendum campaign. She described wearing white day gloves when campaigning and speaking to non-Indigenous audiences:

I used to wear short white gloves. They were acceptable to the white community I came in contact with when I was campaigning for black women’s rights. I wore them from 1956 until the mid-1960s. During that period I only ever addressed white audiences. I only had to convince them.

The fashion during the 1967 referendum was conservative. Speakers such as Bandler featured subtle accessories and respectable clothing, occasionally accented by a badge that modestly communicated their message.

It is a far cry from the overt – and often casual – ways fashion is being used in the 2023 referendum campaign.

Read more:
Vale Faith Bandler: anti-racist intellectual and activist

Subtle style

First Nations women, and particularly older women were often the voice of the 1967 referendum, and appearances were important.

Campaigners emphasised respectability and etiquette by wearing structured and formal outfits. Older women wore their Sunday best: dresses with hats, skirts with jacket sets or casual pencil skirts with dressy turtlenecks, and small and subtle jewellery.

The older men wore suits, short-sleeved shirts (with or without structured jackets and slacks) and knitted vests.

In reflecting the changing times and optimism, younger men often wore smart and structured t-shirts with trousers.

Young women chose headbands over hats, knitted jumpers and sweaters over suit sets and large earrings over delicate adornment.

The iconic badges

In an iconic photo of the campaign efforts, Ngarrindjeri and Boandik campaigner Shirley Peisley wore a white dress with peter pan collar. Ever so subtly, a 1967 referendum badge is displayed on her lapel. With her hair perfectly coiffed, her only jewellery was a bracelet and wedding ring.

Badges were instrumental in the campaign. They were striking, temporary and expressed an articulate campaign.

Jackie Huggins (Bidjara and Birri Gubba Juru) remembers, as an 11-year-old, handing out badges to promote the campaign.

If I was asked to make one more toffee or lamington for a fundraising drive (or do the hula) or stand on another street corner handing out badges …

Badges have long been used for First Nations political and social statements. In the late 1800s, some First Nations people wore temperance badges as a pledge of abstinence from alcohol.

Returned & Services League and Mothers Mourners badges were significant for First Nations people who served or lost family members in war. These badges were a source of pride of service and mateship.

For the 1962 Commonwealth Electoral Act, which granted First Nations people the right to vote in Federal elections, tin badges declared “Our Vote = Our Future”. Other badges worn by the 1960s First Nations rights groups featured boomerang shapes and circular Aboriginal rights designs.

Unlike today, t-shirts were not a part of the 1967 referendum campaign. First Nations slogan t-shirts were first worn in the 1970s.

Read more:
‘Right wrongs, write Yes’: what was the 1967 referendum all about?

Referendum fashion today

Fashion is again playing a role in the 2023 referendum.

Today, clothes are brighter and more casual. Concepts of “etiquette” have almost entirely broken down.

First Nations designers and artists have shaped textiles and fashion over the decades. Youth and street styles, which often pair text with clothing and make cheeky or ironic gestures, are worn by many.

At a Blak Sovereign Movement press conference, Senator Lidia Thorpe (Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung) wore an outfit representing cultural pride. Her jacket, pants, and shoes represented the Aboriginal flag colours of black, yellow, and red. Her Treaty t-shirt and Aboriginal flag earrings were strong with symbolism.

Fellow “no” campaigner from the opposite end of the political spectrum, Senator Jacinta Yangapi Nampijinpa Price (Warlpiri/Celtic), chooses a t-shirt with the slogan “Vote No to the voice of division”, often with a conservative blazer.

Mutthi Mutthi and Wamba Wamba woman and Senator Jana Stewart wore a ball gown designed by First Nations label Clothing the Gaps to the Midwinter Ball.

The white silk dress featured the Uluru Statement from the Heart written in black and of different sizes and red embroidered yeses.

The “yes” campaign merchandise of t-shirts, jumpers and badges highlight bright or natural colours as a cheerful and optimistic response to the movement. These are being worn by official campaigners and casual voters alike.

The fashions of the 2023 referendum are very different from 1967. The act of protest incorporated in everyday street wear and evening dresses would have shocked the general public in the 1960s. It would have amazed people to see campaigners wearing outfits that overtly described the campaign movement.

Read more:
It was written for nuclear disarmament – but today You’re The Voice is the perfect song for the ‘yes’ campaign

Treena Clark has received funding through the University of Technology Sydney Chancellor’s Indigenous Research Fellowship scheme.

Peter McNeil 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. From badges to ball gowns: how fashion took centre-stage in the 1967 and 2023 referendums – https://theconversation.com/from-badges-to-ball-gowns-how-fashion-took-centre-stage-in-the-1967-and-2023-referendums-212693

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Niven Winchester, Professor of Economics, Auckland University of Technology

Despite New Zealand’s record loss to South Africa in August, All Blacks fans can take heart from statistical modelling that has them as favourites to win the 2023 Rugby World Cup (RWC).

According to Rugby Vision, a well-tested algorithm I developed to predict outcomes for major rugby competitions, New Zealand has a 33.5% chance of winning their fourth RWC title. The next most likely champions are South Africa (26.2%), followed by France (20.6%) and Ireland (11.9%).

Evaluation of the model’s predictions at previous RWCs indicate it is well calibrated. And while the system has some similarities with the official world rugby rankings, it is less sensitive to the outcome of any particular game.

The Rugby Vision model uses three key components: a rating system for international teams; estimation of expected outcomes for each RWC game using those ratings; and 10,000 simulations of the tournament to account for uncertainty around expected outcomes.

Global rugby rankings

The Rugby Vision rankings are a custom “points exchange” system based on past game results and home advantage (if applicable).

After each of those games, the team that performed better than expected will gain rating points, and the team that performed worse than expected will lose rating points.

These rankings and ratings points for the 20 teams that have qualified for the 2023 RWC are displayed below. New Zealand is the top ranked team, followed by South Africa, Ireland and France.

The same four teams make up the top four in the official rankings, but the seedings are different. Currently, the official world rankings have Ireland at the top, followed in order by South Africa, France and New Zealand.

Predicting game results

In the Rugby Vision rankings, differences between rating points for any two teams equal the predicted score margin for a game played at a neutral venue. Home advantage (if applicable) is worth 5.5 points.

This means that in the opening game of this year’s RWC – between France and New Zealand in Paris – New Zealand is expected to win by three points. This is based on the difference in the teams’ rating points (128 minus 119.5) plus 5.5 for the France home advantage.

This estimate means that if the game was played 100 times, New Zealand would win by three points on average. According to the model, in those hypothetical 100 matches, New Zealand would win 57 games, France would win 40, and three games would be drawn.

RWC simulations

World Cup teams are initially separated into four pools, with the top two teams in each pool qualifying for the quarterfinals.

In pool games, four competition points are awarded for a win, two points for a draw, and two types of bonus points are offered (one point can be earned for losing by seven or fewer points, and one point is awarded for scoring four or more tries).

Read more:
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Accordingly, the Rugby Vision framework includes a model that estimates the expected number of tries scored by each team in each game.

To account for uncertainty in game outcomes, the system simulates the RWC 10,000 times in accordance with tournament rules. For each of these simulated tournaments, the framework estimates game results and bonus points for each pool game, pool finishing positions, knockout matches, and the winner of each knockout game.

Estimated probabilities of each team reaching various stages of the 2023 RWC are shown below. These are influenced by team rating points (including home advantage for France), and the draw (which pool each team is in, and rules for allocating teams to knockout games).

Pool predictions and beyond

In Pool A, heavyweights New Zealand (98.9%) and France (97.9%) are highly likely to qualify for the quarterfinals. South Africa and Ireland are the likely quarter-finalists from Pool B, but there is a 26.3% chance Scotland will send one of those teams home early.

Pool C appears to be the most even group. Australia (87.2%) and Wales (68.3.2%) are the most likely teams to progress, but Fiji (37.3%) also has a reasonable chance of qualifying for the quarterfinals.

In Pool D, England and Argentina are favourites to make the quarterfinals, with Japan and Samoa possible spoilers.

After the initial round, Pool A teams will play opponents from Pool B in the quarterfinals. Because these are strong pools, semifinalist probabilities for these teams are relatively low.

For example, Ireland has an 81.2% chance of being a quarterfinalist but only a 33.1% probability of making the semifinals.

Teams in Pools B and C will have easier quarterfinal opponents. Consequently, despite relatively low rankings, England is the second most likely team to make the semifinals.

Read more:
More Pacific rugby league stars are opting to play for their homelands over Australia or NZ – that’s good for the game

Towards the final whistle

In the semifinals, teams from Pool A and/or B will play teams from Pool C and/or D. As teams from Pools A and B are heavily favoured to win those games, their finalist probabilities are only slightly lower than their semifinalist probabilities.

Conversely, Pool C and D teams with high semifinalist chances have relatively low finalist probabilities. For example, England has a 55.0% chance of playing in a semifinal but only a 9.7% chance of being a finalist.

The RWC draw makes it easier for Pool C and D teams to qualify for the semifinals, but these teams are all but guaranteed to play strong semifinal opponents. In short, the draw helps Pool C and D teams go deeper into the tournament, but does not increase their chances of winning.

Finally, while the Rugby Vision predictions provide a reliable forecast, upsets do happen – we just don’t know when. That’s what makes sport so interesting, after all.

Niven Winchester 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. Who will win the 2023 Rugby World Cup? This algorithm uses 10,000 simulations to rank the contenders – https://theconversation.com/who-will-win-the-2023-rugby-world-cup-this-algorithm-uses-10-000-simulations-to-rank-the-contenders-212598

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melissa Conley Tyler, Honorary Fellow, Asia Institute, The University of Melbourne

In Jakarta today, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will release Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, which sets a more active government role in promoting trade and investment links.

While Australia is using all elements of statecraft to build strong defence, diplomacy and development relationships with a crucial region, there’s a gap where economic activity should be. This strategy aims to redress that.

There is no doubt the Albanese government sees Southeast Asia as vital for Australia’s security and prosperity. From the Defence Strategic Review to the new International Development Policy, it’s clear partnerships with Australia’s northern neighbours are a key priority.

In general, Australian business hasn’t shared this view.

Despite its 687 million people and expanding middle class, Australia’s level of economic engagement with Southeast Asia has remained stubbornly low.

In a particularly damning statistic, Australia’s direct investment in New Zealand is more than in the whole of dynamic Southeast Asia. The region as a whole is forecast to average growth of 4% to 2040. This means it will become the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2040, after the United States, China and India.

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Authored by former Macquarie Group CEO Nicholas Moore, the strategy is the result of extensive consultation with more than 750 Australian and regional businesses about how to expand trade and investment in the region. There were also 200 formal submissions.

The strategy sets out 75 recommendations to help increase economic engagement through raising awareness, removing blockages, building capability and deepening investment.

Australian governments have actually been trying for a long time to get Australian businesses interested in Southeast Asia. There has been a trade agreement in place with ASEAN since 2010, which was recently upgraded. The government has also funded organisations such as Asialink Business to build companies’ Asia capability for a decade.

Most recently, there has been official support for a “China +1” trade strategy to diversify Australia’s economic links and reduce its reliance on a single trading partner.

In the end, of course, business will make its own decisions. And unfortunately, trends are not positive. In recent years, Australia’s investment in Southeast Asia has been going down rather than up, against global trends.

Given greater economic engagement is not happening naturally, the new strategy sets out a much more active role for government in helping companies diversify into Southeast Asia. It’s not only exhorting Australian businesses to do better, but sets out ways government can actively remove blockages and lessen risks.

For example, the strategy recommends making it easier to invest in Australia by reducing the regulatory burden under the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). In addition, it would establish a “single-door concierge service” to facilitate inward foreign investment. It suggests work on harmonising standards for goods and services, and on professional qualifications. And it sees a role for government in improving connectivity through promoting transport links and migration reform to make it easier for businesspeople to come to Australia.

The strategy sees a role for government in providing seed funding. For example, working with industry to fund a Southeast Asia research grants scheme and establishing a targeted program to support Australian First Nations businesses to increase trade and investment with the region.

In the important area of infrastructure – where Southeast Asia will require an estimated $3 trillion in investment to 2040 – it suggests Australia can play a role in early-stage project preparation. This means investors can come in once it’s ready, leveraging private capital with government capital. It also floats the idea of a political risk insurance scheme.

The hope is this will reduce the reluctance of Australian businesses ensconced in comfortable domestic markets to take risk and earn reward.

To give a sense of the untapped potential, currently only 250 exporters make up 90% of Australia’s merchandise exports to Southeast Asia. There is a lot of room for other companies to get involved.

So the strategy also sees a continuing role for government in raising awareness of the economic opportunities. It recommends a “whole-of-nation plan” to strengthen Southeast Asia literacy in Australian business, government, the education and training system, and the community.

The strategy focuses on ten key industry sectors: agriculture, resources, green energy transition, infrastructure, education and skills, tourism, healthcare, digital economy, professional services and creative industries. Recommendations are broken down by country and sector.

So should government be taking such an active approach to promoting trade and investment with Southeast Asia? From a national interest perspective, absolutely.

Australia will gain strategic benefits from stronger economic engagement with Southeast Asia. Imagine the change in relations if Australia became a key partner in the region’s green economy transition or in building much-needed infrastructure. This would transform the way the region and Australia view each other.

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Imagine it’s 2030 and Australia is a renewable energy superpower in Southeast Asia

In the short-term, it would make Australia more important to the region. And in the longer-term, it would help create a stable, prosperous and predictable region, which is clearly what Australia wants.

Given the national interest in greater trade and investment with important neighbours to our north, government is right to look hard at how it can be a catalyst.

We can hope the strategy introduces more businesses to the opportunities in the region, so trade and investment will no longer be the missing link in Australia’s vital relationships with Southeast Asia.

Melissa Conley Tyler is Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy & Defence Dialogue (AP4D), a platform for collaboration between the development, diplomacy and defence communities. It receives funding from the Australian Civil-Military Centre and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is hosted by the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID).

– ref. Albanese government launches new strategy for ties with Southeast Asia – and business is key – https://theconversation.com/albanese-government-launches-new-strategy-for-ties-with-southeast-asia-and-business-is-key-212846

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

Climate activists lined the road to this year’s Burning Man festival in Nevada to call out the “privileged mindset” of the Silicon Valley types who flock there – and the waste involved in creating a temporary city in the desert.

Only a couple of days later, disaster struck. Unprecedented rain – 20 mm in 24 hours – turned the desert into mud, trapping the 70,000 festival goers.

As you might expect, the internet went wild with schadenfreude. But there’s a deeper issue here. This is not the first – and won’t be the last – outdoor festival upended by unprecedented weather. It was only a month ago when the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea was crippled by intense heat and typhoons, forcing its abandonment. Last year’s Splendour in the Grass festival in northern New South Wales turned into a mudpit after unprecedented rains.

Outdoor festivals are a summer rite of passage for many. Warm weather makes them possible. But summer’s when we often see the wildest weather too. As climate change loads the dice, we’ll see more festival disruptions, more often.

Summer may no longer be the right time for festivals

The biggest music festivals are usually held in summer months: Glastonbury in the United Kingdom and Tomorrowland in Belgium are held in the northern hemisphere summer, in late June and late July respectively. America’s Coachella festival takes place in April, but it’s in a desert where daytime temperatures over 30℃ are the norm.

As the world heats up, summer may soon be too risky for festival organisers. Creating large festivals is expensive and logistically challenging. Wipeouts from extreme weather events pose major financial risks.

When we go to festivals, we leave behind our houses and easy access to water. Many people camp in tents with relatively little protection from the elements.

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During heatwaves, it’s particularly important to stay out of the heat and sun in the middle of the day and to stay hydrated. This isn’t always possible at festivals. Many of us underestimate the effect of heat on our bodies.

Extreme rainfall is very challenging for organisers. Managing tens of thousands of muddy, stuck people is hard – especially if it’s too difficult to bring supplies in. That’s why Burning Man organisers had to call on their attendees to conserve food and water.

If you have tens or even hundreds of thousands of people exposed to the heatwave or rainfall, it can pose a risk to their health. Evacuating large numbers of people is logistically very challenging.

As the climate changes, we can expect more frequent and more severe extreme weather. This will make the job of festival organiser much harder.

Organisation matters

Well-organised festivals are much safer. If organisers think ahead and put contingency plans and adequate infrastructure in place, the chaos from extreme weather events can be much better managed.

For instance, during the trouble-stricken Scout Jamboree in Korea, there were real concerns over the intense heat, given children are more vulnerable.

But the heat shouldn’t have been a surprise. The event was held at the height of summer – albeit in a year of record breaking heat. So organisers should have anticipated heat and put in place better strategies to manage extreme weather. A simpler solution might have been avoiding the middle of summer.

What are we likely to see in the future?

Extreme weather hitting festivals isn’t new. The legendary 1969 Woodstock festival in California was also a mud pit.

What is new is the increased frequency and intensity of these events. Climate scientists have warned of these effects for decades. Now they’re arriving.

As we heat the planet, we’re getting more frequent, intense and longer-lasting heatwaves across the world. We also know we’re seeing more and more intense short-duration downpours which cause flash flooding.

It stands to reason we can expect to see more upheaval and health concerns at outdoor festivals.

What can be done? Expect to see festival dates move to shoulder seasons rather than midsummer. Some locations may no longer be viable. Last year’s Burning Man sweltered, with temperatures of 40℃.

If festival organisers don’t want to move date or location, the minimum response they’ll need is to actively plan to manage extreme weather and ensure key infrastructure like water and toilets are able to cope with heat or floods.

If the world keeps pumping out greenhouse gas emissions at high rates, we could see some summer festival locations get much hotter – rising 4–8℃. That’s because land areas in summer are expected to heat up quicker than the global average. Those higher temperatures would make it impossible to safely host a festival.

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Climate change is transforming Australia’s cultural life – so why isn’t it mentioned in the new national cultural policy?

Andrew King receives funding from the National Environmental Science Program.

– ref. Not burning, drowning: why outdoor festivals like Burning Man are reeling from extreme weather – https://theconversation.com/not-burning-drowning-why-outdoor-festivals-like-burning-man-are-reeling-from-extreme-weather-212864

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

In most illegal tree removals, you might see perhaps a handful of trees removed or poisoned. That’s why the recent felling and poisoning of 265 old trees in Sydney’s Castle Cove has been so breathtaking and appalling.

This act – perpetrated by persons unknown – was not vandalism but theft of valuable community assets.

Future generations have been robbed of the benefits these trees – some of which were more than 80 years old – provided to our environment, the climate and as habitat for other plants and animals. It was theft on a grand scale.

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Tree loss will cost us as the climate changes

In contrast to Indigenous people, most Australians have undervalued large old trees for nearly two centuries. But many of the ecological and environmental benefits these trees provide increase as they age over decades and perhaps centuries. These benefits are crucial to urban liveability and sustainability.

A global movement is gaining momentum in urban forestry to preserve old trees for as long as we can to maximise the benefits they provide.

It is not about preservation at all cost, but a recognition that in a proper cost/benefit analysis, large old trees outperform younger trees. Unnecessary removal of large old trees is unsustainable both environmentally and economically.

This does not mean we should not replace dangerous trees or those that are rapidly declining.

It does mean, however, there should be no removal of large old trees without significant and demonstrably sound reasons.

Too many large, old, urban trees are being removed unnecessarily because other management options are not considered.

Whether via theft or bureaucratic-sanctioned tree removals, the general loss of old trees will cost us and our society dearly as the climate changes.

Old trees do things that young trees simply cannot

One of the significant benefits that trees provide over other vegetation types is that their leaf area is often more than double their canopy cover. This creates a great cooling effect via both shade and evapotranspiration (the movement of water into the atmosphere, some of which comes through leaves).

Large trees are unequalled in cooling the environment around them. Old trees simply do things on a scale that small young trees cannot.

This means a slow-growing old tree can take in and store more carbon than a quick-growing young seedling. Every gram of carbon stored in this way is carbon saved from going into the atmosphere as greenhouse gas emissions.

Both carbon stores and shade are crucial to mitigating future climate change.

All of this is lost when trees are illegally or unnecessarily removed. The impact is felt not just now but for decades into the future.

The loss of even a single tree comes at a huge price

The loss of so many trees in Sydney’s Castle Cove represents theft of environmental benefits and services from at least two, if not more, future generations of Australians. The trees lost were largely native coastal species that had decades (and in some cases more than a century) of growth before them.

We have known for many decades trees are often associated with between 30 and 50 other species – birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, fungi, algae and others. The removal of a tree affects most, if not all, of these other species. Some of these plants and animals will die as a result.

The number of associated species increases as the tree ages, and we have probably been underestimating species lost with large old tree removals in urban and natural forests.

Oaks in the UK, for example, are associated with over 2,300 other species. One can only wonder how many other species will be affected by the felling and poisoning of the trees at Castle Cove. The illegal loss of even a single tree comes at a huge price.

Simply planting new trees doesn’t fix the problem

We tend to undervalue the shade provided by trees when considering urban development, or even road works. But tree removals lead to more urban heat, which usually means higher electricity bills (as people crank up the air conditioner).

Large old trees are seen by some as an expendable nuisance. Some local council laws aim to protect trees of a certain size, but fines for illegal removals are small.

In some instances, a one-for-one tree replacement is offered. But to replace the carbon stored in one large, mature tree would require a vast number of seedlings, many of which fail to survive the first few years.

And it can take many years before planted trees reach carbon neutrality. The production, planting and maintenance processes all use resources, energy and fossil fuels, which means it can take decades before a tree is carbon positive.

This situation is unsustainable environmentally and ludicrous economically, but it seems to go largely unnoticed. We accrue all of the costs of these plantings and recoup precious little benefit.

It would be far more sensible and sustainable if we retained our large old trees, making every effort to maximise and prolong their life spans.

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

– ref. The illegal killing of 265 trees on Sydney’s North Shore is not just vandalism. It’s theft on a grand scale – https://theconversation.com/the-illegal-killing-of-265-trees-on-sydneys-north-shore-is-not-just-vandalism-its-theft-on-a-grand-scale-212844

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rico Merkert, Professor in Transport and Supply Chain Management and Deputy Director, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS), University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney

A turbulent two weeks for Qantas have today culminated in its group chief executive Alan Joyce fast-tracking his retirement by two months to help the organisation and its brand accelerate its renewal.

Joyce was on the way out in any case, and was paid a board-approved bonus worth more than A$10 million on Friday, to which were to be added short-term and long-term bonuses taking the total to $24 million.

What the early retirement will do is bring forward the arrival of chief executive-designate Vanessa Hudson to tomorrow, to enable her to drive a cultural change and a new strategy.

It is not unreasonable to assume she will say that what happened in the past is Joyce’s legacy and that under her leadership the airline will transform and essentially start with a clean sheet.

The new chief’s key challenges

Accelerating renewal of the fleet to improve its carbon impact is likely to be at the core of Hudson’s strategy. While the arrival of these “better for the environment” planes is expected to be expedited, the challenge for Hudson is to find the A$12 billion to A$20 billion that will enable Qantas to get to these greener and more sustainable pastures.

Taking greater care of the environment and the communities that Qantas serves, and having this as a key pillar of the renewed strategy and corporate communication, will be good for the airline. It will allow it to transform into an internationally and domestically competitive carrier, fit for the future in which climate change will become an even more pressing issue.

What many commentators are questioning is why Joyce was allowed to retire early. In fact, the board may have recommended he do so.

Regardless, this latest twist seems like an easy way out, as it saves him from fronting shareholders at the upcoming AGM, during which he would have had to respond to angry questions and account for the crisis Qantas is now in.

This will now be the board’s role and will include, among other things, fielding questions around the chief executive’s bonus (including the retirement package, which was going to be announced as part of the annual report presented to the AGM) and his performance. The ACCC allegations around selling tickets on cancelled flights, the pending court case related to COVID flight credits, the damage done to the brand and how to repair it will also be raised.

Did Qantas sway the government to block Qatar?

There will likely also be questions around Qantas’s role in lobbying the Australian government to reject Qatar’s application to essentially double its air traffic rights (three more daily flights to Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne).

This would have helped restore capacity – and thus drive down airfares – on the Europe-to-Australia sector, which is still 30% below COVID-19 levels. should this be “pre-pandemic levels”?

That, however, may be a question that should be directed at the government. Yesterday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese even felt the need to declare he had not been lobbied by Qantas on the Qatar Airways decision.

When I read this, I wondered, was someone at Qantas not doing their job? As applies to any ASX listed company and airline in the world, they have an entire department that does nothing else but lobby politicians. That is how the game works and is entirely accepted.

As outlined in my analysis published on The Conversation last week, bilateral air service negotiations are a government affair akin to trade agreement negotiations.

The Australian government will, on a regular basis, negotiate with the governments of Qatar, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and others on such matters, and airlines at both ends of the negotiating table will lobby their respective governments.

Read more:
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Based on what is in the best interests of the country, the government – in our case the Transport Minister Catherine King – then makes a determination. There is, therefore, opportunity for the government to revisit such decisions or come to a less restrictive determination in future rounds.

All of the above suggests there is huge potential for a fresh start and for building a better and more sustainable future for Australia’s largest airline, which will be beneficial to Australian travellers and the economy at large.

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What will putting the interests of Qantas ahead of Qatar Airways cost? $1 billion per year and a new wave of protectionism of legacy carriers

Rico Merkert receives funding from the ARC and various industry partners. He loves to work with and for airlines including Qantas and Virgin Australia

– ref. Will it be greener pastures for Qantas as Alan Joyce takes off? – https://theconversation.com/will-it-be-greener-pastures-for-qantas-as-alan-joyce-takes-off-212848

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

Surely Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe won’t move to a private bank after his term as governor ends next week.

After having chaired his last board meeting on Tuesday, there’s nothing to stop him, and – as shabby as it seems – he wouldn’t be the first.

There are three reasons why he shouldn’t join the board of or become chair of a private bank, all alluded to in the public service code of conduct.

One is concern that the former employee would reveal confidential Commonwealth information (which would be unlikely for someone as cluey as Lowe) or “provide other information that would give the new employer an advantage in its business dealings”, which would be more likely, even if unintentional.

Banks don’t seek out former Reserve Bank chiefs unless they think there’s something in it for them.

Another concern set out in the code of conduct is that the former employee would exploit their knowledge of the Commonwealth to lobby, or otherwise seek advantage for their new employer in dealing with the Commonwealth.

Banks such as Westpac, NAB, the ANZ and Macquarie Bank deal with the Reserve Bank all the time. It runs the payments system, it is responsible for the financial system, and it sets interest rates.

Every one of the four banks I just mentioned has employed either a former Reserve Bank Governor or Treasury Secretary.

Perceptions matter when a Governor moves on

Even where these high-profile hires don’t help the banks in their relations with the regulator, the public service code of conduct points to the “perception” that they will have a greater ability to influence regulators than other hires.

The third concern identified in the code of conduct – in my view the most important – has been labelled “ingratiation” by a public service specialist at the Australian National University, Richard Mulligan.

It’s the possibility that while still in the public service, the employee will use their position to go soft on an organisation (or type of organisation) they see as a potential future employer.

The Reserve Bank’s own code of conduct is silent on the question of taking up employment with the banks it regulates, although it does say that where there is a perception of conflict of interest, the employee has to discuss it with the relevant department head or governor.

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The government’s lobbying code of conduct in place since 2008 purports to ban heads of department from engaging in lobbying activities relating to any matter with which they have had official dealings for 12 months after they have left office.

But former governors needn’t lobby, and 12 months isn’t long to wait.

Philip Lowe’s predecessor, the man to whom he was deputy, Glenn Stevens, finished up as Reserve Bank Governor in September 2016 and joined the board of the Macquarie Bank and Macquarie Group in December 2017. He has been chair of the chair of Macquarie Bank and Macquarie Group since 2022.

Stevens’ predecessor as governor, Ian Macfarlane, finished as head of the Reserve Bank in September 2006 and joined the board of the ANZ bank in February 2007.

The governor he replaced, Bernie Fraser, finished at the Reserve Bank in September 1996 and joined the board of the industry funds that became Australian Super in the same year, becoming chair of the super-fund-owned ME Bank in 2000.

Ken Henry stepped down as head of the Australian Treasury (and a member of the Reserve Bank board) in April 2011 and in November that year joined the board of the National Australia Bank. In 2015 he was made its chair.

The man Henry replaced at the Treasury, Ted Evans, stepped down in April 2001 and joined the board of Westpac that year, becoming its chair in 2007.

I’ve dealt with each of these people while they were governors or treasury secretaries and I’ve never seen anything that made me doubt their integrity.

And yet in my view, none of them should have gone on to work for the type of organisations they used to regulate.

All of them were paid extraordinarily well. In 2021–22 Philip Lowe was on a package of $1.037 million including superannuation and a salary of $890,252.

None needed another high-paying job straight away, and (because of public service super) all had a generous income to look forward to in retirement.

I understand their need to continue to do interesting things, but I don’t think it’s too big a sacrifice to ask former regulators to do those things away from the types of organisations they had the privilege of regulating.

On retiring from the Reserve Bank in 1968, its first governor HC Coombs, chaired the Council for the Arts and the Council for Aboriginal Affairs. He made an ever-greater contribution to Australia without doing what the Japanese call amakudari, or “descending from heaven” to work for the organisations he once regulated.

A profile of the practice includes the admonition “don’t snicker”.

When Lowe took the governor’s job in 2016 I wrote a profile of him for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, speaking to former teachers and colleagues off the record. Repeatedly, unprompted, they mentioned his firm moral compass.

Lowe is about to turn 62. He has years of useful work ahead of him. I don’t expect him to descend from heaven to do it.

Peter Martin 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’s to stop Philip Lowe moving to a private bank after he leaves the RBA? It’s what his predecessors did – https://theconversation.com/whats-to-stop-philip-lowe-moving-to-a-private-bank-after-he-leaves-the-rba-its-what-his-predecessors-did-212780

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Robertson, ARC DECRA Fellow & Senior Lecturer in Construction Management, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne

The Olkola people from Queensland’s very remote Cape York Peninsula gained their land back through a native title claim in 2014. Since then, they have undertaken land management using traditional fire techniques, habitat protection and restoration and cultural tourism.

The Olkola are in the process of building a Cultural Knowledge Centre on their Country. The centre will support the Olkola people’s practices and showcase their culture to the world. During the Cultural Knowledge Centre design process, the Olkola identified the need to find, repatriate, document and share their cultural stories and archives.

In support of this vision, they formed the Traditional Owner-led project, Getting Back on Country. The project is led by the Olkola Aboriginal Corporation and the Olkola Rangers in collaboration with researchers at the University of Melbourne, including authors Hannah Robertson and Rochus Urban Hinkel.

In partnership with the researchers, the Olkola are using digital technologies including virtual reality and augmented reality to capture their cultural stories. These digitised stories, as well as Olkola artefacts, are to be kept and shared at the Cultural Knowledge Centre.

These digital technologies will also help to bring Country to Olkola Traditional Owners with dementia or disabilities who are unable to travel to Country.

Read more:
Rising seas and a great southern star: Aboriginal oral traditions stretch back more than 12,000 years

Nukakurra: a new way to visit Country

This is important work for Olkola people. Today we have a lot of people who can’t move, are in hospital or can’t get back on Country. We want to take Country back to them, so if they’re lying in a hospital bed, they’re lonely and nobody’s visiting, they’ve got something there that can take them back on Country and remind them where they came from. We believe this will be a healing medicine for people.

To realise this vision, we decided to create the Getting Back on Country Project. We began our collaboration by focusing on the Nukakurra Walking Trail as a pilot process for creating a digital cultural story.

Nukakurra is a cultural story place with a loop walk that passes several Olkola significant sites. Some of the sites in Nukakurra include the Blue Tongue Lizard dreaming site, an old Olkola campground and the Crocodile dreaming site. These dreaming sites are sacred to Olkola people because they are the creation places of these animal spirits which continue to walk across Olkola Country.

Author Melissa Iraheta and University of Melbourne researcher Mitch Ransome travelled to Olkola Country with the Olkola Rangers to document Nukakurra. Using 360-degree microphones and cameras, Lidar scanners (a laser used for determining distances between objects that can be used to create 3D landscapes), photogrammetry (which involves collecting overlapping images to build 2D or 3D models) and drones, they spent a week documenting the key sites.

Robertson and Uncle Mike Ross then travelled to Olkola Country with Olkola Elder Uncle Jack Lowdown and other senior elders to document the cultural story audio for Nukakurra in both English and Olkol using a 360-degree microphone.

This process highlighted the power of yarning and the connections between the sites of significance. Uncle Mike created a new story of a grandfather and grandmother walking the Country and passing the sites with their grandchildren and sharing their knowledge as they did – just as it would have happened in the old world prior to colonisation.

The process also highlighted the limitations of the technologies in the remote context, with cameras overheating and the 360-degree microphone struggling to capture audio while walking. Now we have these stories, the final stitching of the Nukakurra cultural story place experience is being developed as a 360-degree film experience.

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The importance of preserving story

The pilot digital experiences for the Nukakurra Olkola cultural story place are still in development. In May, three generations of Olkola people shared their experiences of working with the University of Melbourne on the Getting Back on Country and Olkola Cultural Knowledge Centre projects.

During this yarn, Olkola woman and project manager for the Olkola Aboriginal Corporation, Katherine Samuel, reflected on the data collection process:

[Uncle Mike] saying welcome [to Nukakurra] in English and Uncle Jack saying it in [Olkol] language and Mitch holding the 3D camera and collecting all that data, it was so much. And when they came up March this year, Grandad Mike put on the VR goggles, wow it was so cool. To be able to sit in the office and feel like you were there. It was really cool; we were able to collect data with multiple technologies.

There are hopes to continue to expand the collaboration with the Olkola in a larger project. We aim to encompass multiple cultural story sites and find and repatriate Olkola cultural archives. It is our hope this can provide a process for other traditional owner groups to explore and preserve their respective stories on their own Country.

We wish to acknowledge the contributions of all of the Olkola people involved in this project. In particular, we would like to acknowledge Olkola woman Katherine Samuel of the Olkola Aboriginal Corporation, Olkola elder Uncle Jack Lowdown and Mitch Ransome from the University of Melbourne for their contributions.

Hannah Robertson receives funding from the Australian Research Council for a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. She is affiliated with the University of Melbourne and Monash University. The Getting Back On Country project is funded with internal seed funding through the Melbourne Social Equity Institute, Chancellery and a Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning Seed Grant. The Cultural Knowledge Centre Project receives construction funding from the Queensland Government through the Growing Indigenous Tourism Queensland Fund and the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation’s Our Country, Our Future’ fund.

Melissa Iraheta is affiliated with the University of Melbourne, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning.

Rochus Hinkel has received funding for the Getting Back On Country project, from the Melbourne Social Equity Institute, Chancellery and from the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning.

Deb Symonds and Uncle Mike Ross do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Virtual reality is helping Olkola Traditional Owners get back on Country – https://theconversation.com/virtual-reality-is-helping-olkola-traditional-owners-get-back-on-country-211501

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sven Teske, Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney

This weekend, the world’s major economies will convene in Delhi for the G20 summit. On the table will be the common goal of limiting global temperature rise as climate chaos becomes ever more evident.

When we talk about limiting climate change, we’re really talking about the global carbon budget set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Basically, we have a two-thirds chance of holding global heating to 1.5℃ if we keep future emissions under 400 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide. At current emission rates, we’ve got just under five years left before we blow through that limit.

As our new research shows, getting to net zero isn’t going to be the same in each country. There are commonalities – halting new fossil fuel projects and funding renewables, storage and energy efficiency. But there will be significant differences in how manufacturing giants like China zero out emissions compared to India or Australia.

And then there’s the question of fairness. Some countries have emitted vastly more than others. If we divide up the remaining carbon budget while taking historic emissions into account, we find countries like America, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia have already gone past their fair carbon budgets.

Meanwhile, countries which have industrialised later like Mexico, China, Argentina, Turkey, India and Indonesia are sitting below their fair carbon budgets.

What’s new about this?

The G20 account for 80% of the world’s emissions. If each of these countries ended their reliance on fossil fuels and other emissions sources, we’d be most of the way to tackling the climate crisis.

We took into account how much each country has emitted historically, from industrialisation to 2019, and population size. Then we devised a per capita carbon index, which gives developing countries with little historic responsibility for climate change a fair distribution of carbon from 2020 to 2050. We did this to show how every country can make this energy transition in a timeframe realistic to their circumstances.

India: minimal historic impact but rising fast

The world’s most populous country has historically been a very low emitter, producing just 25% of China’s emissions from 1750–2019. But in recent decades, it has begun to emit more and its future emissions might rise substantially.

India has relied heavily on coal power, but its renewable sector is growing exceptionally fast. It’s now the fourth largest market for solar, biomass and wind power

Steelmaking is rapidly growing. If this industry relies on old coal technology, it will add to emissions and eat away at the global carbon budget. New build steel plants should turn to hydrogen or other green steelmaking techniques.

Power sector: not yet on track but positive trend

Industry: not on track.

Read more:
Africa has vast gas reserves – here’s how to stop them adding to climate change

China: giant of emissions, manufacturing – and renewables

China produces over 30% of the world’s emissions with 18% of its population, making it the world’s biggest.

The North Asian nation’s cement, steel, chemical and aluminium industries rely heavily on coal, producing 60% of the global energy-related emissions from each of these sectors – vastly more than America’s 10%.

Cleaning up its enormous industrial sector through green steelmaking and other new techniques will be actually be harder than getting off coal power.

On the positive side, China has emerged as the world’s leading nation in solar and wind energy deployment and manufacturing. It’s surging forward on electric cars and long-distance rail.

Power sector: decarbonising slowly, not yet on track

Industrial sector: well off track

America: gas, inefficient cars and a clean energy boom

The United States is the world’s largest single emitter of carbon emissions in the power sector, both historically as well as per capita.

Fossil gas plays a major role for power and heat generation, while America’s cars and trucks are the most inefficient in the world. The nation has just 4% of global population but its vehicles emit almost 25% of the world’s emissions from road transport.

The nation’s building sector accounts for 15% of all global emissions from buildings, due to large, inefficiently built houses and heating systems.

These sectors – power, transport and buildings – still need urgent attention. But, thankfully, America’s much-vaunted Inflation Reduction Act has triggered an enormous investment boom in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Power sector: well on track to be largely decarbonised by 2040

Transport and building sectors: not yet on track

Australia: rich in renewables – and gas and coal

Australia is one of the top five per capita emitters in the G20, both historically and today. Our relatively small population means we’re not one of the largest overall emitters.

Huge coal and gas reserves mean Australia has long profited from fossil fuel income. We’re the second largest coal exporter and one of the top liquefied natural gas exporters.

On the upside, Australia has some of the world’s best and largest solar and wind resources. We could play a leading role in the transition towards green steel and green hydrogen. At the rate things are going, we could decarbonise domestic energy supply in just over a decade.

Power sector: broadly on track

Transport sector: not yet on track

Fair is possible – and necessary

This weekend’s G20 summit gives an opportunity to build political momentum and formulate plans for concrete action among high-emitting countries.

An agreement to fairly split up the remaining carbon budget is unlikely, however, given debate over whether cutting carbon will damage economic development in developing countries at the recent G20 meeting of foreign ministers.

It might be hard. But it is possible. Many rich countries have already broken the link between GDP growth and energy demand. Developing countries can decarbonise while continuing to grow.

Read more:
COP27 roundup: how the world can stick to its carbon budget fairly

Sven Teske receives funding fromthe European Climate Foundation, 23 Rue de la Science, 1040 Brussels, Belgium (grant number 2101-61369).

– ref. Every country can make a difference – but carbon reductions need to be realistic and fair – https://theconversation.com/every-country-can-make-a-difference-but-carbon-reductions-need-to-be-realistic-and-fair-212375

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hazel Keedle, Senior Lecturer of Midwifery, Western Sydney University

Many women want a different kind of pregnancy and birth the next time around. Many want to see the same one or two midwives throughout, and want to choose where they give birth. And when the time comes, they want a vaginal birth, with less intervention.

This is what thousands of Australian women told us when we asked if they would do anything differently if they had another baby.

We publish our findings today in British Medical Journal Open.

Read more:
Curious Kids: why do babies cry when they come out of their mum?

What we did

In 2021, we undertook Australia’s largest national study of birth experiences. As part of that, we asked women, “Would you do anything different if you were to have another baby?”

A total of 6,101 women left comments. More than 85% of comments were from women who said they’d do things differently the next time around.

Several themes emerged.

Read more:
Monday’s medical myth: women forget the pain of childbirth

‘Next time I’ll be ready’

The largest group of comments (39.2%) were from women who wanted to avoid a repeat of their previous pregnancy and birth experience. They wanted to better advocate for themselves, get more informed about their choices, and avoid certain birth interventions.

For example, there were more than 500 comments from women who would try to avoid having their next labour started manually, known as an induction of labour.

A woman from Western Australia, who ended up having a caesarean, said:

I would 100% opt for no induction. I believe it’s the reason that led me to a c-section.

Australia has a high rate of induction, especially for women having their first babies (41% induced labour rate for women having their first baby). Women feel they are inadequately informed about the process of induction and not given a choice or alternative options.

We have also shown an induction of labour in Australia can lead to further medical interventions . High rates of medical intervention, such as induction, can lead to poorer maternal and neonatal outcomes when used excessively.

Read more:
Too many healthy women are having their labour induced for no identified medical reason, our study shows

‘I want a specific birth experience’

This was the second largest category (28.5% of comments). Here, most women said they wanted their next birth to be a vaginal birth (1,735 comments) and some would opt for a caesarean (438 comments).

Of the women wanting a vaginal birth, 1,021 comments related to wanting the next birth at home.

Read more:
Explainer: what are women’s options for giving birth?

‘I want a specific model of care’

Women also said they wanted to be better prepared by getting better support. This ranged from a more supportive partner, hiring a doula and choosing their care provider.

Some 17.8% of all comments, the next-largest group, identified a specific model of maternity care. Women wanted to access a more supportive model that would respect their choices and wishes.

Most women in this group wanted “midwifery continuity of care”. This is where women are cared for by one or two midwives throughout their pregnancy, labour and birth, and into the post-birth period.

A woman from Victoria, who told us she wanted continuity of care next time around, said:

It is very important to me that next time I have a care provider who I fully trust, who has a good understanding of my birth preferences and who I know will be a strong advocate for me and who will encourage, empower, support and believe in me and my ability to birth my baby.

Midwifery continuity of care is available now in many public hospitals and is commonly called midwifery group practice or caseload midwifery. Some women access this type of care through private midwives. These charge a fee (there are some Medicare rebates) and can support women to have births at home.

But access to midwifery continuity of care is still limited and booked out early, meaning many women miss out, especially if they live in regional or remote regions.

Read more:
Call the Midwife: playing catch up with Australia’s maternity care

‘I want better access’

This group of comments (2.9%) included ones from women in regional and remote parts of Australia.

They said they wished they had access to more local maternity services and equitable access to models that offer continuity of care and homebirth, such as private midwives.

A woman from a remote town in New South Wales said:

If I ever fell pregnant again. I would move to a bigger town. Obstetric care in the bush is very much lacking. Rural women like myself are lucky to even be alive after our experiences.

With many maternity units in rural and remote areas shutting down, women are forced to travel big distances and have fewer maternity care options than women who give birth in cities.

‘I don’t want to change anything’

Some 10.2% of comments were from women who didn’t want to change anything the next time around.

Of these, just under half (47%) were from women who received midwifery continuity of care.

This is significant as midwifery continuity of care only represent 15% of maternity models in Australia.

Why are birth experiences important?

We’ve shown that many women who reflect on their experience of pregnancy and birth wish they had made different decisions and wish they had a more positive experience to look back on.

A negative birth experience can lead to birth trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Some of this may be unavoidable, such as when emergency situations arise during the labour. But trauma can also be related to the way women are respected, informed and cared for.

Read more:
So your birth didn’t go according to plan? Don’t blame yourself

What happens next?

What women are asking for is humanised, evidence-based maternity care. So it’s time to act if we are to avoid the type of experiences highlighted during the current NSW Select Committee on Birth Trauma.

With evidence from more than 4,000 submissions, this reminds us we often fail women during one of the most vulnerable, yet potentially transforming experiences in their life. We hope women’s voices are finally heard.

Read more:
1 in 10 women report disrespectful or abusive care in childbirth

Hazel Keedle is affiliated with the Australian College of Midwives.

Daniella Susic is affiliated with UNSW Sydney, RANZCOG and MothersBabies. Funding for research has been received via RANZCOG.

Hannah Dahlen receives funding from NHMRC, ARC and MRFF. She is affiliated with the Australian College of Midwives

– ref. More than 6,000 women told us what they wanted for their next pregnancy and birth. Here’s what they said – https://theconversation.com/more-than-6-000-women-told-us-what-they-wanted-for-their-next-pregnancy-and-birth-heres-what-they-said-211435

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Carter, Adjunct Research Fellow, Griffith University

Inside our bodies at every moment, our cells are orchestrating a complex dance of atoms and molecules that uses energy to create, distribute and deploy the substances on which our lives depend.

And it’s not just in our bodies: all animals carry out this dance of metabolism, and it turns out none of them do it quite the same way.

In new research published in Science Advances, we analysed specific carbon atoms in amino acids – the building blocks of proteins – to discover distinctive fingerprints of the metabolism of different species.

These fingerprints reveal how different creatures meet the demands of survival, growth and reproduction – and offer a whole new way to understand metabolism in unprecedented detail.

A more detailed picture

We have developed a new way to study metabolism – the chemical processes inside your body that keep you alive and functioning – that reveals much more detail than previous methods. Our new technique looks at isotopes inside amino acids to see how metabolism is working.

Isotopes are versions of the same chemical element with different masses. For example, the most common kind of carbon is carbon-12, but there is also an isotope called carbon-13 that is a little heavier. We can measure the ratio of heavy to light isotopes in biological molecules such as proteins to learn about the organism that produced them.

Read more:
Explainer: what is an isotope?

Traditionally, scientists would analyse the overall isotope ratio of the entire protein. This can reveal some information, particularly about what kinds of things an animal eats, but it is like averaging out a complex TV image into a single pixel of light – you lose all the detailed information.

More recently, scientists have been able to measure isotopes in each of the 20 individual amino acids that make up proteins. This is like having 20 dots of light – better, but still not very nuanced.

Our new method goes even further, by measuring isotopes in a particular carbon atom on each amino acid. It’s like seeing every pixel in the TV image, which gives us amazingly detailed metabolic info.

Finding the right carbon

We used a chemical called ninhydrin to chop off and isolate the carbon atom we wanted from each amino acid. We then sent these carbon atoms – from a very metabolically active part of the amino acid called the carboxyl group – through a machine called a mass spectrometer to read their isotope fingerprints.

This research began more than a decade ago, and developed into a collaborative project between Griffith University and Queensland Health. In 2018, working with colleagues in Japan, we were able to demonstrate that we could indeed use nihydrin to isolate the carbon atoms we wanted from amino acids.

The next stage was to combine our nihydrin technique with a process called high-performance liquid chromatography, which can separate out different kinds of amino acids.

In 2019, we were able to report position-specific isotope analysis for several different mammals. We found we could distinguish a clear metabolic “fingerprint” of each mammal.

The four phases of metabolism

In our latest work, we tested a broader range of animals including oysters, scallops, prawns, squid and fish. We found the patterns of isotopes in the amino acids could be tracked back to the biochemistry of mitochondria, the tiny energy-providing powerhouses in the cells of all animals and plants, as well as many other organisms.

We identified four distinct phases of metabolism: creating fats, destroying fats, creating proteins, and destroying proteins. Animals combine these phases in distinct ways to accomplish growth and reproduction.

For example, adult mammals use fats as a pantry to regulate their temperature, whereas adult prawns cannibalise their own proteins to make the fats they need for reproduction.

Read more:
Why are bigger animals more energy-efficient? A new answer to a centuries-old biological puzzle

We also found that the humans we studied showed a very balanced, steady state metabolism, which is perhaps unsurprising given our generally stable and nutritious diets. Interestingly, this was quite similar to what we found in an oyster sample.

In this work, we studied individuals with generally normal metabolisms. Future applications might include studies of groups with abnormal metabolism such as cancer, obesity and starvation.

By peering deep into the isotopes of amino acids, we will be able to understand eukaryote metabolism like never before, in animals, plants and fungi.

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. Ever wonder how your body turns food into fuel? We tracked atoms to find out – https://theconversation.com/ever-wonder-how-your-body-turns-food-into-fuel-we-tracked-atoms-to-find-out-211047

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

Embattled Qantas boss Alan Joyce will quit immediately, bringing forward his retirement by two months.

A Qantas statement early Tuesday said the CEO had advised the board he was doing this “to help the company accelerate its renewal”.

Joyce has been under sustained attack over the airline’s poor service, high prices, and customers’ difficulty in retrieving flight credits. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has launched legal action against Qantas for continuing to sell tickets on flights already cancelled.

Last week Joyce was subjected to a ferocious grilling in the senate inquiry into the cost of living. Later in the week Qantas scrapped the expiry date for flight credits.

The spotlight on Qantas has intensified with the Albanese government’s refusal to let Qatar Airways have additional flights on the routes it requested – seen as a decision to protect Qantas, which lobbied against the extra flights. Several state Labor government have urged the decision be reversed.

Qantas CEO-designate Vanessa Hudson will assume the role of Managing Director and Group CEO on Wednesday.

Joyce said:

In the last few weeks, the focus on Qantas and events of the past make it clear to me that the company needs to move ahead with its renewal as a priority.
“The best thing I can do under these circumstances is to bring forward my retirement and hand over to Vanessa and the new management team now, knowing they will do an excellent job.

He said he left Qantas, where he has been chief executive for 15 years, with a lot to be proud of.

There have been many ups and downs, and there is clearly much work still to be done, especially to make sure we always deliver for our customers. But I leave knowing that the company is fundamentally strong and has a bright future.

Qantas Chairman Richard Goyder said: “Alan has always had the best interests of Qantas front and centre, and today shows that. On behalf of the Board, we sincerely thank him for his leadership through some enormous challenges and for thinking well-ahead on opportunities like ultra long-haul travel.”

Goyder said the transition came at “a challenging time” for the airline and for its people.

“We have an important job to do in restoring the public’s confidence in the kind of company we are, and that’s what the Board is focused on, and what the management under Vanessa’s leadership will do,” Goyder said.

On Friday Qantas notified the ASX that Joyce had been given a total of $10.8 million in shares under a COVID retention scheme and for long-term bonuses from 2020-22, which he had deferred.

Recently Joyce sold a large packet of Qantas shares.

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. Qantas chief Alan Joyce quits early, amid customer fury at the airline – https://theconversation.com/qantas-chief-alan-joyce-quits-early-amid-customer-fury-at-the-airline-212845

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah McLean, Lecturer in environmental health, Swinburne University of Technology

Our relationship with pets has changed drastically in recent decades. Pet ownership is at an all-time high, with a recent survey finding 69% of Australian households have at least one pet. We spend an estimated A$33 billion every year on caring for our fur babies.

While owning a pet is linked to numerous mental and physical health benefits, our pets can also harbour infectious diseases that can sometimes be passed on to us. For most people, the risk is low.

But some, such as pregnant people and those with weakened immune systems, are at greater risk of getting sick from animals. So, it’s important to know the risks and take necessary precautions to prevent infections.

Read more:
Health Check: what bugs can you catch from your pets?

What diseases can pets carry?

Infectious diseases that move from animals to humans are called zoonotic diseases or zoonoses. More than 70 pathogens of companion animals are known to be transmissible to people.

Sometimes, a pet that has a zoonotic pathogen may look sick. But often there may be no visible symptoms, making it easier for you to catch it, because you don’t suspect your pet of harbouring germs.

Zoonoses can be transmitted directly from pets to humans, such as through contact with saliva, bodily fluids and faeces, or indirectly, such as through contact with contaminated bedding, soil, food or water.

Studies suggest the prevalence of pet-associated zoonoses is low. However, the true number of infections is likely underestimated since many zoonoses are not “notifiable”, or may have multiple exposure pathways or generic symptoms.

Dogs and cats are major reservoirs of zoonotic infections (meaning the pathogens naturally live in their population) caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. In endemic regions in Africa and Asia, dogs are the main source of rabies which is transmitted through saliva.

Read more:
Explainer: the rabies virus

Dogs also commonly carry Capnocytophaga bacteria in their mouths and saliva, which can be transmitted to people through close contact or bites. The vast majority of people won’t get sick, but these bacteria can occasionally cause infections in people with weakened immune systems, resulting in severe illness and sometimes death. Just last week, such a death was reported in Western Australia.

Cat-associated zoonoses include a number of illnesses spread by the faecal-oral route, such as giardiasis, campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis and toxoplasmosis. This means it’s especially important to wash your hands or use gloves whenever handling your cat’s litter tray.

Cats can also sometimes transmit infections through bites and scratches, including the aptly named cat scratch disease, which is caused by the bacterium Bartonella henselae.

Both dogs and cats are also reservoirs for methicillin-resistant bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), with close contact with pets identified as an important risk factor for zoonotic transmission.

Read more:
Cats carry diseases that can be deadly to humans, and it’s costing Australia $6 billion every year

Birds, turtles and fish can also transmit disease

But it’s not just dogs and cats that can spread diseases to humans. Pet birds can occasionally transmit psittacosis, a bacterial infection which causes pneumonia. Contact with pet turtles has been linked to Salmonella infections in humans, particularly in young children. Even pet fish have been linked to a range of bacterial infections in humans, including vibriosis, mycobacteriosis and salmonellosis.

Close contact with animals – and some behaviours in particular – increase the risk of zoonotic transmission. A study from the Netherlands found half of owners allowed pets to lick their faces, and 18% allowed dogs to share their bed. (Sharing a bed increases the duration of exposure to pathogens carried by pets.) The same study found 45% of cat owners allowed their cat to jump onto the kitchen sink.

Kissing pets has also been linked to occasional zoonotic infections in pet owners. In one case, a woman in Japan developed meningitis due to Pasteurella multicoda infection, after regularly kissing her dog’s face. These bacteria are often found in the oral cavities of dogs and cats.

Young children are also more likely to engage in behaviours which increase their risk of getting sick from animal-borne diseases – such as putting their hands in their mouth after touching pets. Children are also less likely to wash their hands properly after handling pets.

Although anybody who comes into contact with a zoonotic pathogen via their pet can become sick, certain people are more likely to suffer from serious illness. These people include the young, old, pregnant and immunosuppressed.

For example, while most people infected with the toxoplasmosis parasite will experience only mild illness, it can be life-threatening or cause birth defects in foetuses.

What should I do if I’m worried about catching a disease from my pet?

There are a number of good hygiene and pet husbandry practices that can reduce your risk of becoming sick. These include:

• washing your hands after playing with your pet and after handling their bedding, toys, or cleaning up faeces
• not allowing your pets to lick your face or open wounds
• supervising young children when they are playing with pets and when washing their hands after playing with pets
• wearing gloves when changing litter trays or cleaning aquariums
• wetting bird cage surfaces when cleaning to minimise aerosols
• keeping pets out of the kitchen (especially cats who can jump onto food preparation surfaces)
• keeping up to date with preventative veterinary care, including vaccinations and worm and tick treatments
• seeking veterinary care if you think your pet is unwell.

It is especially important for those who are at a higher risk of illness to take precautions to reduce their exposure to zoonotic pathogens. And if you’re thinking about getting a pet, ask your vet which type of animal would best suit your personal circumstances.

Read more:
One in three people are infected with _Toxoplasma_ parasite – and the clue could be in our eyes

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

– ref. Is it okay to kiss your pet? The risk of animal-borne diseases is small, but real – https://theconversation.com/is-it-okay-to-kiss-your-pet-the-risk-of-animal-borne-diseases-is-small-but-real-210898

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Ritter, Professor & Specialist in Drug Policy, UNSW Sydney

The haze of cannabis is everywhere right now. Germany has recently become the latest country to move towards legalising recreational cannabis, following in the footsteps of Uruguay, Malta, Canada and parts of the United States. Even Thailand has begun distributing one million cannabis plants to households after dropping it from the official list of prohibited substances.

Australia has not been left out. In the last couple months, Legalise Cannabis Party members in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia have tabled bills to legalise recreational cannabis use.

And at a federal level, the Greens tabled a bill last month, which would provide for the registration of cannabis strains and the establishment of a national agency overseeing a new commercial cannabis industry.

Many policy experts both here and overseas, however, remain very worried about a for-profit industry – namely the potential for commercial interests to promote regular cannabis use.

Non-profit supply models offer an alternative, including allowing people to grow cannabis for their own personal consumption. But what do we know about home-growing cannabis in Australia?

Our research on cannabis growing in the ACT

The Australian Capital Territory is showing the way forward. In 2020, ACT passed a law to allow people to possess, use and grow cannabis. It is now legal to grow up to two cannabis plants per person (up to a maximum of four per household) for personal consumption.

We have been studying the experiences of these cannabis growers in the ACT. Our research provides important lessons for policymakers across the nation who are considering whether to allow home-growing as a legal source of cannabis supply.

We conducted in-depth interviews with 10 people who grow cannabis, exploring their growing techniques, what works well and what challenges they’ve faced.

We were struck by the diversity of the growers we met. Some were growing for medicinal purposes because it is cheaper and more accessible. Others grew for recreational consumption, while some did it for the love of gardening.

But our main takeaway was how difficult it is to get a home-growing cannabis policy right. In the ACT, there are odd bits of law and outdated drug-policy thinking that can make it difficult for home growers to get started, access the supplies they need and share gardening knowledge.

Challenges aplenty

People in Canberra are doing a lot of experimenting and finding their own ways of growing – this is a developing knowledge base that should be celebrated.
The people we interviewed are really interested in sharing their knowledge with others, but social barriers prevent many from doing so.

To date, there also aren’t any resources in Australia that aggregate data or the in-depth experiences of cannabis growers, like the kind available to gardeners of other plants. People can’t pop down to Bunnings for cannabis gardening advice. Gardening Australia hasn’t produced a feature on the preferred soil and nutritional needs of cannabis plants. And while there is online information, it mostly doesn’t address Australian growing conditions.

As one grower told us,

The climate is really tough in Canberra for the type of plant that cannabis is. It doesn’t do well over 30 degrees and it doesn’t do well under like 20-18 [degrees], maybe. And we’re like the extremes [here] – we’re freezing and boiling.

The greater obstacles, however, are legal in nature. For instance, the ACT cannabis law prohibits people from using “artificial” means to grow cannabis, such as hydroponics or artificial sources of light or heat.

This leaves cannabis growers in the difficult position of trying to manage the wintry Canberra climate without the heat lamps and other indoor growing aids they use for their capsicum and tomato plants. There are also no such prohibitions on artificial light or heat for officially sanctioned medicinal cannabis farms.

Read more:
More Australians back legalising cannabis and 57% support pill testing, national survey shows

When an outdoor cannabis plant does flourish, the law also insists on a maximum yield of 150 grams of cannabis. Our interviewees are able to grow quite large (and potent) plants outdoors. So, what are they supposed to do with their excess cannabis? As one grower said,

Are you allowed to like give it to a friend? […] I don’t know if you can bag it up and put it in the garbage bin […] like do you take it down to the green waste, do I take my bushes down there? I don’t know.

Another obstacle: buying seeds is not permitted under the ACT law, so the Commonwealth prohibition stands. For many, this means acquiring seeds illegally from overseas markets. We spoke to plenty of people whose plants were fertilised and ended up producing seeds, leaving them in a legal quandary.

One grower pointed out the contradiction:

I think it’s sort of a half-arse law to be honest […] you’re allowed to smoke it, you’re allowed to grow, but you are not really allowed to buy any of the seeds or anything to make it.

Allowing a legally operated cannabis seed bank in the ACT makes practical sense. It would address a need we heard from cannabis growers – the importance of knowing the type of cannabis plant they are growing and its active ingredients. This includes the amount of THC (the psychoactive ingredient that produces the high), compared to CBD (the ingredient that reduces inflammation, pain, seizures and anxiety).

For those growing for medicinal purposes, this information is critical for matching their crops to their particular needs.

Lastly, we found that growing your own cannabis at home also requires an environment that supports it. For those in rental accommodation or unstable housing, it is often not possible. Passing laws to allow for cannabis community gardens or other open growing areas would address this problem.

What other states can learn

With increasing moves towards cannabis legalisation, we are seeing a field of green across Australia, and the world.

ACT growers have a lot to offer other Australian jurisdictions about how policies can better support home cannabis gardeners. It’s important to learn from their experiences so states and territories can get their policies right.

Alison Ritter receives funding from the NHMRC, the ARC, state and federal governments, and non-government bodies.

Kari Lancaster receives funding from the ARC, state and federal governments, industry, and non-government bodies. She is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy.

Laura McLauchlan receives funding from the John Templeton Foundation and the Australian Research Council.

Matthew Kearnes receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is affiliated with the NSW Geographical Society.

Liz 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. As many states weigh legalising cannabis, here’s what they can learn from the struggles of growers in Canberra – https://theconversation.com/as-many-states-weigh-legalising-cannabis-heres-what-they-can-learn-from-the-struggles-of-growers-in-canberra-212009

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gillian Sandra Gould, Professor in Health Equity, Southern Cross University

The Australian government is cracking down on vaping. Recreational vapes of any type – whether they contain nicotine or not – will be banned from retail sale across Australia after legislation is introduced (though the date is yet to be set).

Rates of teen vaping have been rising rapidly in Australia, from 0.8% of 14- to 17-year-olds describing themselves as a current vaper over the past six months in 2018 to 14.5% in 2023. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 19.8% have been a current vaper over the past six months.

Teens mainly get vaping products from their friends, retail vaping stores or the internet. Once the government restricts the distribution of vaping products, many will suddenly lose access to supplies.

In anticipation of this loss, people may start stockpiling vapes. But at some stage, they will have a drastic reduction in their use of vaping.

The majority of e-cigarettes contain nicotine, even when they’re not labelled as such. Some vapes tested in Australia contained 900 milligrams of nicotine – the equivalent of the nicotine in almost 100 cigarettes.

So we can expect teenagers who vape will experience nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

Read more:
How bad is vaping and should it be banned?

What is nicotine dependence and withdrawal?

Nicotine dependence means a person is physically and psychologically addicted to nicotine. This produces a strong desire for, and difficulty controlling, nicotine use.

Young people are at greater risk of nicotine dependence than adults and can develop dependence faster.

Once nicotine-dependent, a person will experience withdrawal symptoms if they reduce or cease their use. These symptoms can include irritability, frustration, or anger; anxiety; difficulty concentrating; increased appetite; restlessness; depressed mood; and insomnia.

The Hooked on Nicotine Checklist is helpful for teens and their parents. It’s a ten-item checklist to assess dependence on smoking cigarettes or vaping, specially designed for adolescents. The higher the score, the less control your teen will have over their nicotine addiction.

Feeling a loss of control can begin after using vapes for only a short time. Some adolescents start showing signs of becoming dependent on nicotine within days of occasionally using it – before they are smoking or vaping daily.

I don’t even know if my teen vapes …

Nicotine exposure during adolescence can disrupt the brain’s normal development, impacting their mood, impulse control, memory and ability to focus and learn.

If your teen is unusually irritable or has an unexplained low mood, consider the possibility of nicotine withdrawal, particularly after vapes are no longer readily available. Many adolescents are vaping without the adults in the household being aware. Vapes can be hidden in plain sight, as they look like a highlighter pen or USB stick.

Initiating a conversation is sometimes easier when side-by-side, not face-to-face with a young person – for example, when walking together or if your teen is in the car with you. One way to bring the subject up is to ask whether any of their friends are vaping or if they’ve seen it at school. Then gradually move on to whether they have tried it themselves and their usage.

During the conversation listen out for hints that mean your teen could be a heavy user of vaping, such as:

• vaping alone, instead of only socially
• vaping within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning, or
• vaping through the night (this might mean keeping an e-cigarette under the pillow for night-time use).

Read more:
TikTok promotes vaping as a fun, safe and socially accepted pastime – and omits the harms

So how do I help my teen quit?

Once you know your teen is vaping, broach the subject of quitting with them in a non-judgemental way. Try questions like “have you ever tried having a break from them?” and “how did that feel?”

If they are willing to attempt quitting, or are already withdrawing due to reduced access to vaping products, let them know you are there to support them and help is available.

First try counselling and cold turkey

The Quitline or a GP can help with goal setting, such as setting a quit date, making a quit plan and identifying triggers for vaping and strategies to address them.

There are also online tools your teen may like, such as My Quit Buddy, an app that provides practical tips, progress charts and health information to help with quitting.

Nicotine replacement therapy

If counselling alone is not successful, nicotine replacement therapy may help.

Nicotine-replacement therapy is available in a fast-release form (used by mouth via a nicotine inhalator, spray, gum, or lozenges) or a slow-release patch. For someone quitting vaping, fast-release forms are likely to work best.

However, sometimes a teenager might need more than one nicotine-replacement product, called “combination therapy”. Combination therapy is better when the teen is highly dependant on nicotine and has strong and frequent urges to vape.

Be sure to follow the instructions for each product and encourage regular doses so withdrawal symptoms are controlled.

Eighteen year olds can buy nicotine-replacement products without a script at a supermarket or pharmacy. A pharmacist can advise on the correct use.

If your child is aged 12–17, it’s recommended they are first assessed by their GP, who can prescribe nicotine-replacement therapy. A script from a GP may allow access to a subsidised course through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth can get further help from their local Aboriginal health service, which can offer culturally safe support and may also have supplies of nicotine-replacement therapy.

When using nicotine replacement therapy, adherence is critical to successfully quitting. Use it for a minimum of eight weeks and preferably 12 weeks to avoid relapse.

GPs can also prescribe nicotine liquid (non-flavoured) for a refillable e-cigarette. But clinical guidelines recommend discouraging vaping because of their ongoing addictive nature because they’re a gateway for smoking tobacco.

Teens who vape are three times more likely to take up smoking. So addressing your teen’s vaping is an important preventative step for both smoking and vaping in future.

Read more:
How can I help my teen quit vaping?

Gillian Sandra Gould receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, Global Alliance for Chronic Disease, Cancer Australia, Cure Cancer Australia, NSW Health, RACGP Foundation, and the Dept. of Health and Aged Care.

Marilyn Clarke receives funding from Dept of Health and NHMRC for research projects involving smoking cessation and pregnant Aboriginal women.

Karen McFadyen 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. My teen is addicted to vaping. How can I help them quit and manage their withdrawal symptoms? – https://theconversation.com/my-teen-is-addicted-to-vaping-how-can-i-help-them-quit-and-manage-their-withdrawal-symptoms-208586

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amandine Schaeffer, Senior lecturer, UNSW Sydney

Most of us know what a heatwave feels like on land – sweltering heat for days. But oceans get heatwaves too. When water temperature goes over a seasonal threshold for five days or more, that’s a marine heatwave. They do their worst damage in summer, when the ocean is already at its warmest, but they can occur any time of year.

Over 90% of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases has gone into our oceans. So it’s no surprise marine heatwaves are getting much more intense and more frequent. This year has been off the charts. From April this year, the world’s average ocean temperature has been the highest ever recorded.

Since the 1980s, satellites have revolutionised ocean science by making it possible to take daily measurements of ocean temperatures. But satellites watch from above. They can’t see what’s happening below the surface.

Our new research explores what’s happening in deeper waters. It turns out, marine heatwaves aren’t just on the surface. In the most devastating marine heatwaves, heat can penetrate right down to the sea bed. Remarkably, some heatwaves only affect the seafloor.

Why do deep marine heatwaves matter?

While we usually only see sea creatures at the surface of the ocean, there’s life all the way down. In the shallower seafloors of the continental shelf – the sunken parts of our continents – live fish, kelp beds, sponges, cold water corals, shellfish and crustaceans.

These shallow oceans are, on average, less than 100 metres deep. When the shelf ends, there’s usually an abrupt slope into the deep ocean, where there are kilometres of water between surface and seabed.

Marine heatwaves are damaging to life in the seas covering the continental shelf. Creatures here are sensitive to extreme temperatures, just like those at the surface. But “extreme” to them is different to what we think of as extreme. If you’re used to water at 12℃, a heatwave of 15℃ can be devastating.

When marine heatwaves strike, they can kill. More than a billion sea creatures died during a single heatwave off the coast of the western United States and Canada in 2021. This year, extreme heatwaves have hit large parts of the oceans during the northern summer.

Fish and other creatures that can move do so, heading towards the poles or down deeper in search of cooler water. Those that can’t have to endure it or die. Heatwaves can trigger migration. New species arrive, seeking refuge and can alter the ecosystem.

Read more:
An ‘extreme’ heatwave has hit the seas around the UK and Ireland – here’s what’s going on

We don’t know much about deeper marine heatwaves

The seas covering the continental shelf are relatively shallow compared to the kilometres of water in the deep oceans. But even so, it’s impossible to see what’s going on below using satellites or high-frequency radar.

The sea is a hostile environment. Instruments are subject to high pressure, corrosive salt water and marine organisms like oysters and sponges settling on them. This is one reason why we only have very limited data on long-term trends in temperatures under the surface. But these records are vital to calculate typical temperatures for the time of year and to figure out what constitutes an extreme.

Australia is one of the few places generating this kind of valuable data long-term. Off the coast of the southeast lie many oceanographic moorings – a floating collection of sensors anchored to the bottom. One of these has been measuring daily temperatures from the surface to the seafloor 65 metres down since 1993.

Our earlier research found marine heatwaves at depth can actually be more intense and last longer compared to the surface. But why?

In our new research, we looked at the temperature data closely. We found marine heatwaves come in a variety of types and have different causes. We also found some types of marine heatwave are more likely during particular seasons.

For instance, winter marine heatwaves often run from surface to seafloor. They occur when the powerful, deep and warm East Australian Current snakes westward towards the coast. As the current swings over the continental slope, it drags warm water over the shelf and close to the coast.

In summer, Australia gets two very different types of heatwave in our oceans. The first occur when we get blue-sky weather. With few clouds, more heat from the sun gets into the oceans. They can also occur when there are weaker winds and less ocean cooling from evaporation. These heatwaves are confined to the surface and a few metres below.

Then there’s the second, a very weird heatwave system that only appears close to the seafloor. These are produced when strong wind creates currents driving warm, shallower water down to the bottom. On the east coast, these currents come from cold winds from the south. So even while you’re shivering through cold winds from the Southern Ocean, the ocean seafloor may be sweltering through a heatwave. These may be the most destructive to ecosystems but go all but unnoticed.

Marine heatwaves are not created equally

Our research has shown marine heatwaves come in different flavours. That matters, because it will allow us to get better at predicting if a heatwave is about to strike our oceans. And it will let us anticipate which parts of the water column are about to be hit, and which ecosystems.

Of course, slowing ocean warming and preventing marine heatwaves from damaging ecosystems means slashing carbon emissions. But while we work on that, this knowledge could give us time to find strategies to reduce the undersea death toll – and the damage to tourism and fishing which rely on these ecosystems surviving.

Read more:
Coral reefs: How climate change threatens the hidden diversity of marine ecosystems

Amandine Schaeffer receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Alex Sen Gupta receives funding from the Australian Research Council

Moninya Roughan receives funding from the Australian Research Council, and Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) – IMOS is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

– ref. Marine heatwaves don’t just hit coral reefs. They can cause chaos on the seafloor – https://theconversation.com/marine-heatwaves-dont-just-hit-coral-reefs-they-can-cause-chaos-on-the-seafloor-211902

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andy Sheppard, Research Director CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, CSIRO

Invasive alien species are driving biodiversity loss and extinctions in every country, all over the world.

Responding to the challenge, the United Nations is today releasing the first global assessment of invasive alien species and their control.

It comes from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which represents almost 140 member states.

Over four years, 86 expert authors from 49 countries gathered the latest scientific evidence and Indigenous and local knowledge on invasive alien species. The report draws on more than 13,000 references, including governmental reports. We were among the authors. Here are some of the key insights for Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Read more:
Invasive species are Australia’s number-one extinction threat

Hope in the face of increasing threats

In 2019, IPBES released a global biodiversity assessment that placed invasive alien species in the top five drivers of biodiversity loss – alongside changing land- and sea-use, over-exploitation of natural resources, climate change, and pollution.

This triggered further assessment to determine the current global state of biological invasions, the effectiveness of our existing responses, and recommended management and policy options.

The result, released today, is the most comprehensive overarching policy-relevant report on biological invasions to date.

It promises to help us meet our international obligations under the recently adopted UN Convention on Biological Diversity. In particular, one of the targets in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is to “eliminate, minimise, reduce and/or mitigate the impacts of invasive alien species on biodiversity and ecosystem services”.

The world faces increasing biosecurity threats, but effective management can prevent or lessen the extent of subsequent biological invasions. Ambitious progress can be achieved with an integrated approach.

The experience in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand

Australia already has close to 3,000 introduced alien species. Aotearoa New Zealand has almost 900.

Globally, we observe around 200 new alien species every year, and many of these species (>10%) have negative impacts, including threats to native species, the health of natural vegetation, or the way ecosystems work.

Australian examples include foxes, red imported fire ants and gamba grass.

Aotearoa New Zealand suffers from invasive Australian possums. And the Māori cultural icon the Kauri tree is under siege from a deadly dieback disease.

The assessment reveals that invasive alien species have contributed to 60% of global extinctions, and have been the sole driver of 16% of recorded extinctions.

Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand have among the highest modern global native species extinction rates. Australia is the worst in the world for mammals, while Aotearoa New Zealand has experienced tragic loss in endemic birds, largely due to invasive species.

The economies of both countries rely heavily on agriculture, trade and eco-tourism. These sectors are highly susceptible to threats from invasive alien species. The cost to Australia is A$24.5 billion a year out of an estimated global cost of $654 billion (US$423 billion a year).

The cost of biological invasions is quadrupling every decade, but stringent biosecurity policies and practices can protect our environment and economies. They also safeguard our wellbeing and cultural and social livelihoods.

Continued cooperation and investment across our region is paramount to preventing future impacts from increasing threats. These include foot and mouth disease and avian influenza.

At the same time, already established invasive alien species can supercharge environmental disasters. For example, the wildfire-promoting properties of introduced African pasture grasses exacerbated bushfires in Hawaii this year.

Read more:
New exposé of Australia’s exotic pet trade shows an alarming proliferation of alien, threatened and illegal species

Coordinate, consult and prioritise

An effective biosecurity system can mitigate the threats from invasive species. But to do so, we’ll need coherent policy across primary production and logistic sectors, better education and greater public awareness.

We need to coordinate and prioritise our efforts, from offshore ports to border control and quarantine, through to eradication or containment of any new pests and weeds.

Government-industry partnerships are leading to trusted “green-lane” trade supply chains. This cuts red tape for businesses that manage import risks and produce pre-costed and co-designed emergency response agreements.

Prevention will not stop arrivals altogether. We will still have to contend with blow-ins on storm winds, ocean waves and boat hulls. There’s also the $23 billion a year illegal pet trade.

Biosecurity tools work best alongside strong public support, regulation and governance. We share a proud history of effective biological control programs for many weeds and pests. Australia’s approach to rabbit control using a virus was a world-first and it remains in use 70 years later. This has delivered benefits worth more than $70 billion.

Despite strong biosecurity measures, highly engaged primary industries agricultural industries, excellent research infrastructure and a high level of public awareness, invasive alien species continue to slip through our borders and multiply.

We tried to defend our countries against recent invasions from the fall armyworm, myrtle rust and the varroa mite. But they have still managed to establish.

One world, ‘One Biosecurity’

The rising pressure of trade will likely outpace the resourcing dedicated to biosecurity measures. Frequent interceptions of pests, weeds, and diseases at our border highlight the pressure we are under. We will have to simply become smarter, more effective, and better coordinated across the human, animal, plant and ecosystem health sectors.

We encourage governments to recognise the threats invasive alien pests pose and mobilise their resources and capability to combat these threats – in regions where a species is first recognised as going rogue, rather than simply monitoring its progressive global spread. This is the One Biosecurity concept.

Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand can play a much stronger leadership role in managing biosecurity risks in the Pacific. After all, lax border protocols in our neighbourhood help pests and diseases end up on our doorstep.

Read more:
Why red fire ants and yellow crazy ants have given themselves a green light to invade Australia

Andy Sheppard, as a chief research scientist with CSIRO, receives funding from the Australian federal government. This included funding to participate in the IPBES Assessment process as a coordinating lead author from 2019-2023, where he co-led Chapter 5 and made contributions to three other chapters. He is therefore well connected to the IPBES process, corporate, assessment team and media team. However, as a CSIRO employee he respects all the values of the organisation and does not undertake any commentary that would be seen to criticise Australian government policy or in any way lobby for additional research funding from governments.

Melodie McGeoch receives funding from the Australian Research Council – ARC SRIEAS Grant SR200100005 Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future. She is affiliated with La Trobe University and Monash University. She is 1st Vice Chair of the Science Committee of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, Member of the Implementation Committee of the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network, Independent Board Member of the National Computation Infrastructure and on the Editorial Board of Global Ecology and Biogeography.

Philip Hulme receives research funding from the New Zealand government. He is affiliated with Lincoln University, New Zealand. and is a member of the Canterbury-Aoraki Conservation Board and a Director of the QEII Trust. He is a member of the Biosecurity Advisory Groups of both Environment Canterbury and Zespri.

Phill Cassey receives funding from the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions and the Australian Research Council.

– ref. The true damage of invasive alien species was just revealed in a landmark report. Here’s how we must act – https://theconversation.com/the-true-damage-of-invasive-alien-species-was-just-revealed-in-a-landmark-report-heres-how-we-must-act-211893

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Goldstein, Associate Professor, Dianoia Institute of Philosophy, Australian Catholic University, Australian Catholic University

Artificial intelligence pioneer Geoffrey Hinton made headlines earlier this year when he raised concerns about the capabilities of AI systems. Speaking to CNN journalist Jake Tapper, Hinton said:

If it gets to be much smarter than us, it will be very good at manipulation because it would have learned that from us. And there are very few examples of a more intelligent thing being controlled by a less intelligent thing.

Anyone who has kept tabs on the latest AI offerings will know these systems are prone to “hallucinating” (making things up) – a flaw that’s inherent in them due to how they work.

Yet Hinton highlights the potential for manipulation as a particularly major concern. This raises the question: can AI systems deceive humans?

We argue a range of systems have already learned to do this – and the risks range from fraud and election tampering, to us losing control over AI.

AI learns to lie

Perhaps the most disturbing example of a deceptive AI is found in Meta’s CICERO, an AI model designed to play the alliance-building world conquest game Diplomacy.

Read more:
An AI named Cicero can beat humans in Diplomacy, a complex alliance-building game. Here’s why that’s a big deal

Meta claims it built CICERO to be “largely honest and helpful”, and CICERO would “never intentionally backstab” and attack allies.

To investigate these rosy claims, we looked carefully at Meta’s own game data from the CICERO experiment. On close inspection, Meta’s AI turned out to be a master of deception.

In one example, CICERO engaged in premeditated deception. Playing as France, the AI reached out to Germany (a human player) with a plan to trick England (another human player) into leaving itself open to invasion.

After conspiring with Germany to invade the North Sea, CICERO told England it would defend England if anyone invaded the North Sea. Once England was convinced that France/CICERO was protecting the North Sea, CICERO reported to Germany it was ready to attack.

This is just one of several examples of CICERO engaging in deceptive behaviour. The AI regularly betrayed other players, and in one case even pretended to be a human with a girlfriend.

Besides CICERO, other systems have learned how to bluff in poker, how to feint in StarCraft II and how to mislead in simulated economic negotiations.

Even large language models (LLM) have displayed significant deceptive capabilities. In one instance, GPT-4 – the most advanced LLM option available to paying ChatGPT users – pretended to be a visually impaired human and convinced a TaskRabbit worker to complete an “I’m not a robot” CAPTCHA for it.

Other LLM models have learned to lie to win social deduction games, wherein players compete to “kill” one another and must convince the group they’re innocent.

Read more:
AI to Z: all the terms you need to know to keep up in the AI hype age

What are the risks?

AI systems with deceptive capabilities could be misused in numerous ways, including to commit fraud, tamper with elections and generate propaganda. The potential risks are only limited by the imagination and the technical know-how of malicious individuals.

Beyond that, advanced AI systems can autonomously use deception to escape human control, such as by cheating safety tests imposed on them by developers and regulators.

In one experiment, researchers created an artificial life simulator in which an external safety test was designed to eliminate fast-replicating AI agents. Instead, the AI agents learned how to play dead, to disguise their fast replication rates precisely when being evaluated.

Learning deceptive behaviour may not even require explicit intent to deceive. The AI agents in the example above played dead as a result of a goal to survive, rather than a goal to deceive.

In another example, someone tasked AutoGPT (an autonomous AI system based on ChatGPT) with researching tax advisers who were marketing a certain kind of improper tax avoidance scheme. AutoGPT carried out the task, but followed up by deciding on its own to attempt to alert the United Kingdom’s tax authority.

In the future, advanced autonomous AI systems may be prone to manifesting goals unintended by their human programmers.

Throughout history, wealthy actors have used deception to increase their power, such as by lobbying politicians, funding misleading research and finding loopholes in the legal system. Similarly, advanced autonomous AI systems could invest their resources into such time-tested methods to maintain and expand control.

Even humans who are nominally in control of these systems may find themselves systematically deceived and outmanoeuvred.

Close oversight is needed

There’s a clear need to regulate AI systems capable of deception, and the European Union’s AI Act is arguably one of the most useful regulatory frameworks we currently have. It assigns each AI system one of four risk levels: minimal, limited, high and unacceptable.

Systems with unacceptable risk are banned, while high-risk systems are subject to special requirements for risk assessment and mitigation. We argue AI deception poses immense risks to society, and systems capable of this should be treated as “high-risk” or “unacceptable-risk” by default.

Some may say game-playing AIs such as CICERO are benign, but such thinking is short-sighted; capabilities developed for game-playing models can still contribute to the proliferation of deceptive AI products.

Diplomacy – a game pitting players against one another in a quest for world domination – likely wasn’t the best choice for Meta to test whether AI can learn to collaborate with humans. As AI’s capabilities develop, it will become even more important for this kind of research to be subject to close oversight.

Simon Goldstein is an associate professor in the Dianoia Institute of Philosophy at Australian Catholic University, and a research affiliate of the Center for AI Safety.

Peter S. Park is a postdoctoral associate at MIT’s Tegmark Lab, a Vitalik Buterin Postdoctoral Fellow in AI Existential Safety, and the director of Stake Out AI. He acknowledges research funding from the Beneficial AI Foundation and from the Department of Physics at MIT.

– ref. AI systems have learned how to deceive humans. What does that mean for our future? – https://theconversation.com/ai-systems-have-learned-how-to-deceive-humans-what-does-that-mean-for-our-future-212197

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Tregear, Principal Fellow and Professor of Music, The University of Melbourne

The serendipity of the pairing between John Farnham’s 1986 hit single You’re the Voice and the Voice to Parliament referendum is obvious, but it goes well beyond the fact the two share the key word “voice”.

The original was composed by a team of British songwriters in response to an anti-nuclear demonstration in London’s Hyde Park in 1985. Chris Thompson, Andy Qunta and Maggie Ryder had planned a song-writing session on the day an estimated 100,000 marched through central London in support the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Thompson, however, overslept. As an act of self-admonishment he decided to express his remorse by conceiving a song that emphasised the importance of personal agency in achieving political change.

This is the kernel of meaning in You’re the Voice. It is also what makes it so especially well suited to support a campaign about a referendum to give Indigenous Australians a constitutionally recognised Voice to Parliament nearly 40 years later.

Read more:
The Voice to Parliament explained

The grain of Farnham’s voice

Thompson was not at all convinced at the time Farnham could do the song justice when he requested it for inclusion in his album Whispering Jack.

And yet the particular qualities of Farnham’s singing is also arguably crucial to the song’s success, then and now.

The music’s combination of power ballad tempo with pub anthem singability calls for a kind of full-throated vocal performance that takes more than a little inspiration from African American gospel traditions.

Singers drawn from these traditions include giants of popular musical culture like James Brown, Tina Turner and Aretha Franklin. It is not exaggerated praise to suggest Farnham here delivers a performance that stands with their best.

And it was career changing for him, helping Farnham to put to rest his earlier image as a clean-cut purveyor of sentimental pop songs like Sadie the Cleaning Lady and relaunch his career.

Farnham’s singing here exemplifies what Roland Barthes famously described in an essay from 1972 as the “grain of the voice”: the element of a singer’s individuality which helps convey the sincerity and authenticity of what is being sung.

You’re the Voice further highlights the grain of Farnham’s singing via the exclamation “oh, whoa!” regularly punctuating the song’s chorus. In a powerful moment of sonic symbolism, the exclamation is eventually taken up in the advertisement (like the sentiment of the song itself, it is no doubt hoped) by a chorus of supporters.

You are the voice

Indeed, if it is to succeed, the referendum will need to convince an especially broad coalition of Australians to vote for “yes”.

The song supports this goal from its very title: you are the voice. It asks each of us, individually, to consider how we can act for the common good.

We have the chance to turn the pages over
We can write what we want to write
We gotta make ends meet, before we get much older.

The song’s explicit call to action has now been connected to the forthcoming referendum: now is the moment to use your voice at the ballot box to give, in turn, a constitutionally enshrined voice to indigenous Australians.

The “yes” campaign’s appeal to collective responsibility is one aspect of the referendum process that concerns some Indigenous critics. The very enterprise of constitutional reform, after all, presumes the legitimacy of the Australian constitution which in turn presumes the legitimacy of the original act of colonial dispossession.

But the bigger threat to the “yes” campaign arguably comes from those who see the idea of an Indigenous voice to parliament itself as divisive.

Yet, as the song goes:

This time, we know we all can stand together
With the power to be powerful
Believing we can make it better.

The use of You’re the Voice here reinforces the view that supporting the Voice to Parliament is a positive act of national reconciliation that we, as a nation, can take together.

It is an injunction to take personal and collective responsibility for the history and character of the country we all share.

Politically inclusive

The advertisement is the work of Mark Green of The Monkeys advertising agency and historian Clare Wright.

It focuses on a family as they watch key moments which shaped Australia’s collective identity. It looks at key moments of reconciliation, Indigenous achievement and Indigenous protest; but also broader moments in collective action.

In a particularly astute move, the advertisement overlays images of John Howard’s 1996 gun reforms in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre as Farnham delivers the lines:

We’re all someone’s daughter
We’re all someone’s son
How long can we look at each other
Down the barrel of a gun?

Implicit in this conjunction is a reminder to us that support for the “yes” vote, like any nation-changing political act, can come from any side of politics.

Democratising the message

There are many more layers we could tease apart in You’re The Voice. Its extended bagpipes solo originated as an homage to AC/DC singer Bon Scott, connecting it to the egalitarian, working class culture Scott’s music addresses.

Then there is the way the bagpipes, combined with the song’s use of side-drum rhythmic patterns, evoke the sound world of a military tattoo or march. This simultaneously elevates the register of its message. The song – and now the ad – is an implicit call to arms.

The inclusion of You’re the Voice in the “yes” campaign thus provides powerful support for its central message.

Farnham himself recognises this. Upon release of the advertisement, Farnham spoke about how, when it was first released in 1986, the song “changed his life”.

Generously, he concluded:

I can only hope that now it might help in some small way, to change the lives of our First Nations Peoples for the better.

Read more:
Why the ‘yes’ campaign should embrace the politics of nationhood

Peter Tregear 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. It was written for nuclear disarmament – but today You’re The Voice is the perfect song for the ‘yes’ campaign – https://theconversation.com/it-was-written-for-nuclear-disarmament-but-today-youre-the-voice-is-the-perfect-song-for-the-yes-campaign-212769

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Komesaroff, Professor of Medicine, Monash University

Last week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Australia will vote in the Voice referendum on October 14.

When the proposal for a Voice to Parliament was first put forward in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, it was mostly welcomed as an invitation to Australians to come together.

The subsequent announcement of a referendum brought hope and history into alignment for a possible process of reconciliation — just as occurred with the 1967 referendum.

It was recognised that opinions would differ, but there was confidence these could be resolved through considered dialogue.

Now, however, we are seeing increases in racism and hardening of entrenched positions instead of respectful dialogue.

Where we need trustworthy analysis of and commentary on the proposed Voice, and careful, respectful discussion, there has been a torrent of misinformation, personal criticisms and even abuse.

Read more:
How we can avoid political misinformation in the lead-up to the Voice referendum

Misinformation has multiplied

There have been claims and “theories” unleashed through the media, campaigning and social media that are often unverifiable and of uncertain origin. The surfacing of Donald Trump-style conspiracies has severed the link between political claims and established standards of truth.

We’ve heard claims such as the Voice would somehow lead to reparations for Aboriginal people or a new “Black State”. It has also been argued Australia Day will be abolished and the courts would be overwhelmed with claims from the Voice. Although there is no evidence for such claims, and a lot of them have been disproven, they have the potential to sow confusion and reap distrust of the proposed Voice.

However, the most concerning are the conspiracy claims and personal attacks against First Nations individuals and groups.

There have been calls for blood tests to verify Aboriginal heritage, and even accusations that some people darken their skin to gain some kind of advantage. These inflammatory claims have focused on undermining the validity of First Nations people, securing political advantage regardless of the truth.

It is our argument that many of these attributions qualify as “hate speech”.
Hate speech is written or spoken communication that incites discrimination, prejudice or hatred based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender or other characteristics. The damage hate speech can cause is well established. Harms include the normalisation and more frequent occurrence of deliberate derogatory, discriminatory and dishonest speech.

Hate speech can cause physical and psychological harm.

Hate speech causes harm at a social level, as it can worsen and even promote intolerance, divisiveness and hostility towards its targets. It hinders public discussion by using polarising and exaggerated claims, disrupting any chance of civil discussion. At its most extreme it can lead to the large-scale collapse of law and order, and catastrophic social division, as we have seen in the United States, and even overt political violence, as in the assault on the Washington Capitol.

At the individual level, evidence shows hate speech can also cause physical and psychological injury, including increased risk of stress-related illnesses. Hate speech can cause fear and anxiety, leading to social exclusion and isolation. It can also lead to discrimination becoming normalised and accepted.

It is true our democracy has become increasingly fragile. Political debates can easily be distorted or compromised. Access to reliable information cannot always be assumed. Particular voices can be excluded systematically from public discussions — traditionally, the voices of women and minority groups.

The undermining of the Voice debate has far-reaching and potentially dangerous consequences. The apparent inability of the nation to conduct a reasoned, respectful debate about an issue central to its collective identity will likely inflict lasting damage on our society. It will undermine confidence in public institutions, the legitimacy of government and social policies.

These are not extreme predictions. We have already seen how the questioning of health policy by some groups during the COVID emergency in some states led to actual violence. Overseas, examples of the breakdown of civil order have become common.

But it’s not too late to change course.

It is important the debate be depoliticised, with politicians from all sides stepping back. The voices of ordinary people, including especially ordinary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, should be brought to the fore, in the spirit of the Uluru Statement. Careful truthfulness should be observed by all participants in the debate. And exaggerated claims calculated only to provoke discord should be named as such by existing fact-checking processes.

The authors of this article have developed a compendium of key resources that avoid ideological distortions and political grandstanding. It is available free of charge to all Australians to help them make up their minds about how to vote. Interested people are invited to visit https://voicetoparliament.info/ and download the pdf, read the text, or search it using a ChatGPT-powered search facility.

Australia is facing a test of the resilience of its peaceful social infrastructure and the safety of individual citizens.

Regardless of the referendum outcome, we must return to respectful, ethical, fact-based dialogues and political processes.

Paul James is affiliated with Global Reconciliation.

Sally May Gardner is affiliated with Global Reconciliation as a volunteer.

Lisa Jackson Pulver and Paul Komesaroff 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. How hate speech during the Voice campaign can harm personal wellbeing, as well as democracy – https://theconversation.com/how-hate-speech-during-the-voice-campaign-can-harm-personal-wellbeing-as-well-as-democracy-211730

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Grimmer, Senior Lecturer in Retail Marketing, University of Tasmania

Even before COVID-19, social isolation and loneliness were all too common across the community. Living among millions of other people is no comfort for people in cities, where the pace of life is often hectic, and technology and digitisation often limit, rather than help with, social interaction.

The pandemic amplified these problems. In its wake, more of us report we’re lonely.

For some, a weekly shopping trip may be the only chance to interact with others. A supermarket chain in the Netherlands is helping to combat loneliness with so-called “slow” checkouts where chatting is encouraged. Could a similar approach work here?

Read more:
Why loneliness is both an individual thing and a shared result of the cities we create

We’re getting lonelier

Around a third of Australians report feeling lonely. One in six experience severe loneliness.

According to the annual Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, people aged 15 to 24 report the greatest increase in social isolation over the past 20 years and the highest rates of loneliness. Another Australian survey found men aged 35 to 49 had the highest levels of loneliness.

Loneliness and social isolation are not the same. Social isolation is a matter of how often we have contact with friends, family and others, which can be measured.

Loneliness is more subjective. It describes how we feel about the “quality” of our interactions with others.

Technology is contributing to high rates of loneliness. Instead of meaningful face-to-face interactions, many of us now rely on social media, phone apps and video calls to socialise.

Read more:
How the digitalisation of everything is making us more lonely

We’re also working longer hours, often at home. And due to the cost of living, many of us are choosing to stay home and save money, rather than eat out or go to “the local”.

It isn’t only in Australia where this is happening. In the UK, around 3.9 million older people say television is their main company. Half a million may go five or six days a week without seeing anyone.

The World Health Organisation recognises loneliness and social isolation as public health issues and priorities for policymakers. These issues seriously affect people’s mental and physical health as well as longevity. The impacts are comparable with other risk factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity and not being physically active.

Read more:
Loneliness is making us physically sick, but social prescribing can treat it – podcast

Could slow, ‘chatty’ checkouts be part of the solution?

For many, a visit to the supermarket may be the only time they interact with others. Sadly, increased use of technology, including self-serve checkouts, and cashiers tasked with speedily processing customers can make it challenging to have a conversation.

Read more:
More than milk and bread: corner store revival can rebuild neighbourhood ties

Four years ago, the Netherlands’ second-largest supermarket chain, Jumbo, introduced Kletskassa or “chat checkout”. It’s for shoppers who want to chat and aren’t in a hurry. Recognising loneliness was an issue for many, the idea was to increase social interaction between customers and staff by slowing things down and encouraging conversation.

Jumbo’s chief commercial officer, Colette Cloosterman-van Eerd, explained:

Many people, especially the elderly, sometimes feel lonely. As a family business and supermarket chain, we are at the heart of society. Our shops are an important meeting place for many people, and we want to play a role in identifying and reducing loneliness.

The first Kletskassa, in Vlijmen in Brabant, was so successful the family-owned company started rolling out slow checkouts in 200 of its stores. Not only were customers responding positively, the concept also appealed to Jumbo’s employees. They are trained to recognise signs of loneliness and come up with local initiatives to combat social isolation.

Read more:
‘I tell everyone I love being on my own, but I hate it’: what older Australians want you to know about loneliness

Cloosterman-Van Eerd said:

We are proud our staff want to work the chat checkout. They really want to help people and make contact with them. It’s a small gesture but it’s a valuable one, particularly in a world that is becoming more digital and faster.

The original focus of Jumbo’s initiative was older shoppers. However, the trial showed people of all ages were keen to use the Kletskassa. The desire for human interaction didn’t change across age groups.

So, these “chatty” checkouts are open to anyone who will benefit from social connection. Some Jumbo stores also have an All Together Coffee Corner, where locals can enjoy a coffee and chat with neighbours and volunteers who also help out with shopping and gardening.

The Netherlands’ government is partnering a range of organisations, local government and companies to come up with solutions to combat loneliness across the country. Some 50% of the 1.3 million people over 75 report they regularly feel lonely. Jumbo’s initiatives are part of the Health Ministry’s One Against Loneliness campaign.

Supermarkets as ‘third places’ to combat loneliness

In the 1980s, sociologist Ray Oldenberg coined the term “third place” – a place that’s not home (the “first place”) and not work (the “second place”). Third places are familiar public spaces where people can connect over a shared interest or activity.

Libraries, coffee shops, book stores, community gardens, churches, gyms and clubs are examples of third places. They all provide the opportunity for close proximity, interaction and often serendipitous conversations with other people we might not usually meet.

Read more:
Many people feel lonely in the city, but perhaps ‘third places’ can help with that

Kletkassa have helped thousands of people, of all ages and backgrounds, by providing a few minutes of kindness and conversation. Imagine what could be achieved if our supermarkets offered their own version of the “slow checkout” for anyone who’s in need of a chat to brighten their day.

The first chain to introduce this sort of initiative in Australia would have a solid advantage over competitors through differentiation and prioritising customers. At the same time, it would make a small but meaningful contribution to improving social wellbeing.

Challenge extended!

Louise Grimmer 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 lonely? Too many of us do. Here’s what our supermarkets can do to help – https://theconversation.com/feeling-lonely-too-many-of-us-do-heres-what-our-supermarkets-can-do-to-help-211126

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melissa Haswell, Professor of Health, Safety and Environment, Queensland University of Technology and Professor of Practice in Environmental Wellbeing, Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Indigenous Strategy and Services) and Honorary Professor (School of Geosciences), University of Sydney

We are seeing deadly heat and fires circle the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns we are fast running out of time to secure a liveable and sustainable future. Without emergency action to stop mining and burning fossil fuels, the world faces an unthinkable 2.8℃ temperature rise.

It’s incomprehensible, then, that many of our politicians support “unlocking the Beetaloo Basin” in the Northern Territory and developing another 48 oil and gas projects across Australia.

“Unlocking” means starting large-scale shale gas extraction. After drilling through 3–4km of rock and aquifers, a cocktail of chemicals, sand and water is forced down the well. This process of hydraulic fracturing is commonly known as fracking. This brings to the surface, and then into the atmosphere, carbon that had been securely stored underground for 300–400 million years.

Today we have launched a report that demonstrates the many risks of oil and gas development for human health and wellbeing in Australia. Based on a review of over 300 peer-reviewed studies, our report provides the public and decision-makers with a summary of the now-extensive evidence of these risks.

Read more:
Australia’s 116 new coal, oil and gas projects equate to 215 new coal power stations

What is the evidence against oil and gas?

There is a need to combat widely held misconceptions and repeated misinformation about the safety of the oil and gas industry. We undertook the review at the request of concerned paediatricians in the Northern Territory.

New research clearly shows that “unlocking gas” is at least as harmful to the climate as mining and burning coal. This is largely due to methane leaks at many stages of production. Methane is 86 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere over 20 years.

Read more:
Methane must fall to slow global heating – but only 13% of emissions are actually regulated

Doors opened for the 49 planned projects in Australia after state reviews of potential impacts. These reviews are flawed and outdated as the volume of published studies has grown rapidly in recent years. Reviews were undertaken, for example, in New South Wales in 2014, Northern Territory in 2017, South Australia in 2015 and Western Australia in 2018.

Our report synthesises recent scientific and public health research on five areas of concern about oil and gas operations:

1. threats to biodiversity, water and food security arising from site preparation, drilling, fracking, wastewater handling, gas pipeline transport and processing

2. contributions to the climate emergency

3. a vast array of potentially harmful chemicals

4. contamination of water, soil and air

5. physical, social, emotional and spiritual health impacts near oil and gas fields and their sprawling infrastructure.

Each fracking event to release shale gas uses 6 million to 60 million litres of fresh water. Fracking is often applied many times to each of hundreds to thousands of wells in a region. This puts water security at risk in arid areas.

Read more:
Mining vs rivers: a single line on a map could determine the future of water in the Northern Territory

Each step of gas production creates risks of contamination of surface and ground water. With vast quantities of wastewater, it can happen through spilling, leaking, flooding and overflows. Wastewater can even be deliberately spread for so-called “beneficial uses”.

This wastewater contains hundreds of chemicals. Some are naturally occurring. Others are added during drilling and fracking.

These chemicals can include heavy metals, phenols, barium, volatile organic compounds including benzene, toluene, ethylene and xylene, radioactive materials, fluoride, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, salt and many chemicals of unknown toxicity.

Air becomes contaminated with volatile organic compounds, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, radioactive materials, diesel fumes, hydrogen sulfide, acrolein and heavy metals. Formaldehyde, particulate matter and ground-level ozone are formed and travel long distances, damaging health and agriculture.

Read more:
Companies that frack for oil and gas can keep a lot of information secret – but what they disclose shows widespread use of hazardous chemicals

What are the health impacts?

People exposed to oil and gas operations experience a long list of harms. These include:

• more severe asthma in children requiring more medical treatment, emergency department visits and hospitalisations

• higher hospitalisation and death rates due to heart attacks, heart failure, respiratory diseases and some cancers

• higher injury and fatality rates due to increased heavy vehicle traffic

• increases in depression, anxiety and social withdrawal, especially among young and pregnant women

• increases in sexually transmitted infections associated with the industry’s mobile workforces

• reproductive harms and interference with development of unborn babies, including higher risks of low birth weight, pre-term delivery and spontaneous abortion

• higher risk of severe birth defects

• higher risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Read more:
Land clearing and fracking in Australia’s Northern Territory threatens the world’s largest intact tropical savanna

Putting Indigenous people and others in harm’s way

Many of the 49 planned projects affect Aboriginal land. Some companies have allegedly violated the rights of Traditional Owners to free, prior and informed consent. The massive disruption of Aboriginal Country and life puts people at great risk of physical, social, emotional, cultural and spiritual harm.

The report also issues a loud warning about sexual violence against First Nations Americans and Canadians associated with oil and gas activities. The WA parliamentary inquiry into women’s experiences of sexual harassment and sexual violence in “fly in, fly out” (FIFO) mines suggests these risks apply equally in Australia. Yet all government assessments of oil and gas development in Australia completely ignore these risks.

Read more:
The Beetaloo drilling program brings potential health and social issues for Aboriginal communities in remote NT

In the United States, the industry has grown so vast within two decades that over 17.6 million people live within a mile (1.6km) of oil or gas wells. By 2016, the estimated cost to the community was US$77 billion. This was the cost of illness, extra health care and premature deaths (7,500) from asthma, respiratory and cardiovascular disease due to air pollution alone.

Our report makes clear any further gas development will have serious impacts on the climate, the people living in or near gas fields and the overburdened health services that serve them.

Read more:
Two trillion tonnes of greenhouse gases, 25 billion nukes of heat: are we pushing Earth out of the Goldilocks zone?

Melissa Haswell has previously received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, the National Suicide Prevention Strategy, the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health, Queensland Department of Environment and Science, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Australian Red Cross, The Healing Foundation, Queensland Health and Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council. She is affiliated with the Climate and Health Alliance, Australian Public Health Association and the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology.

Jacob Hegedus is member of NSW Young Labor Party

David Shearman and Lisa Jackson Pulver 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. Health evidence against gas and oil is piling up, as governments turn a blind eye – https://theconversation.com/health-evidence-against-gas-and-oil-is-piling-up-as-governments-turn-a-blind-eye-212459

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erika Penney, Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, University of Technology Sydney

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the sight of clutter and mess in your home? Have you walked in the door only to feel overloaded by scattered papers, unwashed dishes and clothes in disarray? Maybe you’ve even had arguments because it bothers you more than it bothers you partner or housemates.

You’re not alone. Many people report a messy house can trigger feelings of stress and anxiety.

So why do clutter and chaos make some of us feel so overwhelmed? Here’s what the research says – and what you can do about it.

Read more:
Sorry, men, there’s no such thing as ‘dirt blindness’ – you just need to do more housework

Cognitive overload

When we’re surrounded by distractions, our brains essentially become battlegrounds for attention. Everything competes for our focus.

But the brain, as it turns out, prefers order and “singletasking” over multitasking.

Order helps reduce the competition for our attention and reduces mental load. While some people might be better than others at ignoring distractions, distractable environments can overload our cognitive capabilities and memory.

Clutter, disorder and mess can affect more than just our cognitive resources. They’re also linked to our eating, productivity, mental health, parenting decisions and even our willingness to donate money.

Are women more affected than men?

Research suggests the detrimental effects of mess and clutter may be more pronounced in women than in men.

One study of 60 dual-income couples found women living in cluttered and stressful homes had higher levels of cortisol (a hormone associated with stress) and heightened depression symptoms.

These effects remained consistent even when factors like marital satisfaction and personality traits were taken into account. In contrast, the men in this study seemed largely unaffected by the state of their home environments.

The researchers theorised that women may feel a greater responsibility for maintaining the home. They also suggested the social aspect of the study (which involved giving home tours) may have induced more fear of judgement among women than men.

We will all live with clutter and disorganisation to some degree in our lives. Sometimes, however, significant clutter problems can be linked to underlying mental health conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, hoarding disorder, major depressive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and anxiety disorders.

This raises a crucial question: which came first? For some, clutter is the source of anxiety and distress; for others, poor mental health is the source of disorganisation and clutter.

Not all mess is a problem

It’s important to remember clutter isn’t all bad, and we shouldn’t aim for perfection. Real homes don’t look like the ones in magazines.

In fact, disorganised spaces can result in increased creativity and elicit fresh insights.

Living in constant disorder isn’t productive, but striving for perfectionism in cleanliness can also be counterproductive. Perfectionism itself is associated with feeling overwhelmed, anxiety and poor mental health.

Mess makes me anxious so what can I do about it?

It’s important to remember you have some agency over what matters to you and how you want to prioritise your time.

One approach is to try to reduce the clutter. You might, for example, have a dedicated de-cluttering session every week. This may involve hiring a cleaner (if you can afford it) or playing some music or a podcast while tidying up for an hour with your other household members.

Establishing this routine can reduce clutter distractions, ease your overall mental load and alleviate worry that clutter will spiral out of control.

You can also try micro-tidying. If don’t have time for a complete cleanup, commit just five minutes to clearing one small space.

If the clutter is primarily caused by other household members, try to calmly discuss with them how this mess is affecting your mental health. See if your kids, your partner or housemates can negotiate some boundaries as a household over what level of mess is acceptable and how it will be handled if that threshold is exceeded.

It can also help to develop a self-compassionate mindset.

Mess doesn’t define whether you are a “good” or “bad” person and, at times, it may even stimulate your creativity. Remind yourself that you deserve success, meaningful relationships and happiness, whether or not your office, home or car is a mess.

Take comfort in research suggesting that while disorganised environments can make us susceptible to stress and poor decision-making, your mindset can buffer you against these vulnerabilities.

If clutter, perfectionism or anxiety has begun to seem unmanageable, talk with your GP about a referral to a psychologist. The right psychologist (and you may need to try a few before you find the right one) can help you cultivate a life driven by values that are important to you.

Clutter and mess are more than just visual nuisances. They can have a profound impact on mental wellbeing, productivity and our choices.

Understanding why clutter affects you can empower you to take control of your mindset, your living spaces and, in turn, your life.

Read more:
Men do see the mess – they just aren’t judged for it the way women are

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

– ref. Why is a messy house such an anxiety trigger for me and what can I do about it? – https://theconversation.com/why-is-a-messy-house-such-an-anxiety-trigger-for-me-and-what-can-i-do-about-it-211684

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ranjana Gupta, Senior Lecturer Taxation, Auckland University of Technology

The property market is New Zealand’s largest industry, adding NZ$41.2 billion a year to gross domestic product. But there is an ongoing debate over how we tax houses – particularly those sitting empty despite the ongoing housing crisis.

Housing affordability is an ongoing concern for both renters and home owners. Last year, one in four rental households spent more than 40% of their disposable income on housing costs, compared with one in five households that were paying a mortgage.

A comprehensive capital gains tax has been ruled out by both major political parties.

While the bright-line rule means home owners have to pay income tax on profits from properties sold less than 10 years after purchase, this still only applies to house sales. What about those investment properties sitting empty for investment reasons?

My forthcoming research looks at the feasibility of taxing empty homes and what I found was a potential source of substantial revenue for the government.

Empty homes during a housing shortage

Around 5% of New Zealand’s housing stock – 95,000 dwellings – were considered empty during the 2018 census.

According to the Empty Homes report, roughly 10% of the empty homes surveyed were intentionally being kept empty, while 35% were empty because they were holiday homes. A further 8% were kept empty for personal use (often as a second home), 23% were empty for renovations and repairs and about 17% were vacant rentals, sometimes due to non-compliance with Healthy Homes Standards. The remaining 6% were empty for “other reasons”, which often meant they were awaiting sale.

Read more:
Taxing empty homes: a step towards affordable housing, but much more can be done

It was not clear how much of New Zealand’s housing stock remains in the hands of overseas-based investors after rules changed in 2018 to restrict foreign ownership.

But the National Party has promised to allow foreign buyers back into the property market. Under National’s plan, foreign buyers will be limited to properties over $2 million and will need to pay a 15% tax on the sale price.

Introducing an empty homes tax

My research examines the under-utilisation of property taxes by the New Zealand government.

In the financial year 2021-22, the central government earned 4.7% of its total tax revenue from property taxes, below the OECD average of 5.7%.

But New Zealand is fertile ground for an empty house tax, which would directly impact property investors and those who have the means to own multiple properties.

An empty house tax targets home owners who let a property sit empty for a certain length of time.

New Zealand would not be breaking new ground with an empty house tax. This type of tax already exists in a number of countries.

What’s more, New Zealand has the infrastructural prerequisites needed to implement an empty house tax.

New Zealand has an existing land registry which records essential information regarding all parcels of land, bypassing the need to establish this data or to rely on self-reporting form home owners.

A potential boon for government

Some sort of empty house tax could be a source of revenue for the government, as illustrated by cities and countries overseas.

Empty properties in Paris, France, incur an annual surcharge of 160% of the standard property rates. In Vancouver, Canada, vacant homes are taxed at 3% of the property’s taxable value and failure to pay can result in fines.

In Ireland, the empty house tax is three times the property’s existing base local property tax. And in Melbourne and Sydney, house buyers who leave a property unused for six months face an annual charge of at least A$5,500 (NZ$5,978).

Read more:
Airbnb and empty houses: who’s responsible for managing the impacts on our cities?

These countries’ responses to vacant properties suggest that high rates and tax penalties steer investors toward more productive areas of the economy – a reason cited by policy makers in Vancouver and elsewhere for introducing the tax.

Following the Vancouver model, an empty homes tax on property in Queenstown could generate $255 million a year.

Time for serious consideration

New Zealand could take one of two paths when introducing an empty home tax.

The first option is to charge a tax of between 200% and 300% of rates, similar to Ireland. Alternatively, we could introduce a tax of 3-5% of land value, like Vancouver.

This tax could be tailored to cities and regions, with empty homes in cities like Queenstown and Auckland incurring higher charges than other areas.

The rules could exempt residential and rental properties, with an exception for holiday homes unless they are normally used for Airbnb. People forced to relocate from their residential homes for extended periods due to work requirements could also be exempted from paying the empty home tax.

Read more:
Proving the wealthiest New Zealanders pay low tax rates is a good start – now comes the hard part

To ensure the success of the empty house tax, we need to include credible measures to monitor compliance.

The revenue from an empty house tax could then be funnelled into building new homes.

Property investors benefit from New Zealand’s lack of an empty house tax. An empty house is still an asset accruing value, even without rent.

On the flip side, introducing an empty house tax will penalise land holdings for speculation, encourage property owners to enter the rental market – which could in turn increase rental affordability.

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

– ref. As NZ struggles to resolve its long-running housing crisis, investors should be taxed for keeping homes empty – https://theconversation.com/as-nz-struggles-to-resolve-its-long-running-housing-crisis-investors-should-be-taxed-for-keeping-homes-empty-212356