It’s hot, you’ve had a battle to get the kids in the car, and now you’re going to be late for the family lunch.
You turn onto the freeway only to get stuck behind a slow driver in the fast lane. You want them to move over or speed up, so you drive a little closer. Then closer. Then so close it would be difficult to avoid hitting them if they stopped suddenly.
When that doesn’t work you honk the horn. Nothing. Finally, frustrated, you dart into the left lane and speed past them.
Today was one of those days where many small annoyances have led to you being aggressive on the road. This isn’t how you usually drive. So why was today different?
Holiday driving may look a lot different to your usual commute. It may involve driving longer distances, or involve more frequent driving with more passengers than usual in the car.
Holiday driving comes with increased risk (road deaths tend to spike during the holidays). That’s why news bulletins often carry the latest “road toll” figures around public holidays.
But whether you drive differently to normal comes down to the value you place on your time, rather than when you drive.
If you are in a rush, your time becomes more precious because you have less of it. If something, or someone, infringes on that time, you may become frustrated and aggressive.
This is basic human psychology. You can get angry when someone gets in the way of what you are trying to achieve. You get angrier when you think they are acting unfairly or inappropriately.
Usually before you respond, you evaluate what has happened, asking who is at fault and if they could have done things differently.
But when you are driving, you have less time and resources to make detailed evaluations. Instead, you make quick judgements of the situation and how best to deal with it.
These judgements can be based on how you are feeling at the time. If you are frustrated before getting in the car, you are likely to be easily frustrated while driving, blame other drivers more for your circumstances, and express this through aggressive driving.
Tailgating and speeding are examples of this aggression.
A driver frustrated by the perception that someone is driving too slowly, or in the wrong lane, might speed past the offending driver, and maintain this speed for some time after the event.
Aggressive tailgating may be seen as reprimanding the driver for their perceived slow speeds, or to encourage them to move out of the way.
The problem is, when you are angry, you underestimate the risk of these behaviours, while over-estimating how much control you have of the situation. It’s not worth the risk.
A study of real-world driving shows both tailgating and speeding increase the odds of being in a crash more than if driving while holding or dialling a mobile phone. Drivers who are tailgating or speeding have a 13 to 14-fold increase in odds of being in a crash, compared to when they are driving more safely.
One way to stay safe on the roads these holidays is to recognise the situations that may lead to your own dangerous behaviours.
The Monash University Accident Research Centre has developed a program to help drivers reduce their aggressive driving. This helps drivers develop their own strategies to stay calm while driving, recognising that one strategy is unlikely to suit every driver.
Almost 100 self-identified aggressive drivers developed four types of tips to remain calm while driving:
before driving: tips include better journey planning, allowing enough time for the trip and recognising how you are feeling before you get in the car
while driving: this includes travelling in the left lane to avoid slow drivers in the right lane, or pulling over when feeling angry
in your vehicle: such as deep breathing or listening to music
‘rethinking’ the situation: acknowledge that in some situations, the only thing you can change is how you think about it. For example, ask yourself is it worth the risk? Or personalise the other driver. What if that was your loved one in the car in front?
Four months after completing the program, drivers reported less anger and aggression while driving than before the program. The strategies that worked best for these drivers were listening to music, focusing on staying calm and rethinking the problem.
A favourite rethink was a 5x5x5 strategy. This involved asking yourself whether the cause of your anger will matter in five minutes, five hours or five days. If it is unlikely to matter after this time, it is best to let go.
The holidays are meant to be relaxing and joyous. Let’s not jeopardise that through reactions to other drivers.
Amanda Stephens works for Monash University Accident Research Centre.
The program to reduce aggressive driving referred to in this article was made possible with the support of the ACT Road Safety Fund
Every summer, many Australians head to the ocean to swim, surf, sail, kayak, and walk along the beach.
But humans are not alone when we use the ocean. Fish, seals, dolphins, sharks, jellyfish, turtles, stingrays, cuttlefish, and birds often swim alongside us. When we enter the ocean we become part of an entangled web of animal relationships.
Encountering animals when we swim and surf in the ocean is fun and exciting. But sharing the water with animals also comes with the risk of stings, bites, frights, and injury to us. It can also bring harm to ocean wildlife.
By educating ourselves about marine life, humans can minimise risks to ourselves and the animals who call the ocean home.
We can frighten animals – and they can scare us
Despite how vulnerable we feel when swimming, our presence in the ocean can frighten or harm an animal. Animals may see us as a predator and alter their behaviour accordingly.
Fish, birds and small stingrays might swim off, and turtles might delay rising to the ocean’s surface to breathe.
Not all animals are frightened of humans. It’s a highlight when curious dolphins swim and play around us. But dolphins can attack humans or other animals if they feel threatened – for example when feeding or protecting their young.
Humans can also be scared of animals in the water. This fear drives the use of shark nets off beaches or, less commonly, shark culls.
Shark nets are controversial – not least because they can entangle and kill animals including turtles, non-target sharks, stingrays, and whales.
Even more controversial are shark culls, such as those planned for Western Australia in 2013 after a spate of fatal shark attacks. The plan was later abandoned, after it was criticised as cruel and lacking scientific basis.
Killing or harming ocean animals so humans can have fun in the water raises all sorts of questions and moral dilemmas. So how else might we keep ourselves safe in the ocean?
Shark nets can kill non-target species, such as this hammerhead shark trapped off the Gold Coast. Sea Shepherd
Learn about ocean animals
Learning about what ocean animals you might encounter – and when – can help keep both people and animals safe.
Some animals are present year-round. But, as whale watchers and fisherman are well aware, many animals are more active in a particular seasons or only appear at certain times of the year.
For example, in cooler months in the waters off northern Australia, manta rays are most active. Leopard sharks, meanwhile, appear during warmer months in southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales.
And from November until May or June, a variety of marine stingers can be found in the coastal waters of Far North Queensland. These include the potentially lethal box jellyfish.
Informing ourselves means we can take measures to keep safe. For example, people swimming in North Queensland in the warmer months are advised to swim at netted beaches, and wear wetsuits or stinger suits. Entering the water slowly also gives some marine stingers time to move away.
Ocean-goers in North Queensland should know when marine stingers are about. Shutterstock
When it comes to sharks, there are growing calls to adopt non-violent approaches to minimise risks to humans. This could include public education on, for example, links between fish seasons and shark activity.
Educating ourselves about ocean animals also helps us protect them.
Shorebirds, for instance, nest in spring and summer. This is prime beach time for people, too. Shorebird nests are shallow and vulnerable, and birds will often abandon their eggs when humans are around. Dogs and 4WDs pose an even bigger threat.
If we know we’re sharing a beach with nesting shorebirds, we can take steps to ensure their safety, such as keeping our dogs on a leash and avoiding using dunes and other common nesting areas.
The annual migration of whales and their calves up and down our coasts is an exciting time to visit the beach and, if you’re lucky, to view a splashy show of breaching or water slapping.
But if you plan to go sailing or kayaking, be aware of rules around interacting with whales. They law states they can approach us, but we must not get too close to them.
If you’re not an experienced ocean user, or don’t know about the animals living in a particular place, talk to someone who is informed.
If you use beaches patrolled by surf lifesavers they can give you information about animals that might be present that day, such as sharks or jellyfish. They can also tell you about ocean conditions such as rips, currents and water quality.
If you do suffer a painful bluebottle or jellyfish sting, surf lifesavers may also provide basic treatments such as dousing the sting with hot water or vinegar.
If you’re planning to swim or surf at unpatrolled beaches – especially if they’re remote – pack a basic first aid kit including sunscreen, vinegar and instant ice packs.
And remember, enjoying time in the ocean with other poeple is safer than swimming alone.
It’s safer to swim with others than alone. Jason O’Brien/AAP
Ensuring everyone enjoys the encounter
Despite the risks, most human encounters with animals in the ocean are exciting and positive.
Learning about the kinds of animals you might come across, as well as the best ways to interact with them, will help keep you safe – and make sure its a good experience for the animals too.
Rebecca Olive receives funding from The Australian Research Council.
More than half of the world’s population lives in cities. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the proportion of people who live in towns or cities exceeds 86%. With our lives increasingly lived in urban environments, it’s vital for our personal wellbeing – and the planet’s – that city planners find ways to foster a connection with nature.
The evidence is clear – people need direct, personal experiences with nature to care enough to protect it. As evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould argued,
we cannot win this battle to save species and environments without forging an emotional bond between ourselves and nature as well – for we will not fight to save what we do not love.
In our recently published study, we explored the perceptions and experiences of nature that Hamilton residents had in their city.
Hamilton City Council is responsible for 1,142 hectares of open space, including more than 200 parks and reserves. In 2019, the council outlined its goal to have 80% of households with access to a park or open space within 500 metres of home.
Green spaces are any areas of unsealed urban land with some form of vegetation cover. We focused on three types – private gardens, parks dominated by native vegetation (“bush parks”), and parks dominated by introduced vegetation (“lawn parks”, large expanses of mown lawn scattered with individual trees).
Residents took us on tours of different green spaces around the city. During these visits, we asked them about the importance of these places, how they engaged with them and about their plant and animal encounters. We interviewed 21 residents – seven restoration volunteers, seven people who frequently visited bush parks, and seven who visited lawn parks.
We were particularly interested in how people perceived urban green spaces and the benefits they got from them. We also looked at the experiences and connection gained from different natural environments.
Ringing with birdsong
Kaelin was one of the Hamilton residents who took us on a tour of her garden and local park, one of Hamilton’s many branching gullies.
The gully was cool and quiet, the only sounds the murmurs of the tiny stream at its centre and the occasional indignant cheeps of our fellow fantail. As bell-like flutes punctuated by rude coughs and gurgles announced the presence of a tui, Kaelin turned to me with a delighted smile and said:
You can be down here in the right time of the year and you think, where am I? It’s not the city, it’s just ringing with birdsong.
Our interviewees described native bush parks as special places that provided a relaxing and restorative escape from city life. These green spaces, dominated by native vegetation, were the ones respondents commonly identified as places to sit peacefully and observe nature.
Lawn parks, on the other hand, acted more as “backdrops” for other activities – picnics, sports or farmers’ markets. Residential gardens, like bush parks, allowed for deeper observation and engagement with nature, but as private spaces, they didn’t provide the social benefits that parks do.
The value of diversity
Lawn parks are the most common type of green space in cities. Yet our study highlights that participants valued a diversity of green spaces that would meet a range of needs – their own, those of their community and those of other creatures such as birds, bats and weta.
Interviewees voiced a desire to have spaces in cities where unique New Zealand plants and animals could thrive. Respondents enjoyed sharing their parks and gardens with birds, bats and insects, recognising these animals contributed to the meaning of the place.
Creating habitat in cities for wildlife, however, was only one of the multiple
purposes of green spaces that respondents believed were important. They wanted to see a variety of parks that meet a range of community needs.
Just as respondents held multiple priorities for their own gardens, not always just as habitats for native flora and fauna, interviewees also wanted urban green spaces to support multiple uses and not serve exclusively as wildlife habitat.
New Zealand’s ongoing housing crisis has intensified political debates about urban green spaces, and Hamilton is no different.
The council recently completed consultation on significant changes to density rules in Hamilton’s central city and surrounding areas. The plan will allow three homes of up to three storeys to be developed on most properties, though the council says it is committed to maintaining its public green spaces.
As urban populations continue to rise, our research supports a renewed call for the importance of reserving space for parks and nature in cities. Instead of being a dispensable luxury, green space is crucial for the health and wellbeing of both people and native species.
Finding ways to foster personal experiences of green spaces, and the plants, animals, people and stories that provide meaning, is one way to increase city dwellers’ emotional involvement with local nature. Such subjective bonds can spur the motivation required for people’s everyday actions to nurture and protect what they love.
Elizabeth Elliot Noe receives funding from Bioprotection Aotearoa.
Ottilie Stolte 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.
The new year often means a new season of kids’ sports. Many families may be pondering whether to commit to another season or discovering their child is now saying they’d like to quit their usual sport.
My husband and I faced this dilemma last year when our nine-year-old wanted to quit Nippers (junior surf lifesaving). This followed a season of high emotion, where we faced weekly “drop-off dread”, only to have him happily bounce over to us after training, full of smiles and stories.
Given the vast body of research showing the benefit of organised sport for children (more on that later), it’s not always easy for parents to instantly agree when their child wants to quit.
So what does the research tell us about why kids drop out of sport and how might parents respond?
Competition can be stressful for some kids. Shutterstock
Participation rates in organised sport tend to peak towards the end of primary school, and there is significant decline in participation across adolescence.
Reasons for dropping out of a sport in adolescence include a focus on one sport over others or prioritising involvement in other activities (such as school work, jobs or socialising).
One of the major factors influencing children’s decision to quit sport is pressure from others (parents, coaches and peers).
Adult expectations, attitudes and behaviours can unintentionally sour children’s experiences of sport. This pressure can come in many forms, including unrealistically high expectations, a focus on winning, heated post-match debriefings, and critical comments.
Perceived pressure from adults relates to some of the main reasons children give for dropping out of sport: not having fun, being bored, or feeling they’re not good enough at it.
What are the benefits of sport for children?
When your child says they want to quit their sport, reflect on what’s at stake, and perhaps even discuss it with them.
As well as promoting health and fitness, organised sport builds developmental skills and competencies in young people.
Many parents see critical life skills – such as teamwork, resilience, dealing with frustration and disappointment, resolving conflicts and goal setting – as a major reason to enrol their children in sport.
Sport can also promote social connectedness for children and their families, contributing to a sense of belonging and social identity.
Our research with parents of Australian junior rugby league players suggests this might be particularly the case for Indigenous parents.
This social connectedness from sport can promote children’s mental health, helping protect against issues like anxiety and depression.
One longitudinal Australian study found children who drop out of sport between eight and ten years are at greater risk for social and emotional problems compared to those who continue in sport.
What can parents do when a child wants to quit?
There are no easy answers and the response will be shaped by factors unique to the child and their situation. But here are some strategies:
1. Talk to your child
Ask them what they don’t like about the sport. Is there anything that would need to change for them to continue? Would switching teams or dropping down a division make a difference?
You could try testing out the sport again, and agree to review things after a month.
Ask what they do like about the sport. This helps shift their thinking to what’s fun about it and what they might miss if they quit.
If your child can’t name anything they like, this might be the red flag you need that this sport isn’t for them.
2. Reflect on your own behaviour.
Think about your own hopes and expectations. Is it possible you’re putting too much pressure on your child?
Let your child know they can be open with you if they feel you’re pressuring them. You might need to work with your partner or other adults in the child’s life to come up with a plan to temper your expectations or behaviour around children’s sport.
Is it possible you’re putting too much pressure on your child? Shutterstock
3. Consider other options.
Every child is different. Some thrive on competition and performance, others find it anxiety-provoking and distressing. Others don’t much care if they win or lose.
Most children, though, enjoy personal accomplishment and the opportunity sport provides to challenge themselves and improve skills.
So, if the old sport isn’t working out for your child, consider looking for something different. Many activities build fitness and a sense of accomplishment but don’t necessarily involve competition.
For example, our local gymnastic club runs “NinjaZone” classes that challenge children to use their strength and agility to complete obstacle courses. My nine-year-old loves it.
Kicking off a new sports season provides an opportunity to reflect on the past and on how you can help your child have a positive sporting experience.
After all, the long-term goal is for our children to build a lifelong enjoyment of physical activity so they can bring the physical health, mental health and social benefits into adulthood.
Cassy Dittman holds an Honorary Research Fellowship with the Parenting and Family Support Centre, which is partly funded by royalties stemming from published resources of the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, which is developed and owned by The University of Queensland (UQ). Royalties are also distributed to the Faculty of Health and Behavioral Sciences at UQ and contributory authors of published Triple P resources. Triple P International (TPI) Pty Ltd is a private company licensed by UniQuest Pty Ltd on behalf of UQ, to publish and disseminate Triple P worldwide. Cassy Dittman has no share or ownership of TPI, however as an author on Triple P Programs, she receives royalties from TPI. Cassy Dittman has received research funding from the National Rugby League.
Politicians around the world tout immigration restrictions as a way to fight wage stagnation and boost the job prospects of low-paid or unemployed locals.
The Trump administration pushed the message aggressively, at one stage calling a proposal to halve migration numbers the RAISE Act (standing for Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy), saying it would raise workers’ wages and help struggling families enter the middle class.
Whether or not cutting low-skilled migration would lift working class wages remains a highly contentious question.
My research examines the question in a broader way. Its findings – looking back at an extraordinary time of change in US history, from the 1880s on – suggest that while restricting immigration might at first help low-income workers, over time it hurts those local workers. This is due to what I call the “honeypot effect”, in which wage hikes for poor jobs keep people in poor jobs.
The problem is that there are very few real-world immigration restrictions to examine. Immigration to the global West has been rising steadily since the 1960s.
The COVID pandemic essentially eliminated immigration for a short time, but it is as good as impossible to isolate the effects of that from the effects of everything else that was going on at the same time.
America’s first exclusion: the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
Up until 1882, the US had an open-border policy with virtually no restrictions on entry. The Chinese Exclusion Act – introduced that year in response to the widespread belief that low-skilled Chinese immigrants were responsible for depressed wages and unemployment – was a first.
It was also long-lasting. It completely prohibited the immigration of Chinese labourers for more than fifty years.
It represents an ideal so-called “natural experiment”. Because Chinese immigration had been very heavily concentrated in certain locations, its impact was isolated to those locations, allowing what happened where it did restrict immigration to be compared to what happened where it did not.
And I discovered there was data. The US Government fully discloses Census data after 72 years. This allowed me to link individuals across US censuses to track the employment situation of millions of Americans over the entirety of their working lives.
A significant, negative, long-term effect
What I found was surprising. The Chinese Exclusion Act had a significant, negative long-term effect on American workers. My estimate is that workers in locations exposed to the Act earned on average 6-15% less over their working lives than their counterparts in other locations
The negative effects were strongest for low-skilled and unemployed workers.
The exclusion of Chinese immigrants not only failed to improve conditions for working-class Americans, but made them substantially worse off in the long run.
The honeypot and the occupational ladder
Then I set out to examine this seemingly counter-intuitive result: why shortages of low-skilled labour had led to worse long-term outcomes for low-skilled workers.
The answer appears to lie in a “honeypot” effect.
Higher low-skilled wages are attractive.
A closer look suggests the Chinese Exclusion Act was initially successful in boosting low-skilled wages and the employment of Americans in low-skilled jobs in the regions it had an effect.
This created a “honeypot” – American workers in those locations increasingly took and remained in low-skilled jobs. They became significantly less likely to become educated, meaning they fell behind their counterparts in other locations on the occupational ladder.
And their initial wage gains were short-lived, with increased arrivals from other countries and other parts of the US eventually filling the labour shortages.
This left the workers who had opted to stay in low-skilled jobs stuck with low pay, depressing their lifetime earnings compared to their counterparts in regions unaffected by the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Underlying the honeypot effect is the reality that most workers progress up an occupation ladder over their working lives, often as a result of education and training.
But education involves trade-offs. It can require giving up immediate income to earn more down the track.
Immediate income which is higher is harder to give up.
And there might be another mechanism at play. When low-skilled workers are in short supply, there might be fewer high-skilled jobs on offer because high-skilled jobs need low-skilled jobs to complement them.
Implications for today
The economy of 1882 bears little resemblance to today’s economy and we should take care in drawing general conclusions.
However, studies of modern immigration inflows into the United States and Europe also find they boost the education and occupational status of native workers, suggesting the processes underlying the honeypot effect are present in modern economies.
Immigration restrictions are too blunt an instrument and their effects are too complex to be used to boost wages and employment.
My findings suggest that even if restrictions are successful in creating wage gains for some in the short run, they are just as likely to lead to negative outcomes for locals in the long run.
This is not to say that increasing low-skilled wages is a bad thing. But immigration restrictions can only create temporary, unsustainable wage increases.
There are better, more sustainable ways to help low-skilled workers, backed by stronger evidence.
Attempts to help low-skilled workers should promote – or at the very least not discourage – education and occupational upgrading. That way they would help the low-skilled workers and the economy as a whole.
Dean Hoi receives funding from the University of Melbourne.
In today’s world it could be said, to a certain degree, that even a relatively impoverished person engages with luxury, in some way.
If you enjoy regulated heating or cooling at home, regular lighting, chicken meat, or eat chocolates, you are engaging with formats that once indicated luxury.
But what is, and is not, considered to be a luxury, changes with the times.
Decadence and luxury
When we describe a dessert as “decadent” today, we must remember it really means decaying, a concept related to the “Romans of the decadence” whose lavish lifestyles are held up as proof of why the Empire had to fail.
The Romans saw luxury as quintessentially foreign and therefore alien to the true and olden spirit of the Roman polis. This is why luxury was often represented as coming from “the Orient”, the source of rare scents, spices, gems, ivories and enslaved peoples.
As a result, the Romans introduced sumptuary laws, which were prescriptions to manage conspicuous consumption of things like expensive clothing and jewellery worn by social groups, but also the amount spent on banquets and even funerals.
This was necessary, because the ancient Romans enjoyed conspicuous luxury. They liked to eat food whose ingredients resembled another. They enjoyed delicacies such as fattened fowls, peacock, oysters, ham, wild boar and fig-peckers, the latter eaten whole, sometimes all combined together in a crusted paté, even though this was forbidden by the new laws. There were even luxuries in enslaved peoples. The poet Juvenal commented satirically that clearly it was better to have a bevy of pretty pageboys (exoleti) arranged according to their nationality, size and hair colour serving the drinks rather than coarse household help.
There is a long continuity in this type of consumption. In the 19th century, for example, there was a premium on tall footmen matching in size and the Victorians loved elaborate feasts with multiple courses.
Marissa Grootes/ Unsplash
Follow the money
By the mid 19th century, wealth from new industries created enormous fortunes at a time when taxation and labour costs were low.
North Americans became the richest people in the world. Clare Booth Luce, formerly married to the chairman of Time- Life, said:
In America money is a thing less valued in the spending than in the earning. It is less a symbol of luxury than of ‘success’, less of corruption than of virtue.
While Americans were good at making money, they seemed to need Europeans to spend it. The raft of rich American women who began to marry into the European aristocracy in the late 19th century were known as the “dollar princesses”, the term coming from a popular song. The British aristocracy were, of course, in turn marrying into this American wealth.
Between 1890 and 1914, half the world’s capital flowed through London. The Dollar Princesses paid for enormous renovations and modernisation of stately homes, were photographed with dozens of trunks as they moved across the Atlantic, and patronised the luxury establishments of jewellers, couturiers, florists and caterers.
The arrival of the wealthy Americans heiresses coincided with a series of challenges to the British aristocracy including the introduction of death duties, the rise in income tax and The Great Unrest of 1912.
Living in style
Between the end of the 19th century and the start of the first world war, luxury was widely reported and commented upon in diaries and memoirs. The house parties about which so much was written were characterised by excessive meals of great refinement, elaborate flowers and large numbers of visible servants.
Much luxury was French. Edward VII was a famed Francophile. The Entente Cordiale of 1904 benefited British French trade and travel.
Louis Vuitton opened in Bond St in 1900. His new flat trunks for cars were stackable, replacing older domed tops designed to repel water.
Cartier opened in London in 1902. Faberge also had a new London store.
The Paris Ritz opened in 1898 and the London Ritz Hotel in 1905, decorated in a newly fashionable white and gilt Louis XVI style.
Service Stripes
This was a period when wealthy women were laden with jewels: Kenneth Clark, the art historian, noted of a New York party in 1930 that the women “even brought pieces of jewellery in their hands and laid them down on the dinner table. This could have happened in the Middle Ages.”
Mrs Greville, one of the wealthiest women in England (daughter of a Scottish brewer), loved her jewels, owning pieces that could be traced back to Marie Antoinette and the Empress Josephine.
The late Queen Mother, a great lover of luxury and thoroughly Edwardian figure, inherited key pieces of jewellery from Mrs Greville in 1942, a friend from the time she was still Duchess of York.
But, as Elizabeth wrote in her diaries, she did not wear the lavish Cartier and Boucheron pieces until 1947, so as to not appear “out of sync” with the austerity movement immediately after the war. Profligate luxury risks looking out of step with public morals.
Simon Launay/ Unsplash
The Queen Mother wore all Mrs Greville’s jewels at her 80th Birthday party – and the owner of them now is Camilla, the Queen Consort. As Camilla is the grand-daughter of Edward VII’s mistress Mrs Keppel, the story comes full circle.
Mrs Greville left an estate in the 1940s worth approximately £39 million or 67 million AUD.
This is not much money if we compare it to the fortunes held by global billionaires today.
Gina Reinhart has between A$28.8 and A$31.4 billion. She lives discreetly part of the year in Dalkeith Perth in her late father’s home, in Singapore at a gated community, and on an ocean liner.
Luxury today
Today, luxury is seen as the embodiment of growing income inequality within states and communities, and also between different nations in the world. This is not new, although in the past luxury and inequality were seen as part of how a hierarchical society was structured: acknowledged, rather than seen as a problem.
Luxury is not the cause of inequality, though it might be one of its effects. When societies aims towards income and social equality (as some postwar societies did), luxury – or at least the public discussion of luxury – seems to disappear. By contrast, societies like the present, in which 1% of the population owns 49% of the world’s wealth, lead luxury to the fore.
Peter McNeil has received funding from The Leverhulme Trust. The Luxury publication project was co-authored with Professor Giorgo Riello of European University Institute.
The Governor of Oro province in Papua New Guinea, Gary Juffa, says Prime Minister James Marape encourages “honest debate” and discussion within his government.
The PNG coalition government is made up of 17 parties in an 118-seat Parliament. There are now only nine opposition MPs, after recent switches to government benches.
With so few opposition MPs, concerns have been raised that the opposition cannot effectively hold the government to account.
But Juffa disagrees, telling RNZ Pacific that disagreement and debate are encouraged between government MPs.
“There are MPs who monitor what is happening within government and do hold the government to account, there is a lot of debate and discussion in the government caucus,” he said.
“If the government makes a decision that the other members feel it’s not in the best interest of the country or the people they will voice their concerns.
“And that is actually a very — in my opinion — positive [feature] about the Marape government, the Marape government encourages dissent within his government.
Voicing their concerns “Our prime minister has allowed people and members of Parliament within the government to be critical, to voice their concerns.
“The past O’Neill government was very harsh towards any criticism, whereas the government of Marape allows criticism, and he has encouraged free media. He has allowed the media or he has encouraged the media to report. We do want the media to report factually.
“If they do report on critical concerns about the government then it is based on facts rather than rumour or rhetoric.
“Well, you know, I was in the opposition for seven years and nothing stopped me from speaking up. There were times when there were only five or four of us, but we still spoke up.
“You know, I think there are some good opposition MPs who were very vocal, and I don’t think it’s everyone joining the government-type situation. I think there are vocal active opposition MPs in Papua New Guinea,” he said.
Juffa, who founded the People’s Movement for Change party, of which he is the sole Member of Parliament, also commented on the government’s response to the violence which erupted during the 2022 election.
“The government has formed a parliamentary committee, chaired by Governor Allan Byrd, and it’s reached out to the Institute of National Affairs and other organisations. I believe they will also be working with the Commonwealth observers and other institutions, organisations that were critical of the elections,” he said.
Most violent election The poll was described as the most violent in the country’s 47 years of independence, with dozens of people losing their lives.
“So there have been immediate steps taken, I understand that the committee will be funded. It has the support of the executive government and the Prime Minister.
“And efforts are well underway to address and conduct a review of not just these elections, but previous elections and look at ensuring that the 2027 elections are a far more transparent, well-run well managed election than the ones we have seen in the past.”
RNZ Pacific’s correspondent in Papua New Guinea, Scott Waide, said that during polling that the violent extremes reflected wider public frustration in a poorly planned and managed election.
Juffa said unfortunately the reality was that there was a lot yet to be done in many parts of Papua New Guinea, “violence is very much prevailing”.
“Still, during these types of situations, we want to address them, and I believe the prime minister, the police minister and other members of Parliament charged with the responsibility are doing the best they can,” he said.
During the 2022 general election, Papua New Guinea police and electoral authorities were on the verge of declaring failed elections in some parts of the country at one stage where violence had all but halted the electoral process.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
With murders, contract killings, ambushes, war zone deaths and fatal injuries, a staggering total of 1668 journalists have been killed worldwide in connection with their work in the last two decades (2003-2022), according to the tallies by the Paris-based global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) based on its annual round-ups.
This gives an average of more than 80 journalists killed every year. The total killed since 2000 is 1787.
RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said:
“Behind the figures, there are the faces, personalities, talent and commitment of those who have paid with their lives for their information gathering, their search for the truth and their passion for journalism.
In each of its annual round-ups, RSF has continued to document the unjustifiable violence that has specifically targeted media workers.
This year’s end is an appropriate time to pay tribute to them and to appeal for full respect for the safety of journalists wherever they work and bear witness to the world’s realities.
Darkest years The annual death tolls peaked in 2012 and 2013 with 144 and 142 journalists killed, respectively. These peaks, due in large measure to the war in Syria, were followed by a gradual fall and then historically low figures from 2019 onwards.
Sadly, the number of journalists killed in connection with their work in 2022 — 58 according to RSF’s Press Freedom Barometer on December 28 — was the highest in the past four years and was 13.7 percent higher than in 2021, when 51 journalists were killed.
15 most dangerous countries During the past two decades, 80 percent of the media fatalities have occurred in 15 countries. The two countries with the highest death tolls are Iraq and Syria, with a combined total of 578 journalists killed in the past 20 years, or more than a third of the worldwide total.
They are followed by Afghanistan, Yemen and Palestine. Africa has not been spared, with Somalia coming next.
With 47.4 percent of the journalists killed in 2022, America is nowadays clearly the world’s most dangerous continent for the media, which justifies the implementation of specific protection policies.
Asia also has many countries on this tragic list, including the Philippines, with more than 100 journalists killed since the start of 2003, Pakistan with 93, and India with 58.
Women journalists also victims Finally, while many more male journalists (more than 95 percent) have been killed in war zones or in other circumstances than their female counterparts, the latter have not been spared.
A total of 81 women journalists have been killed in the past 20 years — 4.86 percent of the total media fatalities.
Since 2012, 52 have been killed, in many cases after investigating women’s rights. Some years have seen spikes in the number of women journalists killed, and some of the spikes have been particularly alarming.
In 2017, ten women journalists were killed (as against 64 male journalists) — a record 13.5 percent of that year’s total media fatalities.
Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.
Fiji Deputy Prime Minister Viliame Gavoka says the Media Industry Development Act will be replaced soon.
Speaking to members of the media after the coalition agreement signing for Fiji’s new government on Friday, he said the three leaders were in harmony in terms of repealing the Act.
“Absolutely free, we want to remove any kind of prohibitions and restrictions,” Gavoka said.
He said it was the wish of the coalition government for the media to be free and for the people of Fiji to live in a free society.
“We want you to be totally free to act and that is also the part of understanding — we live in a totally free country,” he said.
Pacific Media Watch reports that Associate Professor Shailendra Singh, head of the University of the South Pacific regional journalism programme, commented on Twitter:
Fiji’s much-criticised punitive Media Act to be replaced — question is replaced with what? Since its implementation 13 yrs ago no one has been charged under the Act underscoring its redundancy.
But it was like a noose [around the] media’s neck and blamed for self-censorship/chilling effect.
Pauliasi Matebotois a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.
Fiji’s much-criticized punitive MediaAct to be replaced- question is replaced with what? Since its implementation 13yrs ago no one has been charged under the Act underscoring it’s redundancy. But it was like a noose in media’s neck and blamed for self-censorship/chilling effect. https://t.co/DiwUv93CPp
Travellers from China to Australia will be required to have a negative pre-departure covid-19 test from January 5 — and New Zealand says it is now assessing the health risks.
NZ government duty minister Stuart Nash said tonight that New Zealand was currently assessing the situation.
“I’ve been informed today that Australia has announced pre-departure testing for travellers arriving from China. This measure is being taken in response to the rapidly unfolding situation in China,” he said.
“New Zealand has a public health risk assessment under way which will be completed in the next 24 hours.
“Our response will remain proportionate to the potential risks posed by travellers and in the context of the international situation.”
New Zealand, to date, had said it has no plans to introduce testing for Chinese visitors, the Ministry of Health said last week.
An ‘abundance of caution’ Australia’s Health Minister Mark Butler said this decision was taken out of an “abundance of caution” and a temporary measure due to the lack of detailed information about the epidemiological situation in China.
“That lack of comprehensive information has led a number of countries in recent days to put in place various measures — not to restrict travel from China, it’s important to say — but to gather better information about what is happening epidemiologically in that country,” he said.
Butler said the government warmly welcomed visitors from China, and Australia was “well positioned right now in the fight against covid”.
“The resumption of travel between China and Australia poses no immediate public health threat to Australians,” he said.
Butler said universities and the tourism industry would also welcome the resumption of travel from China, as would people who had long been separated from their family and friends.
“We know there are many many hundreds of thousands of Chinese Australians who have been unable to see family and friends for months — and, in some cases, years — and their ability to do that over the coming period will be a matter of considerable joy for them, particularly as we head into the Lunar New Year period,” he said.
Butler said that, although the subvariant that appeared to be driving the wave in China was already present in Australia, the situation was “developing very quickly”.
Concerns over new variant “There are concerns, in an environment of cases spreading so quickly, about the possibility of the emergence of a new variant,” he said.
“Now there’s no evidence of that right now.
“This is a measure taken out of an abundance of caution to provide Australians and the Australian government with the best possible information about a fast-evolving situation.”
Butler said the Chinese government was informed about the measures this morning.
“It won’t come as any surprise to the Chinese government that Australia is putting this arrangement in place, I don’t think, given the broad range of countries that have taken similar steps over the last 48 to 72 hours,” he said.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Science and maths skills are widely celebrated as keys to economic and technological progress, but abstract mathematics may seem bafflingly far from industrial optimisation or medical imaging. Pure mathematics often yields unanticipated applications, but without a time machine to look into the future, how do mathematicians like me choose what to study?
Over Thai noodles, I asked some colleagues what makes a problem interesting, and they offered a slew of suggestions: surprises, contradictions, patterns, exceptions, special cases, connections. These answers might sound quite different, but they all support a view of the mathematical universe as a structure to explore.
In this view, mathematicians are like anatomists learning how a body works, or navigators charting new waters. The questions we ask take many forms, but the most interesting ones are those that help us see the big picture more clearly.
Making maps
Mathematical objects come in many forms. Some of them are probably quite familiar, like numbers and shapes. Others might seem more exotic, like equations, functions and symmetries.
Instead of just naming objects, a mathematicians might ask how some class of objects is organised. Take prime numbers: we know there are infinitely many of them, but we need a structural understanding to work out how frequently they occur or to identify them in an efficient way.
The ‘Ulam spiral’ reveals some structure in the primes. If you arrange the counting numbers in squares spiralling outward, it becomes clear that many prime numbers fall on diagonal lines. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Other good questions explore relationships between apparently different objects. For example, shapes have symmetry, but so do the solutions to some equations.
Classifying objects and finding connections between them help us assemble a coherent map of the mathematical world. Along the way, we sometimes encounter surprising examples that defy the patterns we’ve inferred.
Such apparent contradictions reveal where our understanding is still lacking, and resolving them provides valuable insight.
Consider the triangle
The humble triangle provides a famous example of an apparent contradiction. Most people think of a triangle as the shape formed by three connecting line segments, and this works well for the geometry we can draw on a sheet of paper.
However, this notion of triangle is limited. On a surface with no straight lines, like a sphere or a curly kale leaf, we need a more flexible definition.
So, to extend geometry to surfaces that aren’t flat, an open-minded mathematician might propose a new definition of a triangle: pick three points and connect each pair by the shortest path between them.
This is a great generalisation because it matches the familiar definition in the familiar setting, but it also opens up new terrain. When mathematicians first studied these generalised triangles in the 19th century, they solved a millennia-old mystery and revolutionised mathematics.
The parallel postulate problem
Around 300 BC, the Greek mathematician Euclid wrote a treatise on planar geometry called The Elements. This work presented both fundamental principles and results that were logically derived from them.
One of his principles, called the parallel postulate, is equivalent to the statement that the sum of the angles in any triangle is 180°. This is exactly what you’ll measure in every flat triangle, but later mathematicians debated whether the parallel postulate should be a foundational principle or just a consequence of the other fundamental assumptions.
This puzzle persisted until the 1800s, when mathematicians realised why a proof had remained so elusive: the parallel postulate is false on some surfaces.
On a sphere, the sides of a triangle bend away from each other and the angles add up to more than 180°. On a rippled kale leaf, the sides bow in towards each other and the angle sum is less than 180°.
Triangles where the angle sum breaks the apparent rule led to the revelation that there are kinds of geometry Euclid never imagined. This is a deep truth, with applications in physics, computer graphics, fast algorithms, and beyond.
Salad days
People sometimes debate whether mathematics is discovered or invented, but both points of view feel real to those of us who study mathematics for a living. Triangles on a piece of kale are skinny whether or not we notice them, but selecting which questions to study is a creative enterprise.
Interesting questions arise from the friction between patterns we understand and the exceptions that challenge them. Progress comes when we reconcile apparent contradictions that pave the way to identify new ones.
Today we understand the geometry of two-dimensional surfaces well, so we’re equipped to test ourselves against similar questions about higher-dimensional objects.
In the past few decades we’ve learned that three-dimensional spaces also have their own innate geometries. The most interesting one is called hyperbolic geometry, and it turns out to act like a three-dimensional version of curly kale. We know this geometry exists, but it remains mysterious: in my own research field, there are lots of questions we can answer for any three-dimensional space … except the hyperbolic ones.
In higher dimensions we still have more questions than answers, but it’s safe to say that study of four-dimensional geometry is entering its salad days.
Joan Licata 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.
One of the most popular new year’s resolutions is to exercise more. Many of us set ambitious goals requiring a big, regular commitment, but then abandon them because they’re too much to fit in. Plans to exercise more in the new year are often broken within a month.
So how can we exercise more regularly in the new year?
If the aim is to build long-term fitness and health, the exercise must be sustainable. It may be achievable to resolve to do an extra few minutes of muscle-strengthening exercises every day.
Our research suggests even one muscle contraction a day, for five days a week, can improve muscle strength if you keep it up for a month.
Physical activity guidelines recommended we perform 150 minutes of moderately intense exercise a week, as well as at least two muscle strengthening exercise sessions per week.
Skeletal muscle tissue declines with age, causing a loss of function and independence in older adults. So it’s important to include muscle strengthening exercises regularly to stimulate skeletal muscles of the legs, arms and trunk.
However, 85% of Australians don’t meet the physical activity recommendations to do both aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercises a week. The reasons include a lack of time, a lack of motivation, and no access to a workout facility.
It’s important to address these barriers, as physical inactivity increases the risk of many chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis (weakened bones), dementia, depression and anxiety.
Short bouts of exercise can boost your muscle strength
My research team’s recent study found a small amount of regular resistance training can be better than doing one massive session, even if the amount of exercise overall was the same.
We asked participants to do an arm curl exercise consisting of 30 maximal contractions (so, contracting the muscle as hard as they could) each week for four weeks. One group did six contractions a day for five days a week; the other did 30 repetitions once a week.
The group that did them all in one go had no gains in muscle strength, whereas the group that spread the 30 repetitions over five days increased their muscle strength by more than 10%.
In a separate study, we showed that doing one three-second bicep muscle contraction a day, five days a week, increased muscle strength by 12%.
Participants contracted their muscles from a flexed to an extended position, like slowly lowering a heavy weight.
In both studies, participants used special equipment in our lab, and used as much strength as they could, but lowering a heavy dumbbell slowly several times could deliver similar results.
For a heavy dumbbell, it’s better to lift it with two arms and lower it with one arm to emphasise the eccentric muscle contraction. Shutterstock
Incorporate exercise into your daily activities
We are investigating the effects of five-minutes daily “eccentric” exercises on health and fitness of sedentary people. Eccentric exercises activate and lengthen muscles.
Author provided, The Conversation
We have already investigated the effects of sitting to a chair slowly and found it is effective for improving leg muscle strength, chair sit-stand ability, walking ability, and balance in older adults.
Many of us sit down on a chair or a sofa more than ten times a day. So, if we sit down slowly every time we sit, we perform at least ten eccentric contractions of the muscles that work to extend the knee joints, a day. This is a good opportunity for us to perform eccentric exercise daily to simulate our leg muscles.
Eccentric contractions not only affect muscle, they can also improve health indicators such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Start small, then build momentum
Our studies have focused on resistance exercise, but it also applies for aerobic exercise. Five minutes of walking every day can still be beneficial for your health.
However, if you’re already doing regular gym workouts every week, adding a little exercise each day may not produce much of an added effect, so it is not necessary to replace a consistent regular exercise routine with smaller micro-sessions.
But for those starting out, who might find taking on a big exercise commitment daunting, doing a little bit of exercise, often, is a good start. Once your fitness has improved, you can add more exercise.
So what about setting a resolution to spend five minutes exercising every day in 2023?
Once you’ve set your goals, what can help you achieve them? Based on our research, we’ve distilled 12 goal-enablers. These cover four broad principles you can use to keep yourself on track.
You don’t have to do all 12. Just focusing on the most relevant three to five can make a big difference.
Set relevant supporting goals
An outcome goal isn’t enough. Set clear supporting goals that equip you to attain that outcome.
1. Behavioural goals stipulate the actions required to reach your outcome goal. If you want to change jobs, for example, behavioural goals could include working out what job you want, networking with relevant people, getting advice on your resume, and submitting at least three job applications each month.
2. Learning goals are the knowledge and skills you need to achieve your goal. Ways to identify your highest-priority learning goals, and how to attain them, include seeking advice from others who have mastered the skill you aim to learn, working with a coach, or watching instructional videos.
3. Sub-goals are small milestones on the way to your goal. They indicate your rate of progress towards attaining your ultimate goal. They can also provide a motivating sense of momentum.
Sub-goals are stepping stones on your way to achieving your end goal. Shutterstock
Build your internal motivation
This is the inner energy and focus that fuels, directs and sustains your efforts to reach your goals.
4. Connect goals to passions. If you like feeling like you’re on a mission, try framing your goals as reflecting a novice, apprentice or master level of development. If competition gets you going, perhaps frame your learning or sub-goals as indicating a bronze, silver, gold or platinum level of performance.
6. Build self-efficacy. Your self-efficacy is your belief in your capacity to succeed at a particular task. Set modest initial goals you are likely to achieve (see point 3). Ensure you have adequate resources and support (see point 8). If you find yourself thinking defeatist thoughts – “I don’t think I can do this” or “I’m too old for this” – then stop and think more encouraging thoughts instead.
Craft an enabling context
An enabling context helps keep your goals front of mind and sustains you in working to achieve them.
7. Implementation intentions stipulate when to pursue behavioural goals. These intentions increase the odds of attaining any goal. Two types are:
When-then intentions (for example: “When I am tempted to eat a snack, then I will drink a glass of water and wait 10 minutes to see if I still feel I need that snack”)
After-then intentions (for example: “After I eat lunch each day, then I’ll walk for at least 15 minutes somewhere green with my phone off”).
8. Ensure adequate resources. These could include adequate materials, technology, support of others, time and energy (enabled by an effective recovery routine).
9. Seek useful feedback to help gauge your progress and correct errors. Try asking the following questions: What happened? What went right? What went not so well and why? What can be learned? What are one or two things I can now do differently?
Anticipate and manage obstacles
As boxer Mike Tyson once said: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” You need to be realistic about competing priorities and distractions bound to get in the way.
10. Identify and plan to manage points of choice, where other temptations may divert you from pursuing your goal. Points of choice may arise from within yourself (such as feeling tired, distracted or uninspired) or your surroundings (such as work pressures or family responsibilities). Plan ahead as to what you will do when these points of choice arise.
Be prepared for points of choice. Shutterstock
11. Remind yourself it’s OK to make mistakes. Repeating “error management training” mantras has been shown to improve learning and performance, particularly on complex tasks where people need to learn their way to a solution. Try these:
Errors are a natural part of the learning process.
I have made an error. Great! That gives me something to learn from.
12. Keep building your commitment. Lose that and all bets are off! All the above steps will help. It can also help to share your goals and progress with others, but choose carefully. Share your journey with people you respect, whose opinion of you matters, and whom you know won’t be a wet blanket.
Good luck. You’ve got this!
Ute-Christine Klehe receives funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Lauren A. Keating and Peter A. Heslin 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.
As we welcome in the new year, a common activity across many cultures is the setting of new year resolutions. New year represents a significant temporal milestone in the calendar when many people set new goals for the year ahead. Here in Australia, over 70% of men and women (over 14 million Australians) are reported to have set at least one new year resolution in 2022.
New year pledges or promises are not new. This practice has been around for some time. Most ancient cultures practised some type of religious tradition or festival at the beginning of the new year.
Early 20th-century new year’s resolution postcards. Wikimedia
The Babylonians
Historically, the first recorded people to set new year pledges (later to become known as resolutions) are the Ancient Babylonians some 4,000 years ago.
The Babylonians are also the first civilisation to hold recorded celebrations in honour of the new year. Though for the Babylonians the year began not in January, but in mid March, when the crops were being planted. New year resolutions for the Babylonians were intertwined with religion, mythology, power, and socioeconomic values.
The Babylonians are said to have initiated the tradition of a 12-day new year festival called Akitu. Statues of the deities were paraded through the city streets, and rites were enacted to symbolise victory over the forces of chaos.
During this festival people planted crops, pledged their allegiance to the reigning king or crowned a new king, and made promises to repay debts in the year ahead. The Babylonians believed if they fulfilled their new year promises, then the Gods would look favourably upon them in the new year.
Akitu was the Babylonian festival for the new year. Wikimedia
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome continued the tradition of celebrating new year and setting new year pledges. The Roman new year was initially celebrated on March 15 (The Ides of March), as this was the time the most important Roman officials (Consuls) took office.
The festival of Anna Perenna, an Italian goddess of the new year and the beginning of spring, was also celebrated on March 15.
The emperor Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, in 46 BC, which declared January 1 as the start of the new year. This new date was to honour the Roman god, Janus.
Symbolically, Janus has two faces, to look back on the previous year and to look forward into the new year. Janus was the protector of doors, archways, thresholds and transitions into new beginnings.
Statue representing Janus Bifrons in the Vatican Museums. Wikimedia
Each new year Romans would offer sacrifices to Janus and pledge renewed bonds between citizens, the state, and the deities. Blessings and gifts were exchanged (for example sweet fruit and honey), and allegiances pledged to the emperor. New year celebrations and pledges were embedded into spirituality, power structures, and the societal fabric of the Roman culture.
The age of chivalry
In the Middle Ages (around 500 to 1500 A.D), medieval knights pledged their allegiance and renewed their vows to chivalry and knightly valour each new year.
Legend has it the most celebrated chivalry vows were those called “The Vow of the Peacock” or the “Pheasant”. The knights placed their hands on a live or roast peacock and renewed their vows to maintain knighthood values.
The splendid and various colours of these birds is thought to have symbolised the majesty of kings and nobility.
Beyond knightly valour and honour, however, chivalry served social and religious functions. Chivalry reinforced social divisions of wealth, prestige and superiority that served the interests of the ruling nobility and landed aristocrats. Thus, knighthood became analogous to an elite members’ club.
In the Middle Ages, new year was celebrated by different societies at different times of the year. Due to a timing miscalculation, the Julian calendar had resulted in seven extra days by the year 1000.
An early 14th-century German manuscript depicting a knight and his lady. Wikimedia Commons
Modern times
To solve problems associated with the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar was instigated by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. The new year was officially reinstated to January 1.
Religion continued to exert a significant social and cultural influence on the purpose and function of people’s new year pledges. For instance, in the 19th century, Protestantism emphasised setting pledges strongly aligned to religion, spirituality, and moral character.
However, in the 1800s there is some evidence resolutions were beginning to be satirised. For instance, a series of satirical resolutions were being reported in the Walker’s Hibernian Magazine (1802), “Statesmen have resolved to have no other object in view than the good of their country”.
Resolutions had become a common activity, and people were making and breaking pledges just as they do to this day. For instance, as early as 1671, the Scottish writer Anne Halkett recorded in her diary the resolution, “I will not offend anymore”.
As in earlier times, people from across cultures continue to celebrate the new year (though at different times), and to set resolutions. Just as ancient civilisations would pray for rich harvest, resolutions today tend to also project societal values.
Contemporary resolutions tend to be more secular than religious or societal in nature. Conceptually, however, new year resolutions continue to capture people’s imagination, hopes, and promises for betterment. Even after 4,000 years, the new year continues to symbolise a new threshold. An opportunity for a fresh start.
Joanne Dickson 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.
Whistleblower Owen Wilkes was a tireless and formidable researcher for the Pacific, peace and disarmament. Before the internet, he combed publicly available sources on weapons systems and defence strategy.
In 1968, he revealed the secretive military function of a proposed satellite tracking station in the South Island, and while working in Sweden he was charged with espionage and deported after photographing intriguing but publicly visible installations.
In a new book about his life, Peacemonger, edited by May Bass and Mark Derby, Nicky Hager writes about Wilkes’ research techniques:
Owen Wilkes was an outstanding researcher, a role model of how someone can make a difference in the world by good research. But how did he actually do it? Owen managed to study complex subjects such as Cold War communications systems, secret intelligence facilities and foreign military activities in the Pacific.
There are many important and useful lessons we can learn from how he did this work. The world needs more public interest researchers, on militarism and other subjects. Owen’s self-taught research techniques are like a masterclass in how it is done.
Lots of information isn’t secret, just hard to find Owen worked for many years, sitting at his large desk at the Peace Movement office in Wellington, researching the military communications systems set up to launch and fight nuclear war. How was this possible?
We are a bit conditioned currently to imagine the only option would be leaked documents from a whistleblower. The first secret of Owen’s success is that he had learned that large amounts of information on these subjects can be found and pieced together from obscure but publicly available sources.
The heart of his research method was long hours spent poring over US government records and military industry magazines, gathering the precious crumbs of detail like someone panning for gold.
Behind the large desk were shelves and shelves of open-topped file boxes, each with a cryptic title. These boxes were full of photocopied documents and handwritten notes from his researching. This may all sound very pre-internet; indeed it was largely pre-digital.
International peace researcher Owen Wilkes . . . an inspirational resource person for a nuclear-free Pacific and many other disarmament issues. Image: Peacemonger screenshot
But what Owen was doing would today be called “open source” research and his work is far superior to that carried out by many people with Google and other digital tools at their fingertips. Probably his favourite source of all was a publicly available US defence magazine called Aviation Week and Space Technology. The magazine (now online) is written for military staff and arms manufacturers, keeping them informed about developments in weapons, aircraft and “C3I” systems, which stands for Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence systems: one of Owen’s main areas of speciality.
The magazine also covered Owen’s speciality of “space based” military systems, such as military communication and surveillance satellites. In Owen’s files, which can be viewed at the National Library in Wellington, Aviation Week and Space Technology appears often. In a file box called USA Space Systems is a clipping from 1983 about the US Air Force awarding a contract for a ballistic missile early warning system (nuclear war-fighting equipment). The article revealed that the early warning system would be based at air force bases in Alaska, Greenland and Fylingdales, England — three clues about US foreign military activities.
By reading and storing away details from numerous such articles, spanning many years, Owen built up a more and more detailed understanding of military and intelligence systems.
The other endlessly useful source Owen used was US Congress and Senate hearings and reports about the US military budget. This is where each year the US military spells out its military construction plans, new weapons, technology programmes and the rest; often with figures broken down to the level of individual countries and military bases.
Senior military officials appear at hearings to explain the threats and strategies that justify the spending. As with the military magazines, Owen systematically mined these reports year after year for interesting detail.
He was especially keen on the US Congress’ Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Military Construction Appropriations. His files on US antisatellite weapons, for instance, contain a document from this subcommittee about new Anti-Satellite System Facilities (project number 11610) based at Langley Air Force base, Virginia. It had been approved by the president in the renewed Cold War of the mid-1980s to target Soviet satellites. Details like this were pieces in a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle.
When he was based at the Peace Movement Aotearoa office in Wellington, from 1983 until about 1992, Owen spent long hours at the US Embassy library studying the Military Construction Appropriations and other US government documents. Each year the library received copies of the documents as microfiche (microphotos of each page on a film). Owen was a familiar visitor, hunched over the microfiche reader making notes and printing out interesting pages.
Many times this gave the first clue of construction somewhere in the world, pointing to that country hosting some new US military, nuclear or intelligence activity. The annual US military appropriation information is available to a researcher today. In fact it is now more easily accessed since it is online. But, if anything, Owen’s pre-digital techniques make it clearer how this research is done well. It’s a good reminder that the best sources of information are most often not in the first 10 or 20 hits of a Google search, the point where many people stop looking.
Experience and persistence An important ingredient in all these methods is persistence. The methods usually work best if, like Owen, a researcher sticks at them over time. Sticking at a subject means you start to recognise names and places in an otherwise boring document, appreciate the significance of some fragment of information and understand the big picture into which each piece of information fits.
Someone who reads deeply and studies a subject over a number of years can in effect become, like Owen, an expert. They may, like him, have no formal university qualifications. But they can know more about their subject than nearly anyone else, which is a good definition of an expert. They recognise the names and places and appreciate the significance of new evidence.
A textbook example of this was when Owen returned to New Zealand in the early 1980s and went to see a recently discovered secret military site near the beach settlement of Tangimoana in the Manawatu.
Owen, who had spent years studying secret bases around the world, was the New Zealander most likely to know what he was looking at. There, on one side of the base, was a large circle of antenna poles: a CDAA circularly-disposed antenna array. It instantly told him the Tangimoana facility was a signals intelligence base. It had the same equipment and was part of the same networks as the bases he had studied in Norway and Sweden.
Ensuring his research was noticed The purpose of Owen’s work was to make a difference to the issues he researched. A final and vital part of the work was getting attention for the findings of his research. Owen often spoke in the news and he wrote about the issues he was studying. Research, writing and speaking up are essential ingredients in political change. The part of this he probably enjoyed most was travelling and speaking in public to interested groups.
During the 1980s, he had major speaking tours to countries including Japan, the Philippines, Australia and Canada (and often around New Zealand). During these trips he would present information about military and intelligence activities in those countries. A 1985 trip to Canada, which he shared with prominent Palau leader Roman Bedor, was typical. He was in Canada for seven weeks, speaking in most parts of the country and numerous times on radio and television.
One of the things he emphasised was that Canadians, as residents of a Pacific country, should be thinking about what was going on in the Pacific. One of Owen’s recurrent themes was the importance of being aware of the Pacific.
The final ingredient of a good researcher is caring about the subjects they are working on. This can be heard clearly in everything Owen wrote about the Pacific. He described the Pacific being used for submarine-based nuclear weapons and facilities used to prepare for nuclear war. He talked about the big powers using the Pacific as the “backside of the globe”, epitomised by tiny Johnston Atoll west of Hawai’i where the US military does “anything too unpopular, too dangerous and too secret to do elsewhere”.
He talked about things that were getting better: French nuclear testing on the way out; chemical weapons being destroyed. But also the region being used as a site for great power rivalry; and, under multiple pressures, the small Pacific countries being at risk of becoming “more repressive, less democratic”. He cared, and that was at the heart of being a public-interest researcher for decades.
Many of the problems he described are still occurring today. More research, more good research, on these issues and many others is crying out to be done.
The Pacific year started with a ferocious eruption and global tsunami in Tonga, but by the year’s end several political upheavals had also shaken the region with a vengeance.
A razor’s edge election in Fiji blew away a long entrenched authoritarian regime with a breath of fresh air for the Pacific, two bitterly fought polls in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu left their mark, and growing geopolitical rivalry with the US and Australia contesting China’s security encroachment in the Solomon Islands continues to spark convulsions for years to come.
It was ironical that the two major political players in Fiji were both former coup leaders and ex-military chiefs — the 1987 double culprit Sitiveni Rabuka, a retired major-general who is credited with introducing the “coup culture” to Fiji, and Voreqe Bainimarama, a former rear admiral who staged the “coup to end all coups” in 2006.
And pundits had been predicting that the 74-year-old Rabuka, a former prime minister in the 1990s, and his People’s Alliance-led coalition would win. However, after a week-long stand-off and uncertainty, Rabuka’s three-party coalition emerged victorious and Rabuka was elected PM by a single vote majority.
Fiji’s new guard leadership . . . Professor Biman Prasad (left), one of three deputy Prime Ministers, and Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka share a joke before the elections. Image: Jonacani Lalakobau/The Fiji Times
In Samoa the previous year, the change had been possibly even more dramatic when a former deputy prime minister in the ruling Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa, led her newly formed Fa’atuatua I le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party to power to become the country’s first woman prime minister.
Overcoming a hung Parliament, Mata’afa ousted the incumbent Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, who had been prime minister for 23 years and his party had been in power for four decades. But he refused to leave office, creating a constitutional crisis.
At one stage this desperate and humiliating cling to power by the incumbent looked set to be repeated in Fiji.
Yet this remarkable changing of the guard in Fiji got little press in New Zealand newspapers. The New Zealand Herald, for example, buried what could could have been an ominous news agency report on the military callout in Fiji in the middle-of the-paper world news section.
“Buried” news . . . a New Zealand Herald report about a last-ditched effort by the incumbent FijiFirst government to cling to power published on page A13 on 23 December 2022. Image: APR screenshot
Fiji Although Bainimarama at first refused to concede defeat after being in power for 16 years, half of them as a military dictator, the kingmaker opposition party Sodelpa sided — twice — with the People’s Alliance (21 seats) and National Federation Party (5 seats) coalition.
Sodelpa’s critical three seats gave the 29-seat coalition a slender cushion over the 26 seats of Bainimarama’s FijiFirst party which had failed to win a majority for the first time since 2014 in the expanded 55-seat Parliament.
The ousted Attorney-General and Justice Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum – popularly branded as the “Minister of Everything” with portfolios and extraordinary power in the hands of one man – is arguably the most hated person in Fiji.
Sayed-Khaiyum’s cynical “divisive” misrepresentation of Rabuka and the alliance in his last desperate attempt to cling to power led to a complaint being filed with Fiji police, accusing him of “inciting communal antagonism”.
He reportedly left Fiji for Australia on Boxing Day and the police issued a border alert for him while the Home Affairs Minister, Pio Tikoduadua, asked Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho, a former military brigadier-general to resign over allegations of bias and lack of confidence. He refused so the new government will have to use the formal legal steps to remove him.
Just days earlier, Fiji lawyer Imrana Jalal, a human rights activist and a former Human Rights Commission member, had warned the people of Fiji in a social media post not to be tempted into “victimisation or targeted prosecutions” without genuine evidence as a result of independent investigations.
“If we do otherwise, then we are no better than the corrupt regime [that has been] in power for the last 16 years,” she added.
“We need to start off the right way or we are tainted from the beginning.”
However, the change of government unleashed demonstrations of support for the new leadership and fuelled hope for more people-responsive policies, democracy and transparency.
Writing in The Sydney Morning Herald, academic Dr Sanjay Ramesh commented in an incisive analysis of Fiji politics: “With … Rabuka back at the helm, there is hope that the indigenous iTaukei population’s concerns on land and resources, including rampant poverty and unemployment, in their community will be finally addressed.”
He was also critical of the failure of the Mission Observer Group (MoG) under the co-chair of Australia to “see fundamental problems” with the electoral system and process which came close to derailing the alliance success.
“While the MoG was enjoying Fijian hospitality, opposition candidates were being threatened, intimidated, and harassed by FFP [FijiFirst Party] thugs. The counting of the votes was marred by a ‘glitch’ on 14 December 2022 . . . leaving many opposition parties questioning the integrity of the vote counting process.”
Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and his wife Sulueti Rabuka with their great grandson, three-year-old Dallas Ligamamada Ropate Newman Wye, in front of their home at Namadi Heights in Suva. Image: Sophie Ralulu/The Fiji Times
“Our country is experiencing a great and joyful awakening,” he said. “It gladdens my heart to be a part of it. And I am reminded of the heavy responsibilities I now bear.”
The coalition wasted no time in embarking on its initial 100-day programme and signalled the fresh new ‘open” approach by announcing that Professor Pal Ahluwalia, the Samoa-based vice-chancellor of the regional University of the South Pacific — deported unjustifiably by the Bainimarama government — and the widow of banned late leading Fiji academic Dr Brij Lal were both free to return.
Paul Barker, director of the Institute of National Affairs, discussing why the 2022 PNG elections were so bad. Video: ABC News
Papua New Guinea Earlier in the year, in August, Prime Minister James Marape was reelected as the country’s leader after what has been branded by many critics as the “worst ever” general election — it was marred by greater than ever violence, corruption and fraud.
As the incumbent, Marape gained the vote of 97 MPs — mostly from his ruling Pangu Pati that achieved the second-best election result ever of a PNG political party — in the expanded 118-seat Parliament. With an emasculated opposition, nobody voted against him and his predecessor, Peter O’Neill, walked out of the assembly in disgust
Papua New Guinea has a remarkable number of parties elected to Parliament — 23, not the most the assembly has had — and 17 of them backed Pangu’s Marape to continue as prime minister. Only two women were elected, including Governor Rufina Peter of Central Province.
However, while acknowledging the shortcomings, the analysts said that the actual results should not be “neglected”. Stressing how the PNG electoral system favours incumbents — the last four prime ministers have been reelected — they argued for change to the “incumbency bias”.
“If you can’t remove a PM through the electoral system, MPs will try all the harder to do so through a mid-term vote of no confidence,” they wrote.
“How to change this isn’t clear (Marape in his inaugural speech mooted a change to a presidential system), but something needs to be done — as it does about the meagre political representation of women.”
Gloria Julia King, first woman in the Vanuatu Parliament for a decade, with Ralph Regenvanu returning from a funeral on Ifira island in Port Vila. Image: Ralph Regenvanu/Twitter
Vanuatu In Vanuatu in November, a surprise snap election ended the Vanua’aku Pati’s Bob Loughman prime ministership. Parliament was dissolved on the eve of a no-confidence vote called by opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu.
With no clear majority from any of the contesting parties, Loughman’s former deputy, lawyer and an ex-Attorney-General, Ishmael Kalsakau, leader of the Union of Moderate Parties, emerged as the compromise leader and was elected unopposed by the 52-seat Parliament.
A feature was the voting for Gloria Julia King, the first woman MP to be elected to Vanuatu’s Parliament in a decade. She received a “rapturous applause” when she stepped up to take the first oath of office.
RNZ Pacific staff journalist Lydia Lewis and Port Vila correspondent Hilaire Bule highlighted the huge challenges faced by polling officials and support staff in remote parts of Vanuatu, including the exploits of soldier Samuel Bani who “risked his life” wading through chest-high water carrying ballot boxes.
Tongan volcano-tsunami disaster Tonga’s violent Hunga Ha’apai-Hunga Tonga volcano eruption on January 15 was the largest recorded globally since the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883. It triggered tsunami waves of up to 15m, blanketed ash over 5 sq km — killing at least six people and injuring 19 — and sparked a massive multinational aid relief programme.
The crisis was complicated because much of the communication with island residents was crippled for a long time.
As Dale Dominey-Howes stressed in The Conversation, “in our modern, highly-connected world, more than 95 percent of global data transfer occurs along fibre-optic cables that criss-cross through the world’s oceans.
“Breakage or interruption to this critical infrastructure can have catastrophic local, regional and even global consequences.”
“This is exactly what has happened in Tonga following the volcano-tsunami disaster. But this isn’t the first time a natural disaster has cut off critical submarine cables, and it won’t be the last.”
Covid-19 in Pacific While the impact of the global covid-19 pandemic receded in the Pacific during the year, new research from the University of the South Pacific provided insight into the impact on women working from home. While some women found the challenge enjoyable, others “felt isolated, had overwhelming mental challenges and some experienced domestic violence”.
“Women with young children had a lot to juggle, and those who rely on the internet for work had particular frustrations — some had to wait until after midnight to get a strong enough signal,” she said.
Around 30 percent of respondents reported having developed covid-19 during the Work From Home periods, and 57 percent had lost a family member or close friend to covid-19 as well as co-morbidities.
She also noted the impact of the “shadow pandemic” of domestic abuse. Only two USP’s 14 campuses in 12 Pacific countries avoided any covid-19 closures between 2020 and 2022.
Pacific Islands activists protest in a demand for climate action and loss and damage reparations at COP27 in Egypt. Image: Dominika Zarzycka/AFP/RNZ Pacific
COP27 climate progress The results for the Pacific at the COP27 climate action deliberations at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh were disappointing to say the least.
For more than three decades since Vanuatu had suggested the idea, developing nations have fought to establish an international fund to pay for the “loss and damage” they suffer as a result of climate change. Thanks partly to Pacific persistence, a breakthrough finally came — after the conference was abruptly extended by a day to thrash things out.
However, although this was clearly a historic moment, much of the critical details have yet to be finalised.
Professor Steven Ratuva, director of Canterbury University’s Macmillan Brown Pacific Studies Centre, says the increased frequency of natural disasters and land erosion, and rising ocean temperatures, means referring to “climate change” is outdated. It should be called “climate crisis”.
“Of course climate changes, it’s naturally induced seen through weather, but the situation now shows it’s not just changing, but we’re reaching a level of a crisis — the increasing number of category five cyclones, the droughts, the erosion, heating of the ocean, the coral reefs dying in the Pacific, and the impact on people’s lives,” he said.
“All these things are happening at a very fast pace.”
A Papuan protest . . . “there is a human rights emergency in West Papua.” Image: Tempo
Geopolitical rivalry and West Papua The year saw intensifying rivalry between China and the US over the Pacific with ongoing regional fears about perceived ambitions of a possible Chinese base in the Solomon Islands — denied by Honiara — but the competition has fuelled a stronger interest from Washington in the Pacific.
The Biden administration released its Indo-Pacific Strategy in February, which broadly outlines policy priorities based on a “free and open” Pacific region. It cites China, covid-19 and climate change — “crisis”, rather — as core challenges for Washington.
Infrastructure is expected to be a key area of rivalry in future. Contrasting strongly with China, US policy is likely to support “soft areas” in the Pacific, such as women’s empowerment, anti-corruption, promotion of media freedom, civil society engagement and development.
The political and media scaremongering about China has prompted independent analysts such as the Development Policy Centre’s Terence Wood and Transform Aqorau to call for a “rethink” about Solomon Islands and Pacific security. Aqorau said Honiara’s leaked security agreement with China had “exacerbated existing unease” about China”.
However, the elephant in the room in geopolitical terms is really Indonesia and its brutal intransigency over its colonised Melanesian provinces — now expanded from two to three in a blatant militarist divide and rule ploy — and its refusal to constructively engage with Papuans or the Pacific over self-determination.
“2022 was a difficult year for West Papua. We lost great fighters and leaders like Filep Karma, Jonah Wenda, and Jacob Prai. Sixty-one years since the fraudulent Act of No Choice, our people continue to suffer under Indonesian’s colonial occupation,” reflected exiled West Papuan leader Benny Wenda in a Christmas message.
“Indonesia continues to kill West Papuans with impunity, as shown by the recent acquittal of the only suspect tried for the “Bloody Paniai’” massacre of 2014.
“Every corner of our country is now scarred by Indonesian militarisation . . . We continue to demand that Indonesia withdraw their military from West Papua in order to allow civilians to peacefully return to their homes.”
NAA: A14482, 020309DI-03 AUSPIC/Photographer Peter West
Every year, the National Archives of Australia releases the cabinet records from 20 years earlier, and this year’s batch is out today.
This release, from the cabinet records of 2002, is framed by two events of the previous year.
The first took place in August 2001, when Australian troops boarded a Norwegian ship, MV Tampa, carrying more than 400 rescued asylum seekers.
The Howard government quickly introduced legislation to forbid “unauthorised arrivals” from landing on the Australian mainland. It also determined that those arriving by boat would be processed offshore.
The second event of 2001 was the Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on the US mainland on September 11. These attacks ushered in a new securitised era in global and Australian politics that has lasted to the present day. They also led to two wars in which Australia participated. The first, in Afghanistan, lasted from 2001 until 2022. The second, the intervention by the “coalition of the willing” in Iraq, was launched in 2003 following decisions in Washington in 2002.
The two events of 2001, the Tampa and 9/11, overwhelmed Labor’s campaign and contributed to the third consecutive victory of the Coalition parties in the federal election held in November that year.
The Howard government cabinet at Parliament House in 2002. NAA: A14482, 020470-13a AUSPIC/Photographer David Foote
Many of the cabinet records of 2002 relate to the Howard government’s continuation of its “Pacific Solution”.
They include offshore processing in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, building a new immigration detention facility on Christmas Island, and revamping immigration centres on the mainland.
A conference in Indonesia in February 2002 led to the “Bali Process”, an official international forum to facilitate discussion and information-sharing on issues related to people-smuggling.
Other papers relate to Australia’s normal immigration program, which included a “special humanitarian program” for refugees not coming by boat.
Thus, refugees attempting to come by boat were excluded. But others who were lucky to be plucked from refugee camps around the world prospered.
Four of the 2022 World Cup Socceroos squad were born in Africa and three were refugees who entered Australia under the special humanitarian program. Defender Thomas Deng, for example, was born in Kenya to parents who had fled Sudan and moved to Australia in 2003.
National security
Other highlights of the cabinet papers relate to national security, foreign policy, defence and counter-terrorism.
The emblematic moment of 2002 came tragically for Australia on October 12, when the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group detonated a bomb in the tourist district of Bali. More than 200 people were killed, 88 Australians among them. Two short cabinet minutes of oral reports to cabinet refer to the enormous amount of work done by agencies, particularly the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in the Bali crisis.
Other papers relate to peace-keeping operations in trouble spots in the region, including East Timor, Bougainville and the Solomon Islands. The operation in the last was an overture to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, launched in 2003.
There are many submissions from Defence Minister Robert Hill on the defence program and acquisitions. This was was the year Hill made the strongest official criticism yet of the “Defence of Australia” strategy that had governed Australian defence policy since the 1980s.
Hill presaged a new direction for strategy when he remarked:
It probably never made sense to conceptualise our security interests as a series of diminishing concentric circles around our coastline, but it certainly does not do so now.
The strategic debate in which Hill engaged in 2002 continues vigorously 20 years later.
Issues relating to climate change, the environment and heritage occupy as prominent a place in Howard’s 2002 cabinet as they do today.
Critically, following the lead of US President George W. Bush, cabinet decided not to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
The European Union and Japan ratified the protocol in 2002. But it was not until 2005, after ratification by Russia and Canada, that the protocol came into effect. Australia’s cabinet accepted advice not to burden its emissions-intensive, trade-exposed industries by accepting commitments not also accepted by competitors.
The decision not to ratify in 2002 was symbolic of Australia’s failure to sustain a meaningful climate change regime in the years up to 2022.
Transport and social and economic policy
Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson made several submissions on transport and regional policy. In one, cabinet decided not to proceed with a proposal for a very-high-speed rail network between Brisbane and Melbourne on economic grounds. Now, 20 years later, the Albanese government has reversed the decision.
Communications Minister Richard Alston obtained cabinet approval for a package of significant media reforms with detrimental consequences for Australia’s media diversity. These could not, however, be implemented until after 2004 when the coalition parties gained control of the Senate.
Many other submissions relate to economic policy, including the first Integenerational report, welfare policy, health policy and agreements with the states on matters such as housing.
Indigenous policy
The release includes important submissions on Indigenous policy.
One approved a review of the operation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Commission, a body established under Hawke and dissolved in 2005.
In another, the government decided not to proceed with recommendations of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, including for a treaty and recognition of Indigenous people in a new preamble to the Constitution.
In 2007, just before its defeat, however, Howard changed his mind, at least on the Constitutional question.
Arguably, Howard’s 2007 change of mind was an important step in the current process towards a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Indigenous Education Ambassadors Michael O’Loughlin (left) and Reverend Shayne Blackman (centre) meet with Dr Brendan Nelson to discuss the National Indigenous.
English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy in 2002. NAA: 14482, 020239DI-004 AUSPIC/Photographer David Foote
Inclusions and omissions
Not every subject came to cabinet and some are only referenced by short minutes or oral presentations by ministers.
There is no submission, for example, on Howard’s finalisation of a A$25 billion natural gas deal to China. In this, Howard took an important step in the evolving trade relationship with China.
But 20 years later, the Australian people are suffering from failure by the Commonwealth and the states to establish a gas reservation policy on Australia’s east coast.
Likewise, there is only a short minute on Howard’s discussions with Bush in June 2002 and too little to indicate what significance they may have had to the subsequent intervention in Iraq.
Cabinet records are only the top of a pyramid. Records of individual agencies (which may be requested by individual researchers separately after 20 years) are equally important to the historical record.
This makes it imperative for the the National Archives to be adequately resourced to carry out its essential role as the custodian of the records of the Australian people.
To that end, discontinuing the efficiency dividend on the National Archives and other struggling cultural institutions would be a welcome start.
Funding from the National Archives of Australia to David Lee in the role of Cabinet historian in 2022 is being made to the research funds of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Canberra.
David Lee is a member of the Australian Labor Party.
Twenty four Pacific peoples have been recognised in the 2023 New Year’s honours.
A former Premier of Niue, Young Vivian, leads the list of distinguished Pacific peoples in the list.
Vivian has been made an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to Niue.
Fiji-born Dr Api Talemaitoga, a familiar face to Pacific communities during the height of covid-19 in Aotearoa, has been acknowledged for his decades of service in the medical sector.
The first Pacific priest ordained in Rome in 1990, Father Paulo Filoialii of Samoa, has been recognised for services to the Pacific community.
Also on the honours list is Lisa Taouma, the producer and director of Coconet TV, the largest pool of Pacific content on screen in New Zealand.
And the lead singer of the popular band Ardijah, Betty-Anne Monga, has been recognised for services to music.
‘Better things will come’: Niue’s Young Vivian Young Vivian started his career as a teacher in New Zealand.
He went to a British school based on an English system. He failed English and was told to leave because enrolments were backed up.
Betty-Anne Monga . . . lead singer of the popular band Ardijah. Image: Dan Cook/RNZ Pacific
He said he “begged the education officer” to stay so he was sent to Northland College and was “very happy” there.
Community members say he has been instrumental in fostering a love for Vagahau Niue, or Niue language, as a respected elder.
Speaking to RNZ Pacific reporter Lydia Lewis in 2022, at the launch of the Niue language app in Auckland, Vivian said:
“A language is a key to your culture and your tradition. It gives you that spiritual strength of who you are and you are able to face the world,” he said.
“That’s very, very important to a small nation like Niue who has a population of only 2500 people, but here in Australia and New Zealand it’s 80,000.”
Former Niue premier Young Vivian says he is “proud” of the next generation of Vagahau Niue speakers at the Niue language app launch. Image: Lydia Lewis/RNZ Pacific
When he went home to Niue, he was “dissatisfied”.
“I want to be fully independent, but I could see signs that people were not acceptable to that so I gave up, only then we can be real Niueans,” Vivian said.
His message to Pacific leaders is to believe in themselves.
“They must depend on themselves and God, they have everything in their homes, they need guts, stickability and determination, small as they are, they can stand up to it.”
He encourages the next generation to go back to basics.
“You have to depend on literally what you’ve got,” he said.
Dr Api Talemaitoga . . . “I have this knowledge about health and I find it a real pleasure to do it.” Image: Greg Bowker Visuals/RNZ Pacific
‘Profound privilege’: Dr Api Dr Api Talemaitoga has been acknowledged for his decades-long work in the medical sector.
“I see it as a profound privilege, I have this knowledge about health and I find it a real pleasure to do it.”
More than three decades in the job after graduating in 1986, he has a deep sense of pride for the next generation.
“I was really fortunate to be given the opportunity to give the graduation address at the University of Otago for medical students,” he said.
“To see the highest number of Pasifika medical students walk across the stage was really emotional.
“I can happily retire now that I see this new generation of young people, enthusiastic, bright, diverse and they are the ones that will carry on the load in the future.”
Dr Talemaitoga always has a smile on his face and an infectious laugh, he is incredibly hard to get hold of because he is always helping his patients.
A young Dr Api sitting on the arm of sofa to the left of his paternal grandmother Timaleti Tausere in Suva. His parents, Wapole and Makelesi Talematoga, are on the left, his sister Laitipa Navara is sitting on his Dad’s lap and his brother Josateki Talemaitoga is in the middle next to his mum. At the back is his Dad’s youngest brother Kaminieli and sitting on the ground at the front is cousin Timaleti. Image: Dr Api Talemaitoga/RNZ Pacific
When asked how he keeps his charisma day in day out, he said:
“I am not superhuman, some days are just dreadful and you come home feeling really disillusioned and what’s the point of all of this when you see three or four people in a row heading for dialysis,” he said.
“Then you have days where you make a difference to one person out of the 25 or 30 you see that day.
“They feel really encouraged that you’ve been able for the first time to explain their condition to them … you can’t put it in words, it’s such an amazing feeling.”
Father Paulo Sagato Filoialii and Pope John Paul II. Image: Father Paulo Sagato Filoialii/RNZ Pacific
‘This is for you, not me’: Father Paulo The first Pacific Priest ordained in Rome in 1990 – Father Paulo Sagato Filoialii is dedicating his medal to the community he has served for decades, that has in turn backed him.
“I want to offer this medal for the Pacific Island people, this is for you, not for me. This medal I will receive is for all of you and I thank you all for your prayers, for your love and your support, God bless you all,” he said.
Father Paulo has contributed his time to the Catholic community in Christchurch and Ashburton.
Upon Father Filoialii being ordained, the Samoan Mass was performed for the first time in the Vatican, resulting in Pope John Paul II decreeing that the Samoan Mass can now be performed anywhere in the world.
‘Proud’: The Coconet TV’s Lisa Taouma Pioneering Pasifika producer and director Lisa Taouma paved the way for Pacific peoples in media.
She created the ground-breaking site The Coconet TV which is the largest pool of Pacific content on screen in Aotearoa.
On top of that she made the Polyfest series, the long-standing Pacific youth series Fresh, five award-winning documentaries, the feature film Teine Sa and two short films.
Taouma believes you are only as good as the people you bring through.
“I’m proud of having brought Pacific stories to the fore around the world, I am proud of having brought Pacific people with me into that space, that is what I am most proud of,” She said.
Taouma said it was awesome that more indigenous people were being recognised globally.
While she is humbled to receive the honour, she admits not accepting it crossed her mind.
“I felt quite conflicted at the start, you know there are problems with the idea of empire and how Pacific people have been treated under the history of the British Empire,” she said.
“At the same time, it is really important to stand in this space as a Pacific woman and to have more Pacific people recognised by the Crown if you like.
“This is a system that is hopefully more reflective of Aotearoa and where we stand now.”
‘I never looked back’: Sully Paea Niuean youth-worker Sully Paea has dedicated his life to working with youth, founding the East Tamaki Youth and Resource Centre between the late 1970s and 1986.
Paea said he was lost. He battled alcoholism and pushed through a diagnosis of depression. He had a violent criminal career until he met his wife which changed him completely.
He has dedicated his life to working with youth, founding the East Tamaki Youth and Resource Centre between the late 1970s and 1986.
After 40 years serving the community, he has never looked back
Tafilau Nina Kirifi-Alai . . . “Seeing Pasifika communities graduating from university has been rewarding.” Image: Tafilau Nina Kirifi-Alai/RNZ Pacific
‘We’re getting there as people’: Tafilau Nina Kirifi-Alai Tafilau Nina Kirifi-Alai has been honoured for her great services to Pacific Development.
Kirifi-Alai has been the Pacific manager of Otago University for more than 20 years.
She has assisted scholarships of Pacific students and has led developments for the University of Otago to support Pacific tertiary institutions in the region.
“Seeing Pasifika communities graduating from university has been rewarding,” she said.
“To see all those colours in the garments and all those families and all that, was like oh yeah we are getting there, we’re getting there as a people. This is why we left our homes to seek greater opportunities, education wise and work wise, and I actually believe that education is the key.”
‘Knowing your culture, knowing your roots’: Rosanna Raymond Activism is what paved the road for multidisciplinary artist and curator Rosanna Raymond.
Her work has taken her to China, Australia and Britain, where she has built an awareness of Pacific art and fashion.
She draws on her strong cultural bond to artefacts that were taken from their original land and are now displayed in museums throughout the world.
She made a huge written contribution by co-publishing Pasifika Styles: Artists inside the Museum in 2008 and was Honorary Research Associate at the Department of Anthropology and Institute of Archaeology at University College, London.
She said moving forward whilst staying true to several of her roots was what led her to where she was today.
The full list of Pasifika in the New Year’s Honours list are:
To be Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit: The honourable Mititaiagimene Young Vivian, former Premier of Niue – For services to Niue.
To be Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Nathan Edward Fa’avae – For services to adventure racing, outdoor education and the Pacific community
David Rodney Fane – For services to the performing arts
Dr Apisalome Sikaidoka Talemaitoga – For services to health and the Pacific community
Lisa-Jane Taouma – For services to Pacific arts and the screen industry
To be Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Father Paulo Sagato Filoialii – For services to the Pacific community
Sefita ‘Alofi Hao’uli – For services to Tongan and Pacific communities
Lakiloko Tepae Keakea – For services to Tuvaluan art
Marilyn Rhonda Kohlhase – For services to Pacific arts and education
Felorini Ruta McKenzie – For services to Pacific education
Betty-Anne Maryrose Monga – For services to music
Sullivan Luao Paea – For services to youth
Rosanna Marie Raymond – For services to Pacific art
The Queen’s Service Medal: Kinaua Bauriri Ewels – For services to the Kiribati community
Galumalemana Fetaiaimauso Marion Galumalemana – For services to the Pacific community
Hana Melania Halalele – For services to Pacific health
Teurukura Tia Kekena – For services to the Cook Islands and Pacific communities
Nanai Pati Muaau – For services to Pacific health
Lomia Kaipati Semaia Naniseni – For services to the Tokelau community
Ma’a Brian Sagala – For services to Pacific communities
Mamaitaloa Sagapolutele – For services to education and the Pacific community
Honorary: Tofilau Nina Kirifi-Alai – For services to education and the Pacific community
Tuifa’asisina Kasileta Maria Lafaele – For services to Pacific health
Nemai Divuluki Vucago – For services to Fijian and Pacific communities
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says he is the prime minister for the whole of Fiji and all of its people.
In an interview with Fijivillage News, Rabuka said he would like everybody to have a happy New Year and not worry too much about the changes that they think this new government would bring in.
He said the biggest change was that they could have a “happy new year”.
Rabuka said the legacy of his previous leadership was his ability to work with opposition parties to formulate the 1997 constitution.
He added that this time he would like to continue that effort to work across the floor of Parliament and across the political divide in Fiji.
Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s interview with Fijivillage News.
The multicultural makeup of Fiji’s 903,000 population is about 65 percent iTaukei Fijians, 30 percent Indo-Fijians, and 5 percent “others” including those of other Pacific Islander ethnicities and Europeans.
‘Citizens’ assembly’ plan FBC News reports that Rabuka announced in his national address that a “citizens’ assembly” would be convened for consultations on a coalition manifesto review.
Rabuka said this would involve Fijians from all walks of life to add to the manifesto and vision statements of the ruling People’s Alliance, National Federation Party, and the Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa) coalition.
He said the assembly would seek ideas and concepts from delegates to complement the government’s plans for building a better, more prosperous, and happier nation.
Rabuka said the coalition government intended to establish specialist reviews in four key areas:
“The constitution and legal reform, the economy, defence, and national security and a forensic examination of the spending of the FijiFirst government.
“Each review team will include people with expert knowledge. The teams will report to the appropriate cabinet member, Of course, a looming issue is the state of Fiji’s public finances.
“The government debt may be now above $10 billion.”
The citizen’s assembly is part of the coalition government’s plan for the first 100 days.
Promise of ‘united Fiji’ RNZ Pacific reports that Rabuka’s inaugural address to the nation was delivered to the people of Fiji via the state’s social media channels.
Rabuka, the instigator of two military coups in 1987, has assumed the role of head of government for the second time in his political career, after being prime minister between 1992 and 1999.
Fijian voters voted out Voreqe Bainimarama’s FijiFirst after two terms in power, signalling their appetite for change. He was also a coup leader, in 2006.
Rabuka’s message to his fellow citizens was one promising a better and united Fiji for all.
“Our country is experiencing a great and joyful awakening,” he said.
“It gladdens my heart to be a part of it. And I am reminded of the heavy responsibilities I now bear.”
Apart from being prime minister, Rabuka is also responsible for foreign affairs, climate change, environment, civil service, information and public enterprises, and leads a cabinet made up of 19 ministers, as well as 10 assistant ministers.
He accepts that his cabinet is “larger than I initially planned.”
Parliamentarian pay cuts “Some of you [Fijian people] will be concerned about the cost,” he said.
But he offered his assurance to the people that he would take the necessary actions to cut costs, beginning with cuts to parliamentarians’ paycheques.
“In a democracy, the people are in charge,” Rabuka said.
“Elected representatives like me, and my parliamentary colleagues, do not lord it over you. We are your servants. We are here to listen to your concerns and respect your views.”
Naveel Krishant is a Fijivillage News reporter. This article drawing on Fijivillage, FBC News and RNZ Pacific is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Look up on a clear sunny day and you will see a blue sky. But is this the true colour of the sky? Or is it the only colour of the sky?
The answers are a little complicated, but they involve the nature of light, atoms and molecules and some quirky parts of Earth’s atmosphere. And big lasers too – for science!
Blue skies?
So first things first: when we see a blue sky on a sunny day, what are we seeing? Are we seeing blue nitrogen or blue oxygen? The simple answer is no. Instead the blue light we see is scattered sunlight.
The Sun produces a broad spectrum of visible light, which we see as white but it includes all the colours of the rainbow. When sunlight passes through the air, atoms and molecules in the atmosphere scatter blue light in all directions, far more than red light. This is called Rayleigh scattering, and results in a white Sun and blue skies on clear days.
At sunset we can see this effect dialled up, because sunlight has to pass through more air to reach us. When the Sun is close to the horizon, almost all the blue light is scattered (or absorbed by dust), so we end up with a red Sun with bluer colours surrounding it.
But if all we are seeing is scattered sunlight, what is the true colour of the sky? Perhaps we can get an answer at night.
If you look at the night sky, it is obviously dark, but it isn’t perfectly black. Yes, there are the stars, but the night sky itself glows. This isn’t light pollution, but the atmosphere glowing naturally.
On a dark moonless night in the countryside, away from city lights, you can see the trees and hills silhouetted against the sky.
Trees are silhouetted against the glowing night sky. Rodney Campbell / flickr
This glow, called airglow, is produced by atoms and molecules in the atmosphere. In visible light, oxygen produces green and red light, hydroxyl (OH) molecules produce red light, and sodium produces a sickly yellow. Nitrogen, while far more abundant in the air than sodium, does not contribute much to airglow.
The distinct colours of airglow are the result of atoms and molecules releasing particular amounts of energy (quanta) in the form of light. For example, at high altitudes ultraviolet light can split oxygen molecules (O₂) into pairs of oxygen atoms, and when these atoms later recombine into oxygen molecules they produce a distinct green light.
You can see airglow at dark sites, such as the European Southern Observatory in Chile.
Yellow light, shooting stars and sharp images
Sodium atoms make up a minuscule fraction of our atmosphere, but they make up a big part of airglow, and have a very unusual origin – shooting stars.
You can see shooting stars on any clear dark night, if you’re willing to wait. They are teensy tiny meteors, produced by grains of dust heating up and vaporising in the upper atmosphere as they travel at over 11 kilometres per second.
As shooting stars blaze across the sky, at roughly 100 kilometres altitude, they leave behind a trail of atoms and molecules. Sometimes you can see shooting stars with distinct colours, resulting from the atoms and molecules they contain. Very bright shooting stars can even leave visible smoke trails. And among those atoms and molecules is a smattering of sodium.
A shooting star and airglow seen from the International Space Station. NASA
This high layer of sodium atoms is actually useful to astronomers. Our atmosphere is perpetually in motion, it’s turbulent, and it blurs images of planets, stars and galaxies. Think of the shimmering you see when you look along a long road on a summer’s afternoon.
To compensate for the turbulence, astronomers take quick images of bright stars and measure how the stars’ images are distorted. A special deformable mirror can be adjusted to remove the distortion, producing images that can be sharper than the ones from space telescopes. (Although space telescopes still have the advantage of not peering through airglow.)
This technique – called “adaptive optics” – is powerful, but there’s a big problem. There are not enough natural bright stars for adaptive optics to work over the whole sky. So astronomers make their own artificial stars in the night sky, called “laser guide stars”.
Those sodium atoms are high above the turbulent atmosphere, and we can make them glow brightly by firing a power laser at them tuned to the distinct yellow of sodium. The resulting artificial star can then be used for adaptive optics. The shooting star you see at night helps us see the Universe with sharper vision.
So the sky isn’t blue, at least not always. It is a glow-in-the-dark night sky too, coloured a mix of green, yellow and red. Its colours result from scattered sunlight, oxygen, and sodium from shooting stars. And with a little bit of physics, and some big lasers, we can make artificial yellow stars to get sharp images of our cosmos.
Sodium laser guide stars at ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile.
Michael J. I. Brown receives research funding from the Australian Research Council and Monash University.
Matthew Kenworthy receives research funding from the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk (Dutch Science Council) and has previously received funding from NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Nederlandse Onderzoekschool voor Astronomie (NOVA).
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Greg Barton, Chair in Global Islamic Politics, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University
Few are better placed to answer this than Mike Burgess, Director-General of Security and head of ASIO, Australia’s domestic intelligence agency.
Burgess is one of the handful of people who can talk openly about his agency’s work. And when he speaks, his words are carefully calibrated and warrant close attention.
In a rare public address in November he told the Australian public that, for the time being at least, they could stop worrying about the threat of a terrorist attack in Australia. He said:
When ISIL formed its caliphate in the Middle East, significant numbers of Australians were seduced by slick propaganda and false narratives, and that led ASIO to raise the terrorism threat level to PROBABLE. Our decision was tragically justified.
Since 2014, there have been 11 terrorist attacks on Australian soil, while 21 significant plots have been detected and disrupted.
Decades of hard work by police, communities and government agencies have ultimately reduced the capacity of terrorist groups (al-Qaeda and the Islamic State movement in particular) to significantly threaten stable, democratic states.
But in weak or failing states (including Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia) al-Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates continue to represent an existential threat.
According to the Global Terrorism Index, Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for almost half of all terrorist deaths, and the Sahel (a region of North Africa that includes countries such as Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso) is home to some of the most potent terrorist networks on the planet.
How have stable democracies minimised the terror threat?
Established democracies have developed police-led counterterrorism intelligence capacity to the point where ambitious, large-scale, terrorist plots are largely detected and disrupted, and terrorist social networks are effectively pinned down.
And this is not just the case with Western democracies. In our region, for example, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have made impressive progress in constraining a resilient and pernicious terrorist threat.
For Indonesia, and Australia, the bomb attacks in Bali 20 years ago were transformative. In the wake the bombings, successful forensic investigations by the Indonesian National Police, in partnership with the Australian Federal Police (AFP), profoundly reshaped the police forces of both nations.
The AFP was established in 1979 and tasked with leading counterterrorism, in response to the Sydney Hilton bombing of 1978. This was an unprecedented attack that killed three and injured 11. By the turn of the century, however, the modest resources of the AFP were being reorientated towards more pressing threats, such as counternarcotics and port security.
The September 11 al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on America in 2001, however, forced an abrupt pivot, returning the AFP to its original focus on counterterrorism. A year later, in October 2002, AFP agents Mick Keelty and Graham Ashton were forced to draw on their relationships of trust with Indonesia National Police officers to figure out who was responsible for the Bali bombings, and to limit their capacity to launch further attacks.
Their successful cooperation led to the arrest of members of a breakaway bombing cell of an Indonesian al-Qaeda affiliate, Jemaah Islamiyah. Formed in 1993 along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border by so-called mujahideen, or holy fighters, this group supported the resistance to Soviet occupation in Afghanistan.
The Bali attacks resulted in the establishment of a specialist counterterrorism unit of the Indonesia police called Densus 88. In the 18 years since its establishment Densus 88 has arrested, and contributed to the successful prosecution of, more than 2,000 terrorists (this is my estimate based on the hundreds of arrests reported year on year).
The challenge now for Indonesian police is breaking the cycle of radicalisation. The recent release of Bali bomb-maker Umar Patek, on closely supervised parole, is confronting. But it’s also an encouraging indication of the success of Indonesian police in rehabilitating former terrorists.
The rise of the Islamic State caliphate in Syria and Iraq in mid-2014 marked a disturbing setback in counterterrorism in Australia and Southeast Asia. It was, in large part, a product of an unwise, and unwarranted, military intervention in Iraq a decade earlier. This toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein and opened the door to insurgent forces, including Al Qaeda in Iraq, which later became Islamic State in Iraq, and then Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
The 2003 invasion of Iraq and the toppling of Saddam Hussein proved deeply destabilising, with cascading perverse outcomes. The international military operation, in which Australia played a significant role, contributed both to the rise of ISIS and to its ultimate defeat.
A similar, though strikingly incomplete, cycle of events played out in Afghanistan. Initially, the US-led military operation that began in October 2001 constrained al-Qaeda, almost to the point of defeat. But ultimately, the military intervention led to the reconquest of Afghanistan by the Taliban, and the opening of the door to al-Qaeda and its rival Islamic State.
For the time being, however, police counterterrorism intelligence has constrained the capacity of both al-Qaeda and ISIS to project a threat into Australia.
What about far-right terror?
Far-right and related conspiracy extremism has gone from representing just 10-15% of the counterterrorism caseload of ASIO and the AFP to almost 50%. This is a pattern matched across North America and Europe.
For the moment, this new threat is mostly likely to manifest in lone-actor attacks that are mostly smaller-scale and less lethal (but not always, as we saw in Christchurch in 2019).
For Western democracies, and increasingly Asian democracies as well, toxic ultranationalism in the form of ethnic and religious supremacist movements is the rising threat. Currently it’s less well organised and coordinated than jihadi terrorism. But that’s likely to change.
And, as the tragic attacks in Wieambilla have shown, it has all became much more complex and unpredictable. Paranoia fuelled by conspiracy theories, mixed with religious fundamentalism and hatred of governments and police, is generating new forms of violent extremism.
As Mike Burgess reminded us:
Terrorism is an enduring threat. And terrorism is an evolving threat […] We keep the terrorism threat level under constant review. There can be no ‘set and forget’ in security intelligence.
Greg Barton receives funding from the Australian Research Council. And he is engaged in a range of projects working to understand and counter violent extremism in Australia and in Southeast Asia and Africa that are funded by the Australian government.
Have you heard the saying “water is life?” Well, it’s true.
Water is an essential nutrient. Our body cannot produce sufficient water to live, so we need to consume water through food and fluids to survive.
Maintaining hydration is one of the most fundamental components of good health. But lots of people don’t like drinking plain water much. The good news is there are many other healthy ways to help you stay hydrated.
Why hydration is important
Water is vital for many aspects of body functioning. About half our blood is “blood plasma”, which is over 90% water. Blood plasma is essential for carrying energy, nutrients and oxygen to the cells in the body that need it most. Water helps to remove waste products via the kidneys. It also helps keep joints lubricated, the digestive system functioning, the body’s temperature controlled and skin plump and strong.
If you don’t consume enough water, you may experience symptoms of dehydration such as headaches, dizziness, tiredness, low concentration, constipation and a dry mouth. Being severely dehydrated increases the risk of kidney stones and urinary tract infections.
If you feel thirsty, it means your body is already mildly dehydrated, so make sure you pay attention to what your body is telling you.
The amount of fluid we need changes as we age. Relative to our body weight, our needs decrease. So, a newborn baby has higher fluid needs (per kilogram body weight) than their parent, and older adults have lower fluid needs than younger adults.
Fluid requirements are related to metabolic needs and vary from person-to-person. The normal turnover of water in adults is approximately 4% of total body weight per day. So, for example, if you weigh 70 kilograms, you’ll lose about 2.5 to 3 litres of water a day (not including sweating). This means you will need to consume that amount of water from food and drinks to maintain your hydration.
Eight cups (or two litres) a day is often mentioned as the amount of water we should aim for and a nice way to track your intake. But it doesn’t account for individual variation based on age, gender, body size and activity levels.
Alcohol is a diuretic, which means it dehydrates the body by promoting water loss through urine. This fluid loss is a key factor that contributes to the severity of a hangover. Always have a glass of water in between alcoholic drinks to help stay hydrated.
Caffeinated drinks (like tea and coffee) only have a mild diuretic effect. For most healthy adults, it’s okay to consume up to 400 mg of caffeine a day – that’s about four cups of coffee or eight cups of tea. If you drink more than this, it may impact your hydration levels.
To check your specific requirements, check out the Australian guidelines for fluid intake.
Some people are at greater risk of the harmful health effects from dehydration and need to pay special attention to their fluid intake.
The highest priority groups are babies, young kids, pregnant women, and older adults. These groups are at greater risk for many reasons, including relatively higher water needs per kilo of body weight, reduced ability to detect and respond to symptoms of dehydration, and barriers to consuming fluids regularly.
Family and friends can play an important role in supporting loved ones to maintain hydration, especially during warm weather.
Ten ideas for keeping fluids up this summer
Download a water reminder app on your phone
This will help keep you on track during the day and give you digital “high fives” when you hit your water goals.
Add sugar-free flavouring
Try a sugar-free fruit infusion in your water to make it more appealing. Prepare a jug in the refrigerator and infuse it overnight so it’s chilled for you the next day. Fill it up and take it everywhere with you!
Add some fresh fruit
Add some slices of lime, lemon, berries, pineapple or orange to your water bottle for some natural flavouring. If the bottle is kept in a fridge, the fruit will stay fresh for about three days.
Make a jug of iced tea (not the bottled stuff)
There are many great sugar-free recipes online. Tea contributes to fluid intake too. For green and black teas, brew in boiling water then cool overnight on the bench before refrigerating. Fruit teas can be made using cold water immediately.
Add a dash of cordial to your water
A small amount of cordial in your water is a healthier alternative to drinking a sugar-sweetened soft drink or fruit juice. Diet cordials have less added sugar again.
Make a fruit ‘slushie’
Combine fresh fruit, ice and water at home in the morning and sip to increase your fluid intake for the day.
Buy a soda maker for your home
Some people find plain water tastes better with bubbles. Sparkling mineral water is great too, as long as there is no added sugar or sweeteners.
Before you eat anything, have a glass of water
Make it a rule with yourself to have a glass of water before every snack or meal.
Eat water-rich fruits and vegetables
Many fruits and vegetables have a high water content. Some of the best include berries, oranges, grapes, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, spinach and melons. Keep a container full of cut-up fruit to snack on in your fridge.
Use a water bottle
Take it with you during the day and keep it by your bed overnight.
Water bottles are everywhere and sometimes seem to offer emotional support as well as hydration.
Having a water bottle you enjoy using can go a long way in helping you keep up your fluids during the day.
Pay attention to the material of the water bottle and use one that helps you form good habits. Some people prefer metal water bottles as they can keep water cooler for longer (others feel like they are camping). Some prefer glass bottles because the water isn’t affected by any flavours from the container (others fear breaking the glass).
Consider the practical aspects, too: Will it fit in your bag? Will it be light enough to carry with you? Can you “chug” on it when you’re exceptionally thirsty? Does the lid require screwing? How durable is it in preventing leaks? Do some homework on your water bottle, an essential accessory!
Lauren Ball receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council. She is a Director of Dietitians Australia and an Associate Member of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
Emily Burch 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.
One of the things kids love most about the beach is the chance to play with sand. Sand is an excellent material to play with. It is versatile, widely available, open-ended and cheap.
Not only is it nature-based, but it involves manipulation, exploration, and construction with materials to create imaginary worlds.
On top of being endlessly fun, research also shows clear associations between sand play and children’s physical, cognitive and social–emotional development. This includes fine motor and gross motor skills, measurement, cooperative building, sharing and pretending.
Sand is also used in psychotherapy methods for children. In sand play therapy, children are given a sand pit and helped to communicate their thoughts, experiences and emotions using sand, water, miniature figurines and their hands.
As a nonverbal approach, this therapy is especially effective when working with children experiencing trauma, distress and disabilities.
Here are four tips to make the most of it over summer for you and your kids.
1. Don’t overthink it
When Dr Sanné Mestrom and her son play with sand, an old coffee cup becomes a handy mould. Sanné Mestrom.
While my five-year-old son and I live in the Blue Mountains, we regularly jump on the train to Bronte or Bondi Beach. Once there, I’ll grab a coffee, and we hit the sand. All we will have with us are our togs, a small chamois each and a sarong, which doubles as a beach towel.
For us, it’s important not to be burdened with too much stuff. The beach already has everything we need: sand, water, shells, sticks, rocks, pebbles and other random discarded and found objects.
The coffee cup quickly becomes a small mould for sculpting and doubles as a vessel for carrying sea water. While you can certainly buy great sand accessories (sophisticated brick and castle moulds, for example), these actually limit the potential of open-ended free-play.
2. Start with simple ideas
When you’re given free reign to create whatever you like, the limitless options can be overwhelming. Where do you begin? Let’s start with the simplest things:
Sculpting
When it’s dry, sand can be mounded, poured, and measured. When it’s wet, the sand can be moulded, shaped, and carved. Repurpose your cup or use recycled plastic containers as sand scoops to form various upturned sculptural shapes. You can of course create a stacked castle with these, or an elaborate, ever-expanding sand mandala. This is an abstract circular pattern of intricate designs that is ultimately washed away.
Structure
Experiment with scientific principles relating to gravity and force to problem solve your sculptures. For example, try reinforcing your sand tunnels with sticks and driftwood to give them structural integrity. The last time we were built tunnels at the beach, we emulated the layers of a large construction bridge we’d seen just days before. It was a great way to take something we’d seen in the built world, and apply it directly to our own sculptures.
Pattern
Walk to the end of the bay and collect as many interesting objects as you can find. This could be an array of dried and contorted seaweed, stripey pebbles, translucent sandblasted glass, bottle tops and textured and colourful seashells. The more the better. Try to find patterns in texture, scale, colour and form and use these to extend your sculpture project.
Collect feathers, pebbles and shells and make a sand mandala. Shutterstock
3. Try and find the flow state
As a lecturer in sculpture, I apply the same principles to my art students as I do to my young son: make sure give yourself plenty of open-ended, unstructured time. Sand play is first and foremost a creative pursuit, and as with any creative pursuit, you need to allow for as much time as possible to enter the “flow state”.
This happens when we become so deeply focused on a task and pursue it so effortlessly that all else disappears, including the passage of time, worry of failure, self-reflection, self-critique, or sense of authorship.
4. Use the beach as a conversation starter
The beach is not just about the waves, the sand and ice-creams. It can provoke ideas and conversations, big and small. For example:
think about how far your shells and glass might have travelled to find their way to your feet. I recall collecting an ancient coconut fossil on a beach in northern New Zealand as a child. It was a small, shrunken black nugget – the size of a strawberry. I found the idea of this transformation mind-blowing and still have the little treasure with me to this day
collect rubbish at the beach and talk about single-use plastic – how far plastic pollution can travel and how dangerous it is for ocean life
and my favourite: use your time at the beach to chat about the phenomena that give shape to our everyday lives, such as the interconnection of ocean tides, the moon and gravity, how waves travel across the globe, and how the sun maps the movement of time.
In this way, sand play is not just for children, it enriches us all.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Libby (Elizabeth) Sander, MBA Director & Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Bond Business School, Bond University
Shutterstock
Imagine starting your work day with a fresh coconut juice perched by your laptop as you gaze over the ocean or a tropical rainforest.
It’s the sort of thing to fantasise about during long, tiresome commutes and days in a claustrophobic, noisy office.
But so long as you have the right type of job, and an accommodating employer (not Elon Musk), it could be your reality.
The war for talent is no longer just between companies. More than 40 nations or territories now offer “digital nomad” visas to attract those able to be employed in one country while living, and spending their income, in another.
Fancy the beach? A bunch of exotic islands are on the list. Prefer tropical forests? Try Brazil or Costa Rica.
Looking for history? There’s Spain or Greece. Love Wim Hof-style ice-bathing? Iceland beckons.
Iceland’s Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, about 50 km south-west of Reykjavík. Shutterstock
What is a digital nomad visa?
Think of a “digital nomad” visa as a cross between a tourist and temporary migrant visa – a working-on-holiday visa. Instead of the visa giving you the right to work in the country, it’s allowing you to stay so long as you’re gainfully employed and bringing money into the local economy.
How long you can stay varies, from 90 days in Aruba in the Caribbean to up to two years in the Cayman Islands. Most are for 12 months, with an option to renew.
Some places, such as Latvia, restrict visas to employers registered in an OECD country. But generally the key requirement is that you can show you have no need to find local work and can meet minimum income requirements.
Generally, the visa conditions simplify taxation issues: you continue to pay your income tax in the country of your employer.
But this varies. For example, in Greece (which offers a two-year renewable visa) you are exempt from paying local income tax only for the first six months.
Combining work and travel
A key driver of the digital nomad trend is the ability to maintain a career while ticking off other personal goals, particularly travel and the ability to experience a different way of life.
Moving somewhere with a cheaper cost of living could be another motivation.
But before you decide to pack up, there are some things to consider to ensure being a digital nomad is right for you.
You’re a long way from home
The first is whether reality will live up to the fantasy.
As a digital nomad you’re a very remote worker, with all the pros and cons that come with that.
Some studies have shown remote workers can feel socially and professionally isolated.
Having an employer that’s supportive of your move will help. A 2017 review of prior studies on remote work found organisational support greatly reduces the psychological strain and social isolation felt by remote workers.
But working from home is one thing; being in another country is entirely another. Living a long way away from family and friends and support networks is likely to be more challenging, no matter how idyllic your location.
Even with a great view, remote work can have its downsides. Shutterstock
If you like predictable structure and routine, the uncertainty and inevitable inconveniences that arise may mean it isn’t for you.
And while you may be exempt from paying local income tax, you’ll have to comply with all other local laws – such as Indonesia’s new laws making sex outside marriage potentially punishable with a year in jail.
Foreign countries do things differently
If those things don’t faze you, here are three tips to make the transition easier.
First, all the usual considerations about remote work apply – and some are amplified. You will absolutely need reliable high-speed internet, and access to support services. Living in a remote village might be alluring, but how close is the nearest computer shop?
Second, understand when you’ll need to work. You may be on a different time zone to colleagues or clients. The novelty of an ocean view could easily wear thin after a few weeks of getting up in the middle of the night for zoom calls. How available you need to be could be a big factor in choice of destination.
Third, you may still find maintaining work-life balance a challenge. Research has shown how easily work-life boundaries are blurred with remote work. The desire to prove you’re not slacking off may make it even harder.
But if you have the right personality, and you’re lucky enough to have the right job and employer, being a digital nomad might bring you the best of two worlds.
Libby (Elizabeth) Sander 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.
“Ballet is woman” claimed the legendary New York choreographer George Balanchine. But “where are all the women ballet choreographers?” asked researchers Oellen A. Meglin and Lynn Matluck Brooks in 2012. They found only 23 articles on women ballet choreographers in the New York Times’ 171-year history.
In Australia, even the keenest ballet fan will struggle to recall a dozen ballets by women in The Australian Ballet company’s 60-year history.
While men make up a very small proportion of those dancing in this country, the 2018 Turning Pointe report found that in Australia’s major dance companies from 2011 to 2017 only 25% of choreographic commissions were women.
Choreographers are dance’s cultural leaders and storytellers. They are dance’s voice.
Supporting and celebrating today’s women choreographers is vital to encouraging a new generation of women to follow, giving women in dance a voice into the future.
So where are the Australian women choreographers of today? Here are five to get you started.
1. Frances Rings
Frances Rings will become artistic director of Bangarra in 2023. Daniel Boud/Bangarra
In 2023, Frances Rings will step into the role of artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre.
A descendant of the Wirangu and Mirning peoples from the west coast of South Australia, Rings made her choreographic debut with Bangarra in 2002 with the work Rations.
She has since created and co-created another seven works for the company.
Rings fuses contemporary movement with ancient Indigenous heritage to produce organic works deeply rooted in the natural world. Her works reflect critically on the past, celebrate survival in the present and offer hope for the future.
Her works share with the audience the feeling of connecting with the sacred on Country and are a First Nation’s ode to the power, beauty and spirit of the earth.
In 2023, Yuldea opens in Sydney before touring; and Terrain will be in Adelaide.
A former dancer with the Australian Ballet, Alice Topp’s works are known for their humanity.
She creates contemporary ballets that evoke both vulnerability and strength. Topp is celebrated for her fluid, acrobatic duets, and she often takes on themes about damage and repair, durability and fragility, falling and recovering.
Topp was a dancer with the Australian Ballet before becoming a choreographer. Supplied.
But she is anything but predictable. Her recent work Annealing saw a mass of noisy bright metallic gold bodies contrasted with a quiet, dimly-lit duet. She is also passionate about homegrown and inter-generational collaborations promoting local dancers, composers and designers.
Her first mainstage work, Aurum, won her the Helpmann Award for best ballet in 2019 and she has since created four other major works. She is currently resident choreographer with The Australian Ballet and creative director of independent collective Project Animo.
Stephanie Lake describes her work as “obsessed with groups and communal action […] that sense of shared experience”.
This obsession results in large celebratory works, like the 60-dancer Colossus and 200-plus cast Multiply. These works see masses of individual moving bodies imperfectly colliding and uniting, forming patterns reminiscent of flocks of birds or opening flowers.
Lake in rehearsal for The Universe is Here commissioned by Sydney Dance Company. Pedro Greig
Lake is not afraid to take on darker themes. Her work has looked at death, personal demons, underground monsters and pandemic lockdowns.
Performed on bare stages in simple attire with minimal lighting, Lake’s works draw us into the intimacy and vulnerability of the interacting bodies.
Her breakthrough work was Mix Tape in 2010. Since then, she has had works commissioned by Sydney Dance Company, Dancenorth and Tasdance, among many others, and she is currently artistic director of her own company, The Stephanie Lake Company.
Claire Marshall began her professional career in Brisbane as a contemporary dance choreographer. In 2013, she shifted to dance film and choreographing with the camera with her work Pulse, followed by the award-winning Ward of State in 2014.
Since then, she has created seven other film works, won multiple awards and has been part of film festivals across the world.
Claire Marshall works primarily on screen. Supplied.
In her choreographic process, Marshall allows objects and surfaces in the location to dictate movement choice. Using different lenses and angles, she creates often surreal worlds for her dancers to occupy.
Many of her works are psychological thrillers and have a distinctive 20th century flavour with vibrant vintage costumes and mid-century interiors.
Marshall leaves the meaning of her works open to interpretation. They are often interactive in a choose-your-own-adventure style, using split or multiple screens, giving each viewer a different experience.
In 2023, you can see Claire Marshall’s adapted version of Permutations online in April.
5. Annette Carmichael
Annette Carmichael is an award-winning contemporary choreographer based in Denmark, Western Australia, who creates works with professional dancers, artists and community members.
Annette Carmichael in rehearsal for The Beauty Index Moora. Nic Duncan
Most recently, Carmichael has been creating large-scale regional pieces co-created with community dancers. The works combine natural movement with a gestural language developed by the performers. They are multi-art productions exploring themes such as war, domestic violence and global terror.
Whether in theatres, huge outdoor arenas or on Zoom, Carmichael’s works take us on both personal and collective journeys sharing honest and often raw emotion.
In 2023, The Stars Descend will be the culmination of a three-year program which explored ways of connecting people with the natural world. It will unfold in five chapters along an area of rich biodiversity currently undergoing restoration. You can watch single performances or join the 15-day odyssey along the trail and see them unfold one by one.
Yvette Grant receives funding from a Commonwealth Government Scholarship and Grants and an Assistantship from The Faculty of Fine Arts and Music at The University of Melbourne.
Fiji’s Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration has invited the Commissioner of Police to resign, citing concerns on matters of confidence in him.
Pio Tikoduadua said the commissioner, Sitiveni Qiliho, had, however, asked that the government follow the process of the Constitutional Offices Commission.
Minister Tikoduadua said he respected his decision, and we would let the law take its course.
Fiji Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho . . . asked to resign. Image: Talebula Kate/The Fiji Times
Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho was formerly in the military and in July 2021 successfully completed studies at the Royal College of Defence Studies in London. He was awarded a postgraduate certificate in Security and Strategy for Global Leaders.
However, the minister added that he had no issue with the commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces.
I have invited the Comissioner of Police to resign, citing concerns on matters of confidence.
However, he prefers the process that goes through the Constitutional Offices Commision. I respect that, and we will let the law take its course. pic.twitter.com/WzTXRK33m0
Border alert A border alert has been issued by Fiji’s Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for Opposition MP and former Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
“Mr Sayed-Khaiyum is a person of interest and is currently under investigation regarding a case of alleged inciting communal antagonism,” according to the CID.
It said it had yet to deal with Sayed-Khaiyum who was believed to be in Australia.
It said that according to his travel history, Sayed-Khaiyum had departed Fiji on 26 December 2022.
Opposition MP and former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum . . . on border alert. Image: Fiji govt/RNZ Pacific
Meanwhile, Commissioner Qiliho said that was the normal monitoring mechanism of the CID to write to the Border Police to inform it if Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum returned.
New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.
New Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project.
The US tested 67 nuclear weapons on the Marshall Islands, tricking the people who lived on Bikini Atoll to leave their homeland “for the good of all mankind.”
But the Bikini Islanders didn’t know the US would contaminate their island and make it uninhabitable.
Now nearly 70 years later, many Marshall Islanders have moved to Springdale, Arkansas, nearly 600 miles (965 km) from the nearest ocean.
But as many Marshall Islanders build new lives there, they know Arkansas is not their permanent home, and their nuclear legacy is something both Americans and the next generation of Marshall Islanders need to remember.
The US forced the 167 islanders living on Bikini Atoll to leave in 1946 to enable American testing of nuclear weapons.
Over the next decade, the US tested 67 nuclear devices — 23 of them on Bikini.
Tabish Talib traveled to the Ozarks to learn how the Marshall Islanders are staying connected to their roots so far from their home.
“I feel like a nomad,” says a sixth generation representative of the Bikini Islanders in Arkansas, Sosylina Jibas-Maddison. “And it’s heartbreaking knowing there that we don’t have a home to go to.”
This is known to Marshall islanders as Bikini Day on July 5, the day that is also marked for the inaugural design of the swimsuit named by its French designer after the nuclear “bombshell”.
The AJ+ Reports documentary on the Marshall Islands in the US.
Fiji’s new Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Lynda Tabuya, plans to use surveys and online platforms as an integral part of her ministry
During her official welcome yesterday along with her assistant minister, Sashi Kiran, Tabuya said that over the years she had made it her life goal to help those less fortunate.
She was happy that she could continue what she loved to do on a national stage in helping all Fijians.
“As an integral part of my ministry, I plan on asking you — the citizens of Fiji — about the best way forward utilising surveys and online platforms,” Tabuya said.
“One of the foundations for building a better Fiji is providing equal opportunities to all Fijians irrespective of age, gender, physical ability or income level.”
To promote inclusivity and development, her ministry would continue to serve all Fijians through:
The care and protection of children
Greater policy intervention for older persons and persons with disability
More innovative and targeted income support to families living or caught in the cycle of poverty; and
Promoting gender equality and empowering women to reach their full potential.
Tabuya looked forward to strengthening and building on good partnerships with organisations whose activities and outputs support the ministries strategic objectives and those who provide services in the area of child protection and safeguarding, older people, people with disability, gender equality, women’s empowerment and ending violence against women and girls.
“During the turmoil of the last couple of months, the hymn ‘We Shall Overcome’ was often used as a source of inspiration,” she said.
“At this juncture, Fiji faces daunting poverty levels and incidences of domestic violence, but despite all these challenges I believe with God’s help and everyone working together, we shall overcome.
“I’m looking forward to working for the most disadvantaged in our society and together rebuilding Fiji into the way the world should be.”
Talebula Kateis a Fiji Times journalist. Republished with permission.
National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop is stable and recovering at the Gold Coast University Hospital in Australia, according to his wife Jean Parkop and close family members.
The relieving news comes following Governor Parkop’s medivac from Papua New Guinea to Australia after he suffered complications arising from a cardiac procedure that led to internal bleeding and caused a very tense few days for his family, supporters and residents of Port Moresby city.
Sensationalised news of Governor Parkop’s illness and hospitalisation went viral on social media but the Post-Courier was reliably informed of it last Wednesday evening.
By Thursday morning, he was moved from Port Moresby General Hospital to the Pacific International Hospital (PIH) where he was receiving treatment.
Initially, it was claimed that Governor Parkop had suffered a stroke. By Friday morning, word reached the Post-Courier that he would be medivaced to Australia for further treatment.
However, the Post-Courier was made aware that the medivac would be done in the afternoon.
On Friday, December 23, surrounded by wife Jean, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and extended relatives, Governor Parkop was escorted out of PIH and driven to Jackson’s International Airport where he was medevaced to the Gold Coast, Australia, arriving just after 9pm.
Soon after touchdown in Australia, doctors relayed to his family in PNG that he had been stabilised that evening.
An EMTV news item on Governor Parkop’s recovery.
A press statement from the family on Sunday confirmed that the medevac to Australia was on a recommendation from the PIH.
“We thank the hard working staff, doctors and nurses of Port Moresby General Hospital’s (POMGEN) Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for receiving him and providing immediate attention and care for our father,” the statement said.
“The specialist surgeons, nurses and staff of Pacific International Hospital (PIH), we thank you for providing great treatment and concern.” Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.
I remember, as a child, being fascinated by how just seven simple wooden triangles and other shapes could offer endless entertainment. Unlike LEGO, the Tangram pieces do not snap together, and unlike the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, they do not form a painted picture.
Instead, Tangram invites you to fit all the pieces together to form countless varieties of shapes. You can make your own shapes or you can try to form shapes that others have created. For instance, here’s one way to form a swan shape using Tangram pieces:
This is one of several ways to make a swan shape using Tangram. Can you find another? Shutterstock
But it’s not the only way to make a swan. Can you find others? If you do not have the physical puzzle at hand, you can use a virtual version of Tangram.
Tangram is accessible and yet challenging, and an excellent educational tool. It’s still used in schools today to help illustrate mathematical concepts and develop mathematical thinking skills. It even features a paradox or two.
Tangram is one of many rearrangement puzzles that have appeared throughout the ages. The earliest known rearrangement puzzle, the Stomachion, was invented by Greek mathematician Archimedes 2,200 years ago and was popular for centuries among Greeks and Romans.
It consists of 14 puzzle pieces that can fit together in the form of many different shapes. There are 536 different ways to fit the pieces together as a square.
Then there’s the Eternity Puzzle, released in 1999, which consists of 209 blue puzzle pieces that together form a big circle-like shape. It was very popular and sold 500,000 copies worldwide, perhaps due to the 1 million British pounds promised to whoever first solved it.
Less than a year later, the mathematicians Alex Selby and Oliver Riordan solved the puzzle and claimed the prize. The creator of the puzzle, the controversial Christopher Monckton, said at the time he had to sell his house to raise the prize money.
The origins of Tangram stretch back to the third century Chinese mathematician Liu Hui. Among many other accomplishments, Liu Hui used rearrangements of geometrical shapes to elegantly explain mathematical facts such as the Gougu Rule, also known as Pythagoras’ Theorem.
This rearrangement approach to geometry was later evident in the creation of 12th century Chinese banquet tables (rectangular tables designed to be arranged into patterns that might please or entertain dinner guests).
The Tangram was popularised as a puzzle game around the year 1800. Shutterstock
The Tangram craze
According to The Tangram Book by Jerry Slocum and other authors, the Tangram was popularised as a puzzle game around the year 1800.
They report the inventor, an unknown Chinese person using the pen name Yang-Cho-Chu-Shih (“Dimwitted recluse”), published Ch’i chi’iao t’u (“Pictures Using Seven Clever Pieces”), a book containing hundreds of Tangram puzzle shapes.
Patterns from a Tangram puzzle and solution books, China c. 1815 (British Library 15257.d.5, 15257.d.14) British Library
This sparked a craze for the game in China. Other Tangram puzzle books were soon published, with some eventually making their way to Japan, the United States and England, where they were translated and extended.
During 1817-18, the Tangram craze spread like wildfire to France, Denmark and other European countries. Worldwide interest in Tangram has endured ever since.
An educational tool harbouring a paradox or two
The lasting popularity of Tangram might partly be due to it allowing so many shapes with so few pieces.
For most people, though, Tangram is just a fun and creative challenge.
There are also some Tangram “paradox” puzzles discussed in The Tangram Book and elsewhere online, where Tangram pieces are arranged to make two seeming identical shapes (but where one appears to have a leftover piece).
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Beckett, Senior Lecturer (Food Science and Human Nutrition), School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle
The holidays are often called the “silly season” – a time when we eat, drink and be merry. But these holiday indulgences can lead to feelings of guilt and fear that we’ve undone all the healthy habits from the rest of the year. But how much do you really need to worry about the impacts of holiday overeating?
There are studies that show weight gain can and does occur in the silly season. But on average it’s not as dramatic as diet culture would have us believe, coming in at about 0.7kg.
Importantly, much of this research comes from the northern hemisphere where the major holidays coincide with winter. And these studies focus on weight, not health. Weight is just a marker that’s convenient to measure, but health is more complicated.
While it’s harder to study, nourishing our souls with foods that connect us to our loved ones and our traditions is just as important as the role food plays in nourishing our bodies.
Homeostasis is a scientific term that describes how systems self-regulate. The word comes from the ancient Greek words for “similar” and “steady”.
In living things it means that biology can adapt to changes to keep things in their normal constant state. Essentially, our body is always making little constant biological changes to help things stay the same. This is how we regulate things like our body temperature, blood sugar, blood pressure and other systems important for survival.
The principles of homeostasis also apply to our eating and metabolism. If we eat more for one or two holiday feast days (or even weeks) our biology works to minimise the impacts. This is also why losing weight on restrictive diets can be hard – homeostasis means as we reduce our energy intake our bodies adjust to using less energy.
So for most people, discrete periods of indulgence aren’t likely to be the major determinants of health outcomes. It’s more likely the patterns we follow most of the time will influence our long term health.
Biology and social norms both mean restrictive diets are hard to maintain long-term. Some people are more successful in maintaining a balanced diet when indulging is allowed.
And now science has helped you to relax a little, a few words of caution.
Staying hydrated by alternating with non-alcoholic beverages helps reduce how much you drink and how bad a hangover is, but it won’t eliminate the risks.
Drinking too much over the festive season is not without risk. pexels/karolina grabowska, CC BY
Food safety risks
Festive eating, with sharing, travelling and over-crowded fridges increases our risks of food poisoning. Summer holidays also bring the added risk of heat.
You want to share food and joy, not germs, so remember your basic food safety rules like hand washing, avoiding cross contamination of uncooked meats and other foods, storing food chilled, and heating thoroughly.
It’s also a good idea to make sure you talk to your guests or hosts about food allergens to make sure everyone has a safe holiday feast.
The bottom line
What we eat is a big part of determining our health, but adding a side serving of guilt to your festive feast isn’t healthy either.
For true healthy choices, focus on balance and moderation for the bulk of the year and for most of your choices, but social and cultural eating is part of balance.
Enjoying your celebration foods doesn’t need to mean throwing away all your healthy habits, but healthy eating and healthy indulgence can co-exist if we let it.
Emma Beckett has received funding for research or consulting from Mars Foods, Nutrition Research Australia, NHMRC, ARC, AMP Foundation, Kellogg, and the University of Newcastle. She is a member of committees/working groups related to nutrition or the Australian Academy of Science, the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Nutrition Society of Australia.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marta Hernandez-Jover, Professor in Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health, Charles Sturt University
Shutterstock
Kids on TV and in movies always seem to be keeping hamsters and gerbils as pets. They’re small, look cute, and don’t need to be taken for a walk. So why don’t we all have hamsters and gerbils as pets in Australia?
The answer: biosecurity and biodiversity.
Gerbils are not allowed to be imported into Australia for any purpose. And while certain hamsters can technically be imported live, this is only strictly for tightly controlled research purposes.
Here’s what you need to know about why hamsters and gerbils could pose a biosecurity and biodiversity risk in Australia.
Hamsters and gerbils threaten not just native Australian animals, but also plants and broader ecosystems.
Hamsters and gerbils originate from arid and semi-arid environments, to which they are well adapted.
Considering roughly 70% of Australia is arid or semi-arid land, hamsters and gerbils could survive and become a pest in the wild.
One study found hamsters can also successfully establish populations in and around cities, adapting quickly to urban environments. Only a few animals need to escape into the wild, survive and breed for a small problem to turn into a very big one.
That’s because hamsters can reach reproductive maturity quite early, at about one month old. They can produce up to five litters a year, and each litter can have more than ten pups.
Gerbils reach reproductive maturity at just a few months old, can have up to eight pups in a litter and, as one veterinary manual put it, “begin mating again almost immediately after the female gives birth”.
If they are released or escape into the wild, hamsters and gerbils would compete with our native rodents for the same food resources.
They could also pose a risk of disease introduction, with both being a significant risk to the survival of our native animals.
Australia has many native rodent species that have been here for millions of years. They are diverse and ecologically important, and represent approximately a quarter of all species of Australian mammals.
However, in the past 200 years there has been a significant decline in the number of species, with many becoming extinct. Our native rodents are, in fact, among our most threatened groups of native mammals.
If hamsters and gerbils became established in the wild in Australia, the consequences could be very significant.
So Australia considers the overall risk to be too high, and importation of these animals as pets is not allowed.
Importation of the Golden or Syrian hamster for research purposes is allowed, but this requires a permit and the animals must be kept in high-security facilities. Gerbils and hamsters have been used in scientific research for a long time (and more recently as animal models to study COVID-19).
The Australian government’s Live Import List, which shows the plant and animals allowed to be imported live into Australia, is reviewed regularly, and a lot of work goes into assessing the risks to Australia from exotic species.
These risks are weighed against the potential economic and social benefits of those species and a decision is made to protect Australia’s environment and agriculture, which are unique in the world.
These safeguards are part of Australia’s biosecurity system.
By supporting this system through small actions, like accepting that we can’t always have any pet species we might like, we are each doing our part to protect Australia’s environment, economy and way of life.
Marta Hernandez-Jover receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Rural Research and Development Corporations
Andrew Peters is affiliated with the Wildlife Disease Association and was previously a Management Committee member and Deputy Chair of Wildlife Health Australia.
All children argue. And while this can be tedious for parents and carers, it’s not necessarily a problem.
Conflict can help develop social skills, including learning to negotiate, and accommodate the needs of others.
But if the conflict is physical, if there is any distress, or if children are stuck in a loop of unproductive complaints (“no, it’s mine!”), adults can step in to help restore the peace.
Usually, adults intervene by trying to establish the cause of the problem and then providing a solution. But this type of intervention is not as effective as involving children in the process.
A chapter in our new book on how to talk with preschool-aged children suggests four steps to help them solve arguments.
1. Remove the conflict object
If kids are fighting about a toy, remove it momentarily so they can concentrate on finding a solution. Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels
Preschool-aged children mostly argue about objects. That is, who can touch, move or play with the object, who was playing with it first, and how the object is supposed to be used.
Intervention won’t work if children are locked in tug of war over who had the blocks or marbles first. By asking for the object and removing it from any child’s “ownership” (perhaps just temporarily), adults can redirect children’s attention to finding a solution. Trying saying something like: “Let’s put the marbles all together in the middle, and talk about it.”
2. Forget about blame
Children will be eager and able to explain what happened, who did what to whom, and how they have been offended.
It can be useful to establish what happened to establish moral accountability (if, for example, one child has ignored another’s reasonable request) or to know more about how each child feels their rights have been infringed. We should acknowledge, rather than ignore the position of each child. Children hold opposing views and alternate accounts – this is the reason for the conflict in the first place. But we don’t need to evaluate these accounts.
To move from conflict to cooperation, the focus needs to shift to talking about a solution. For example: “What can we do to make this fair?”
Young children have a strong sense of fairness, and are quick to identify when things are “not fair”. Encouraging children to consider what’s fair invites solutions that take into account other children’s perspectives.
Solutions imposed by adults don’t work well when children are then left to their own devices again.
Take this example from an Australian study of playground interactions in the first year of school: two five-year-olds complain to a teacher about other children interrupting their play.
Children can have good, practical ideas about what will work amongst their peers. Charlein Gracia/Unsplash
The teacher suggests they explain they were using the area, and to invite the others to join their play rather than take over. This seems sensible advice. But as they walk away, one of the children says to her friend, “yeah, that’s not gonna work”.
It’s important to remember that children are expert members of their own peer culture – they create and navigate relationships and rules with other children. Ask them what might work. Inviting ideas from children supports them to arrive at solutions independently.
4. Seek consensus and then supervise
Moving to the next step, you could ask children, “What have we decided to do?”
Having asked each child to contribute their ideas means they have buy-in, even if their suggestion does not prevail. Contributing their own ideas means children have invested in the resolution. After brainstorming ideas, ask the children which solution they will choose or they could even “vote”.
Rather than walking away once children have agreed on a compromise, it’s then a good idea to stay nearby to encourage children to stick to their agreement.
Modelling solutions, and enacting how to reach a compromise is part of children’s learning about how to be in the world.
If we just tell kids what to do all the time, it means they don’t learn how to compromise or negotiate with others. In fact, some research has shown educators can disrupt the peacemaking process that children might otherwise navigate by themselves.
Parents are knowledgeable about their own children’s lives, but in many ways, children understand their peers better than adults do. Understanding how children’s interactions actually work, helps us provide more useful advice. So the adult’s role in an argument is not to attribute blame or hand the marbles back to the kid who cries the loudest. Rather it is to help children to recognise the needs of others in finding a fair solution.
Amelia Church 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.
Seema and her husband did quite well when they first opened a samosa stall in the local market of a town in Bihar state, northeastern India.
But then other vendors found out who Seema was.
They yelled at her customers for buying her samosas. They threatened her husband for “polluting” the market by selling food prepared by her. She put up with it for months before giving up.
What had Seema done wrong? She had been born a Dalit, a member of the “untouchables”, the lowest group in India’s ancient and now officially obsolete caste system.
Seema didn’t look, talk or behave any differently. But someone had found out her family name, which indicated she was descended from pig farmers, a job only done by Dalits. That was enough.
A rigid occupational hierarchy
While there is some debate about British colonialism amplifying it, the origins of India’s caste system go back thousands of years, and are deeply entwined in Hinduism, the religion followed by about 80% of India’s population.
Caste is essentially the stratification of people into a rigid occupational hierarchy.
According to the Manusmriti, considered one of Hinduism’s most important books of law, people are born into one of four castes, depending on their conduct in past lives.
The most virtuous come back as Brahmins, the caste of priests and scholars. Next are the Kshatriyas, who are ascribed to be rulers and warriors. Third are the Vaishya, the artists and traders. Fourth are the Shudras, only good enough to do manual labour.
Below all of them are the Dalits, the “untouchables”, excluded from all jobs except the worst-paid and most degrading – on the pretext of maintaining the spiritual purity of those in higher castes.
Dalit women continue to do much of India’s worst work, such as picking over garbage dumps for scraps to recycle. Shutterstock
India officially outlawed caste-based discrimination in 1950. But it continues to be a fact of life for the estimated 200 million of India’s 1.4 billion population who are Dalits.
They are even discriminated against when applying for programs established to help them.
The plight of Dalit women
I met Seema in the summer of 2019, through a non-government organisation that provides vocational training to women.
It was about two years since she’d given up her stall. Now she was completing a cooking course. From the course she would gain a certificate she hoped would improve her chances of getting a microloan from a government bank, backed by the Reserve Bank of India and offered to people who lack the collateral that institutional lenders usually require.
A microloan might be enough to buy a sewing machine to start a clothes-mending business, or to buy cows to sell milk and cheese. Seema’s plan was to relocate to a bigger city and start a restaurant.
Seema Ghasi wanted a microloan to set up a somosa stall. Shutterstock
She had already applied for a microloan 18 months before, with no success.
When she enquired about her application’s status, she said, staff at the bank brushed her off with comments such as “we have to be extra careful with some applicants”, “I can tell just by looking at your name here on the first page that doing business will be tricky for you” and “I don’t think it’s in your blood”.
My research suggests this is a common experience for Dalit women.
The problem with microloans
Since being pioneered by economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in the 1970s, microloan programs have been embraced as a poverty-reduction policy in many developing nations, including India.
Microloans are offered by for-profit, not-for-profit and government-owned banks. The Reserve Bank of India regulates the sector and acts as a guarantor of microloans given by banks under national government-sponsored poverty alleviation schemes.
For Dalit women, the Reserve Bank of India underwrites incentives including interest rates about half that offered to other women.
In Bihar I interviewed almost 30 Dalit women completing vocational courses to improve their prospects for a microloan. I asked them the same question: why had they not succeeded?
The typical response was an uncomfortable silence, then tears, and then a story of being humiliated when applying for a microloan – of help being refused when filling in a form, of being told not to sit on the same chairs as other bank customers, and of their application being rejected for no good reason.
Research by myself and associates, analysing the microloan-lending decisions of 43 branches of a major bank with more than 2 million microloan customers, found 66% of rejected applications were from Dalit women.
All these rejections contravened the Reserve Bank of India’s guidance that Dalit application be decided at a higher level – presumably to avoid the discrimination at the branch level.
Caste certificates
Dalit women face a catch-22. To qualify for a program to assist Dalits, they had to prove they’re a Dalit by supplying a government-issued caste certificate.
But this certificate then became the means for them be identified as Dalits and discriminated against.
The women I interviewed told me how much attitudes changed when bank staff saw their caste certificates. They were called “freeloaders” and “privileged”.
Dalit women, being at the bottom end of the social and patriarchal hierarchy, will seldom request a reassessment. They have already been hit with a double whammy of caste and gender discrimination, and the instruments put in place to help them have become bureaucratic weapons to perpetuate this exploitation and ostracism.
There are no simple solutions, but the first step is to understand the extent of the problem. A full audit by the the Reserve Bank of India of microfinance programs and their treatment of Dalit women is the obvious place to start.
India’s history has its fair share of nice ideas failing in practice. The work to end discrimination against Dalits will take decades. Seema may never live to see the day when revealing her family name doesn’t risk disgust.
But there’s still a chance for Seema’s two young children to live in such a world.
Kanika Meshram 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.
Traditional banks in New Zealand have long served as gatekeepers of customers’ data. This is about to change with the arrival of what’s called “open banking”, set to arrive in New Zealand by 2024.
In essence, open banking is where a traditional bank makes client and transaction data available to another financial service provider. This provider then uses the information to find the best deal for customers.
The government recently agreed to establish a consumer data rights framework (CDR), paving the way for open banking in New Zealand.
As the country prepares for this new way to do banking, we can learn a great deal from the experiences of Europe and the United Kingdom – particularly in relation to concerns over governance and the security of data.
The benefits of open banking
Open banking is gaining global recognition as it helps integrate new financial service providers into the financial ecosystem, making it more sustainable, efficient, agile and innovative.
For someone with several accounts across different banks, open banking will allow them to check all their transactions in a single interface through account aggregator applications. The customer will then be able quickly move funds between their accounts.
With the help of artificial intelligence, the same application can help customers organise their finances by suggesting financial products with better rates and conditions.
As far as small- and medium-sized entrepreneurs are concerned, open banking enables them to control their cash flow better, reconcile payments and manage inventories. Open banking also allows business owners to integrate their financial information with their accounting service provider.
Learning from the European experience
But as we embark on this brave new world, what can we learn from the experiences of those countries that have already introduced open banking? Helpfully, there are two recent reports from the UK and Europe that illustrate some of the benefits and pitfalls of the process.
Open banking emerged in July 2013 as part of the European Commission’s revised Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) proposal. Open banking is now a global initiative where the UK and continental Europe are seen as global leaders. In Europe alone, there are at least 410 third-party providers.
In May 2022, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority published the results of an investigation into their open banking experience.
The authority’s investigation raised concerns over corporate governance failures, the late delivery of accounts, management of conflicts, procurement, value for money, and it identified the need for human resource improvements.
The issues mainly related to governance failures at the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE).
The OBIE was charged with overseeing the implementation and the performance of open banking by the nine largest banks in the UK. This governance structure led to too much power being vested in a single trustee, with insufficient checks and balances on their decisions. In addition, there were failings in the risk management system and internal controls.
The UK government has recognised the problem and is in the process of reinforcing OBIE’s governance structure.
Recently, the European Commission held public consultation on its 2013 directive and the commission’s work on open banking. Most of the respondents were concerned about sharing financial data due to a lack of trust – stemming from concerns over privacy, data protection and digital security. There was a general sense of not being able to control how their data was used.
Some 84% of people responding to the public consultation believed there were security and privacy risks in giving service providers access to their data.
Moreover, 57% of respondents believed financial service providers that hold their data only sometimes ask for consent before sharing that data with other financial or third-party service providers.
The need for clear regulation
The European and UK experience highlights the issues related to the implementation of open banking and public perception. The New Zealand government should carefully consider the governance and data security issues raised by the two reports.
It is crucial to develop an effective board oversight and risk management strategy. A consent management tool should be introduced to build trust and transparency. There should also be a high-level system in which all data holders and users are adequately monitored and supervised.
Implementing open banking in New Zealand should result in a shift of power from traditional banks towards a vigorous financial technology sector. It should also create opportunity for traditional banks to innovate and become much more responsive to customer needs.
If we get it right, open banking will ultimately mean New Zealanders are better served by their financial system.
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.
Ever get the feeling that time is standing still, that your life’s on repeat, that everything’s just another rerun of a mediocre TV show?
Well, this might be because it is – at least when it comes to the American cinematic media ecology, with the majority of the most-hyped Hollywood films for 2023 being sequels and reboots.
One would be forgiven for giving up on our Hollywood dreams and turning to other regions – Europe, Australasia, South Korea – for film fare.
Even if there are a handful of substantially original films slated for 2023, it’s difficult not to be snarky when major studios continue to show such contempt for the intelligence of viewers.
So, what do we have to “look forward to” in 2023?
Major franchise films
If you love superhero franchises, there are some notable releases in 2023. Two of them look watchable, including a new Ant-Man movie – this is one of the Marvel series that is bearable, largely due to their light touch and charming leads – this time co-starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Bill Murray, and the sequel to the excellent animation film of 2018, Into the Spiderverse, Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse.
There’s also a new Guardians of the Galaxy film – Vol. 3 – which fans of Guardians of the Galaxy series will probably rush out to see (these people must exist, given the scale of these films!), a new Shazam movie, which promises to be as enthralling as its antecedent, and a sequel to the inoffensive Captain Marvel, The Marvels – its name sounds like a parody of current cinema trends.
If that doesn’t scratch your superhero itch, there’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, directed by the supremely stylish James Wan.
There are some other notable non-superhero sequels.
There’s a new Magic Mike movie, again directed by Steven Soderbergh, who seems perpetually to be coming out of retirement to direct more movies, this one co-starring Salma Hayek and set in London. There’s Fast X, the new Fast and the Furious movie, the tenth entry in a franchise that has historically produced some solid action films but whose last couple of entries have started to feel a little dusty. There’s the appropriately-named Legally Blonde 3, a continuation of the story of ditzy but brilliant law student then lawyer Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon), a character with some charm in the first film but whose schtick had become tedious by the second outing.
Director Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part I was a technically accomplished sci-fi fantasy epic, but Part II, scheduled to be released in November, promises to be less engaging as the best characters (and actors) were killed off in Part I.
There’s Scream 6, the second Scream film since the death of horror maestro Wes Craven and the attempted series “reboot” (is there a more annoying word?) with Scream (2022), the first not to star series anchor Neve Campbell as the harangued and courageous Sidney Prescott.
For some bizarre reason, there’s yet another Ghostbusters movie being released in 2023. Actually, it’s not bizarre at all, the sequel and reboot, especially of nostalgic 80s fare, have become virtual mints, printing money for studios with minimum creative effort. There’s also a new Transformers film coming – Rise of the Beasts – this time without Michael Bay directing, there’s a new John Wick film, and, perhaps weirdest of all, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. This is the first one to not be directed by Spielberg and promises very little, though it may be mildly interesting to see Antonio Banderas and Mads Mikkelsen in an Indiana Jones film.
More minor – but, probably, no less profitable – sequels include a new Creed movie, Creed III, directed by actor Michael B. Jordan, Evil Dead Rise, a new entry in the Evil Dead series, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Part One (as though it isn’t annoying enough to have to see countless sequels, now we have to see sequels in multiple parts, thanks Harry Potter), The Nun 2 – the cleverly-named sequel to the banal and unfrightening schlocker The Nun, Insidious: Fear of the Dark, directed by series actor Patrick Wilson, Murder Mystery 2, the sequel to the disappointing Netflix film of 2019 starring Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler, a Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes – why settle for four movies when you can make five? – Book Club 2: The Next Chapter, The Equalizer 3, The Expendables 4, and Saw X!
Perhaps the sole sequel I am eagerly anticipating is Meg 2: The Trench. The Meg was one of the most delightful shark romps in years, and the sequel once again stars diver-turned-action man Jason Statham and is directed by Ben Wheatley, who has made some of the most unnerving films of the last decade (Kill List, A Field in England, In the Earth). Wheatley has a cinephile’s sense of genre and spectacle, so Meg 2 at least promises to be pleasurable.
Other major releases
People will be queuing up, I’m sure, to see contemporary auteur Christopher Nolan’s treatment of the biography of atomic bomb scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer. Nolan is one of the most pretentious directors around, and his films are deeply conservative, but Oppenheimer is a striking enough character that it would be hard to sap the energy out of his story.
Similarly, Martin Scorsese is doing another biopic, this time of Theodore Roosevelt, with perennial Scorsese collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role.
There’s a new Guy Ritchie spy caper – Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, starring Ritchie stalwart Jason Statham, along with Aubrey Plaza and Hugh Grant, who has really reinvented himself in recent years, embracing the kind of dissolute sociopathic prat that always lurked under the façade of his good guy roles in films like Notting Hill.
One of the few releases that genuinely generates interest is the Barbie feature film, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Films based on toys are notoriously terrible, and there’s no reason to think this won’t be, but it will be fascinating to see how flavour of the month director Greta Gerwig (responsible for one of the more inept films of recent years, Little Women) makes a film out of the Barbie toy and legend.
Ryan Gosling as Ken in Barbie (2023). WARNER BROS. PICTURES
Notable more minor releases
Even if major Hollywood productions seem to be tied up now, much of the time, to multimedia money-generating franchises (are many people over the age of five really excited to see Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie or Neil Blomkamp’s film Gran Turismo, based on the video game, both coming out in 2023?), there are some smaller films coming out of the US in 2023 that look promising.
Blumhouse are a hit and miss company – they’ve released some solid horror films over the last couple of decades, but also more than their share of didactic and irritating tripe – but M3GAN, a Child’s Play-type film about an AI doll that becomes self-aware and overprotective of its owner looks good.
Similarly, the bluntly-titled Plane promises to be an engaging genre film. Starring Gerard Butler and directed by genre filmmaker Jean-François Richet (Blood Father), it follows a pilot trying to escape after an emergency landing in a hostile region in the Philippines.
Indie-philes will probably be interested in the new coming of age film When You Finish Saving the World, the directorial debut of actor Jesse Eisenberg, released by A24, and also in A Good Person, written and directed by actor Zach Braff and starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman.
There’s Shotgun Wedding, made by Amazon, a throwback to the high-romcom era starring J Lo and Josh Duhamel, and Cheech Marin (!) – watching it should at least be a weird experience, like stepping into a time-machine and winding up in the late 90s.
80 for Brady also promises to be a curio, given it’s produced by Tom Brady, stars Tom Brady as Tom Brady, and is about a group of seniors who take a road trip to Houston to watch their hero Tom Brady. Brady, of course, no longer plays gridiron in the NFL – so why not continue his career playing it in the movies? The cast of this one is good, and it’s nice to see Sally Field in a big film again, along with Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Rita Moreno. Even if their output has been at best mixed over the last decades, it should be rewarding to see a gang of pre-MTV pros acting on the big screen.
What else might be worth watching?
The weirdest (or is it most inspired?) title award for 2023 goes to the slasher film, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey – “slasher film” and “Winnie-the-Pooh” not usually going together. Cocaine Bear, a bizarre true story directed by comic actor Elizabeth Banks about a bear that went berserk after ingesting a large amount of cocaine is close behind.
Chevalier, a biopic of “Black Mozart” Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the horror comedy Renfield, Next Goal Wins, directed by Taika Waititi about the Samoan soccer team trying to qualify for the 2014 FIFA world cup, Challengers, a sports romcom directed by Luca Guadagnino, The Blackening, a woke horror parody with a ho-hum premise, and Harold and the Purple Crayon, the long-awaited film version of the popular children’s book may also be worth checking out in 2023.
But, all in all, there is not much promise on the horizon as far as American cinema goes, for the next year at least. Luckily films from the sound era go back nearly a hundred years, and many of the best have been released on physical media and streaming services, so it will be easy to watch these instead.
Ari Mattes 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.
Fiji lawyer and former human rights activist Imrana Jalal has offered a “warning” to her motherland that should people be investigated, prosecuted or dismissed, it must be done within the rule of law.
In a social media posting on her Facebook page, Jalal wrote: “A WARNING to ourselves in Fiji — it’s very important that if people are going to be investigated, dismissed, prosecuted or asked to resign voluntarily (without coercion) whether in a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) or otherwise; or a commission of inquiry be set up, example, to look at the judiciary, that this all be done within the rule of law.
“There should be no victimisation or targeted prosecutions unless there is genuine evidence by independent investigators.
“I speak with authority on this having been targeted by the former regime personally.
“If we do otherwise, then we are no better than the corrupt regime [that has been] in power for the last 16 years.
“We need to start off the right way or we are tainted from the beginning.”
Jalal, a former Fiji human rights commissioner and previously a gender specialist with the Asia Development Bank, asked those calling for heads to roll to “be careful”.
‘Give our fragile democracy a chance’ “Be cautious. Refrain from this type of diatribe. No good will come of it. There can be no restoration to the rule of law like that,” she said.
“Let the government slowly make its way. Give them a chance: step by step we can restore our fragile democracy.”
Prominent Suva lawyer Graham Leung voiced similar sentiment, calling on Fijians to be patient and follow the law. He added that due process must be followed in dismissing or removing people from office.
“Arbitrary and unlawful dismissals must be avoided at all costs. There are constitutional processes for removal for some posts,” Leung said on his Facebook social media page.
“In some cases, there are legally binding contracts in place. Negotiations for early termination of contracts can take place by mutual agreement. These should be carried out professionally without malice or bad faith.
“We would be no better than the last government if we did this. Due process will take time.
“You cannot rectify and address 16 years of bad governance overnight. The change we all voted for will not happen at the press of a button.
“I urge the people of Fiji celebrating the new government’s victory and the removal of the previous authoritarian government to be patient. We will get there eventually.
“Let us not, in the excitement of the change, lose our sense of reason, fairness and logic.
“I completely accept that those [who] have broken the law must be held personally accountable, whether in the courts or according to law.”
Timoci Vulais a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.
Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has already started work to achieve the People’s Alliance-led coalition 100-day plan outlined in its manifesto.
He recognises that things such as cost of living, water and electricity outages are existing issues that can be solved after a thorough review and consultative process.
In its manifesto, the party had stated it would consult on price control on basic and zero-rated VAT food items.
During an interview with The Fiji Times, he also voiced plans to grow the economy to a level whereby the revenue and expenditure could “harmonise continuously”.
“We cannot immediately effect reductions because the revenue forecast has been done in the last budget,” he said.
“At the moment, we do not see any signs of any sudden increase in our revenue so we do not want to suddenly increase some of the expenditures and we’ll probably run out this budget according to the forecast, and then bring in those measures that we would like to achieve [with] the budget target for the full budget year.
“But that’ll be after the 100 days. Those that can be done within the 100 days, we’ll have to do.”
Rabuka said he had already met with the permanent secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office and expected an informal Cabinet sitting on Thursday where they would be briefed on the country’s economic situation.
Shayal Devi is a Fiji Times journalist. Republished with permission.
This year was another huge one for Local Democracy Reporting, with our reporters at the forefront of uncovering some of the biggest stories in their regions.
Felix Desmarais in Rotorua exposed hitherto secret plans by the council to revoke the reserve status of seven council reserves, paving the way for new housing to be built on them, including social housing.
It became a major election issue with residents using the ballot to choose candidates opposed to the plan, which was subsequently canned by the new council.
Steve Forbes covered the chaos created by understaffed and overstretched Emergency Departments, with a deep dive in to the death of a patient who visited Middlemore Hospital.
He was first with a damning independent report that found the ED was “an unsafe environment for both patients and staff”.
It was a year of climate change-induced severe weather, and LDR reporters produced numerous stories on how councils were coping, or not, when it came to putting back together what Mother Nature had torn apart.
Flooding this year continued to represent an existential threat to Westport after the devastating inundation seen last year as well. Brendon McMahon’s stories have reflected the reality on the ground, such as the predicament faced by residents on Snodgrass Road who had been left out of a proposed flood protection scheme.
Nelson clean-up Nelson reporter Max Frethey has kept readers up to date as that city deals with its own clean-up after devastating downpours in August, which left the city with a repair bill of between $40 million and $60 million, the biggest in its 160-year history.
Sarah-Lee Smith inside her flood-damaged Snodgrass Rd home in Westport. Image: Brendon McMahon/LDR
The weather kept Marlborough’s Maia Hart busy this year as well in a region with communities still cut off or with limited access due to damage caused a year ago.
But it was her story on the resilience of elderly Lochmara Bay resident Monyeen Wedge that really captured readers’ attention. Living alone, she went three days without power and was forced to live off canned food.
The pandemic and the response of health authorities and councils continued to be an area of inquiry for LDR in 2022, and none more so than Moana Ellis in Whanganui.
While high vaccination rates amongst pākehā protected thousands from the worst affects of the Omicron wave, it was a battle for DHBs to reach many Māori, who already had a distrust of health authorities. Moana’s reporting ensured these communities were not forgotten.
In one of LDR’s most read stories of 2022, Alisha Evans uncovered the extent of bureaucratic overreach in Tauranga when through traffic was discouraged on Links Ave with the help of a fine. A glitch led to infringements being issued to drivers living as far away as the South Island who had never even visited the city.
Reporters have documented the good and the bad of people’s interactions with vulnerable ecosystems. North Canterbury’s David Hill shone a light on the wonton destruction of endangered nesting birds in the region’s braided river beds by 4WD enthusiasts.
Community efforts While Mother Nature was the winner following a series of stories from Taranaki’s Craig Ashworth on community efforts to protect dwindling stocks of kaimoana, which finally resulted in a two-year long rāhui.
The national roll out of flexible median barriers, aka “cheesecutters”, caused consternation in Whakatāne where Diane McCarthy talked to police who said they would struggle to pass drivers on their way to emergencies and farmers driving slow-moving tractors worried about extra levels of road rage from slowed-up motorists.
The dire state of the country’s water infrastructure is magnified in places like Wairarapa, with its small ratepayer base and decades old pipes and sewage treatment. There was no better illustration of this than Emily Ireland’s reporting on Masterton’s use of its Better Off funding where it was pointed out a mum was using a council provided portaloo to potty train her toddler because sewage was backing up in the town system whenever there was heavy rain.
The human impact of decisions around water infrastructure was also brought in to sharp relief in Ashburton reporter Jonathan Leask’s excellent reporting. He took up the cause of a couple and their three children who were shut out of moving in to their dream home due to high nitrate levels limiting the building of any more septic tanks.
One of the biggest changes around council tables this year was the election of Māori ward candidates, with half of all councils now having these. Northland’s Susan Botting has been first out of the blocks reporting on the new dynamics at play, starting with Kaipara mayor Craig Jepson’s ban on karakia to open meetings. The ban was hastily reversed, but led to the largest hikoi in Dargaville for some time.
Hamish Pryde and a worker from Pryde Contracting were busy opening up the Wairoa River mouth last month in an effort to avert a flooding disaster for the township and low-lying areas. Image: Hawke’s Bay Regional Council/LDR
As with all of LDR’s reporters, choosing just one stand out story from the many fine pieces published throughout the year is almost impossible. None more so than Tairāwhiti reporter Matthew Rosenberg.
But no wrap of 2022 would be complete without mention of his story on bulldozer driver Hamish Pryde. The 65-year-old helped save Wairoa from a dangerously high river by negotiating already badly flooded paddocks and opening up a sand bar so the river could drain out to sea.
As Matthew says, “not all heroes wear capes, some drive bulldozers”.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air. Asia Pacific Report is a partner in the project.
