Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Taylor, Early Career Research Leader, Emerging Viruses, Inflammation and Therapeutics Group, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University
The Lambda variant accounts for almost all new cases in Peru, which has the world’s highest COVID death toll per capita. Rodrigo Abd/AP/AAP
The Lambda coronavirus variant was first reported in Peru in December 2020, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has designated Lambda a “variant under monitoring”, and Public Health England regards it as a “variant under investigation”.
In June this year, the WHO designated it a “variant of interest”. This is due to mutations thought to affect the virus’ characteristics, such as how easily it’s transmitted. Though it’s not yet concerning enough for the WHO to deem it a “variant of concern”, such as Alpha or Delta.
Epidemiological evidence is still mounting as to the exact threat Lamda poses. So, at this stage more research is required to say for certain how its mutations impact transmission, its ability to evade protection from vaccines, and the severity of disease.
Preliminary evidence suggests Lambda has an easier time infecting our cells and is a bit better at dodging our immune systems. But vaccines should still do a good job against it.
Is Lambda more infectious? And can it escape vaccines?
What’s more, as many of the coronavirus vaccines currently available or in development are based on the spike protein, changes to the spike protein in new variants can impact vaccine effectiveness
One mutation (F490S) has already been associated with reduced susceptibility to antibodies generated in patients who had recovered from COVID. This means antibodies generated from being infected with the original Wuhan strain of COVID aren’t quite as effective at neutralising Lambda.
Another Lambda mutation (L452Q) is at the same position in the spike protein as a previously studied mutation found in the Delta variant (L452R). This mutation in Delta not only increases the ability of the virus to infect cells, but also promotes immune escape meaning the antibodies vaccines generate are less likely to recognise it.
Both mutations F490S and L452Q are in the “receptor binding domain”, which is the part of the spike protein that attaches to our cells.
Preliminary data on the Lambda spike protein suggests it has increased infectivity, meaning it’s more easily able to infect cells than the original Wuhan virus and the Alpha and Gamma variants. These early studies also suggest antibodies generated in people receiving the CoronaVac vaccine (developed by Chinese biotech Sinovac) were less potent at neutralising the spike protein of Lambda than they were the Wuhan, Alpha or Gamma variants.
It’s worth noting infectivity is not the same as being more infectious between people. There’s not enough evidence yet that Lambda is definitely more infectious, but the mutations it has suggest it’s possible.
A separate small study, also yet to be reviewed by the scientific community, suggests the L452Q mutation in the Lambda spike protein is responsible for its increased ability to infect cells. Like the L452R mutation in the Delta variant, this study suggests the L452Q mutation means Lambda may bind more easily to the “ACE2 receptor”, which is the gateway for SARS-CoV-2 to enter our cells.
This preliminary study suggests Lambda’s spike protein mutations reduce the ability of antibodies generated by both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines to neutralise the virus. Also, one mutation was shown to resist neutralisation by antibodies from antibody therapy to some extent.
However, these reductions were moderate. Also, neutralising antibodies are only one part of a protective immune response elicited by vaccination. Therefore, these studies conclude currently approved vaccines and antibody therapies can still protect against disease caused by Lambda.
Is it more severe?
A risk assessment released by Public Health England in July concedes there’s not yet enough information on Lambda to know whether infection increases the risk of severe disease.
The risk assessment also recommends ongoing surveillance in countries where both Lambda and Delta are present be implemented as a priority. The aim would be to find out whether Lambda is capable of out-competing Delta.
With ongoing high levels of transmission of the coronavirus, there’s a continued risk of new variants emerging. The Lambda variant again highlights the risk of these mutations increasing the ability of SARS-CoV-2 to infect cells or disrupt existing vaccines and antibody drugs.
The WHO will continue to study Lambda to determine whether it has the potential to become an emerging risk to global public health and a variant of concern.
Adam Taylor receives funding from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Noonan, Research Officer, Atherothrombosis and Vascular Biology Laboratory, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
Repeated COVID-19 outbreaks in Australia have once again highlighted the need for rapid and widespread vaccination. We are extremely fortunate the global scientific community has been able to develop a handful of highly effective vaccines in such a short time.
As with any vaccine or medicine, the COVID vaccines do carry small risks. The rare blood clotting disorder caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine — thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or TTS — has largely dominated the headlines.
But we’re also seeing reports of a potentially increased risk of myocarditis and pericarditis (heart inflammation) following the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
Here’s why this shouldn’t be cause for concern.
First, what are myocarditis and pericarditis?
There are three main types of heart inflammation: endocarditis, myocarditis, and pericarditis. These involve inflammation of the inner lining of the heart, the heart muscle, and the outer lining of the heart respectively.
Viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, are the most common cause of myocarditis and pericarditis. Essentially, the inflammation the immune system generates to combat infections can inadvertently lead to inflammation of the heart.
In the very rare cases of myocarditis and pericarditis observed after vaccination with a COVID mRNA shot, it’s possible a similar thing might be happening. That is, the vaccine causes the immune system to generate some level of inflammation so it’s prepared to mount a response against SARS-CoV-2, and this inflammation is partially misdirected to the heart.
But the risk is very small, and the conditions are treatable.
Shutterstock
What’s the risk?
The exact incidence of myocarditis and pericarditis following vaccination is still being defined, and it remains to be proven that mRNA vaccines are truly the cause of these conditions — although it seems likely.
In Australia, of roughly 3.7 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine administered up to July 11, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) reports there have been 50 cases of suspected myocarditis or pericarditis. This suggests a risk of one per 74,000 vaccines. The TGA notes most people who developed these conditions have recovered or are recovering.
However, given the relatively small number of vaccinations administered in Australia, it’s important to consider more complete data from countries with higher vaccination rates.
The United States’ Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had received 1,226 reports of myocarditis following 296 million doses of mRNA vaccines administered up to June 11. This equates to a risk of roughly one in 240,000 doses. These cases were mostly in young men and predominantly occurred after the second dose.
Independently from vaccines, myocarditis occurs in roughly 23 per 100,000 people worldwide per year (we don’t have reliable figures for pericarditis). This shows us there’s a much lower risk from vaccination than exists in the population generally.
Symptoms to look out for
Normal side effects of COVID-19 vaccines include headache, fever, chills, muscle or joint pain, fatigue and nausea.
In contrast, chest pain, irregular heartbeat, heart palpitations, shortness of breath and light-headedness could indicate myocarditis or pericarditis. Symptoms of these conditions have generally occurred within seven days of vaccination. Anyone who experiences these symptoms should seek medical attention.
In most cases, myocarditis and pericarditis can be successfully treated with anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin and corticosteroids.
In Israel, 95% of cases recently investigated were classified as mild. Similarly, the CDC has reported most patients in the US have recovered quickly.
While this very small risk of heart inflammation following vaccination may be alarming, it’s crucial to understand the risk of heart damage following severe COVID-19 is far greater.
Damage of the heart muscle is a common consequence of coronavirus. Research shows it occurs in up to 28% of patients hospitalised with COVID-19.
Importantly, the risk of death is markedly higher in COVID-19 patients who sustain heart muscle damage. While we need further research to understand precisely how COVID-19 damages the heart, myocarditis and pericarditis are major causes of the heart damage found in COVID-19 patients.
The benefit outweighs the risk
The recent limits applied to the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in younger age groups suggests the relatively low risk of COVID-19 in Australia justifies being highly selective over vaccine use.
But while Australia has done incredibly well at containing COVID-19, the risk of transmission here remains high given the global COVID-19 situation. We’re seeing this daily as we contend with outbreaks and lockdowns around the country.
Myocarditis and pericarditis are potentially associated with the mRNA vaccines, but these complications are extremely rare, most often mild, and seem to be treatable.
As has been the consistent message from the medical and scientific communities throughout this pandemic, the benefit of COVID-19 vaccines significantly outweighs the risk of rare side effects. This is particularly true for the highly effective mRNA-based vaccines as COVID-19 continues to spread around the world.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Since his retirement from parliament in 2012, Bob Brown has remained an activist on environmental causes – from campaigning against the Adani coal mine to fighting the threat to Tasmania’s Tarkine forest.
Brown was leader when after the 2010 election the Greens helped Julia Gillard retain government by entering an agreement with her. A key part of that deal was the requirement that a price on carbon be introduced.
These days Brown labels Labor “Liberal-lite” – condemning what he sees at its timid stance on climate policy as a lost opportunity to catch up with “public sentiment”.
“No doubt there are people with Labor, a younger set of people who can see this, but the old guard, and that includes Anthony Albanese, don’t see it…”
“Labor is on the edge, trying to make itself look a little bit greener that Morrison[…]but that really doesn’t cut the mustard”.
On Friday, the UNESCO World Heritage committee will vote on whether the Great Barrier Reef should be declared “in danger” – trying to head that off, Australian government has proposed an amendment that the decision be delayed until 2023. Brown believes the listing should have been made “years ago” because the reef is “not only in danger, it’s dying”.
Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
As you huddle inside this winter – possibly as part of a pandemic lockdown – you might be noticing the “thermal performance” of your home. In other words, does your home maintain a comfortable temperature inside, despite cold conditions outside?
If you’re a social housing tenant in New South Wales, the answer may well be no. Our new research examined the relationship between energy consumption and thermal performance in 42 social housing dwellings. We found many homes operated outside the healthy temperature recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) for substantial periods, particularly during winter.
Our research also found many social housing tenants were effectively being forced to choose between keeping their home at a healthy temperature through cooling and heating, and keeping their energy bills manageable. As one tenant told us:
I put the heater on the other night for 20 minutes — it didn’t do much. But the whole time it was on I was freaking about the cost. No good — die of cold or die of stress, take your pick.
Social housing in NSW is often colder than WHO standards. Shutterstock
In Australia, more than one million people live in housing in poor condition – 100,000 of them in very poor or derelict housing.
Yet, little is known about the internal temperatures in social housing, or how tenants experience seasonal temperature change. Our research represents one step to address this knowledge gap.
Exposure to temperatures that are too high or too low has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses and other conditions, which can lead to death.
Energy inefficient homes are blamed in part for higher winter death rates in Australia than other much colder nations, such as Sweden. Conversely, research has shown the health benefits of retrofitting housing to improve winter warmth.
Measures to make an existing home more energy efficient include:
insulating the ceiling, and potentially the walls and underfloor
sealing gaps and draught-proofing
installing ceiling fans
improving the efficiency of heating and cooling systems
installing efficient hot water systems
improving windows with shading, heavy curtains or double glazing.
Insulation helps make a home more energy efficient. Shutterstock
Our findings
Social housing is provided by government, not-for-profit or private organisations, to tenants who are often vulnerable and marginalised.
We examined the thermal performance of 42 social housing properties in NSW between March 2017 and September 2019. Our study included energy audits monitoring of electrical energy and indoor conditions, and interviews with tenants.
We found substantial under-heating in many of the properties. According to the WHO, the minimum temperature for healthy homes is 18℃. But one-quarter of properties recorded winter temperatures below this for more than 80% of winter. More than half were below 18℃ for more than half of winter.
The problem of overheating in summer was less widespread, but still a significant issue in some homes.
Some households consumed higher-than-average levels of energy despite their low incomes (even after correcting for family size and location) while others used far less than average.
High household energy use was predominately associated with air conditioning use in hot summer climates. In most of these cases, tenants had installed window air-conditioning units with extremely low energy efficiency.
Tenants regularly reported having to forgo thermal comfort to manage their energy bills. To keep power bills down, they also spoke of relinquishing essentials such as daily showers, cooked dinners, night lighting and watching television.
Social housing tenants often forgo life’s essentials to save on electricity bills. Shutterstock
What can be done?
The homes in our study subsequently received energy efficiency upgrades, funded by the housing provider and the NSW government. The social housing sector, while operating on tight budgets, is an innovator when it comes to retrofitting existing buildings.
In Australia, social housing upgradeprograms typically focus on improving heating, cooling and hot water systems, and in some cases adding solar. This is largely because such upgrades are simple and rooftop solar costs are falling.
However, energy efficiency experts generally say improvements to the building fabric, such as installing insulation and sealing draughts, should be carried out before services to the home are upgraded.
This approach generally requires on-ground assessment of each property and can be difficult and costly to roll out on a large scale. This is a major challenge for housing providers with constrained budgets, and who are often under pressure to deliver new housing.
But building fabric upgrades are long-lasting, don’t increase maintenance costs and deliver benefits regardless of a tenant’s heating and cooling practices.
One social housing tenant told us of the benefits of such upgrades:
[Before the upgrade] I’d have my heater on, say, from half past four of an afternoon ‘til half past eleven, you just would not turn it off. [Since the upgrade] I turn it on at half past four, it’s coming off at about seven o’clock and I don’t need to turn it back on.
While our study involved a small sample size, it provided new empirical evidence of the need for substantial new investment to continue to upgrade the energy performance of our social housing stock. Such upgrades will help reduce energy costs for tenants and enhance their health and well-being.
It would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase resilience to climate change and provide jobs and economic stimulus during the pandemic and beyond.
This story is part of a series The Conversation is running on the nexus between disaster, disadvantage and resilience. It is supported by a philanthropic grant from the Paul Ramsay Foundation. Read the rest of the stories here.
Funding for this work was provided by the Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living and the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage
Paul Cooper receives funding from the Australian Research Councili.
Federico Tartarini 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.
A pro-independence movement in West Papua has appealed to several Western countries — including New Zealand — to provide urgent humanitarian help by supplying covid vaccines directly to the Papuans to cope with the “double crisis” in the Indonesian-ruled region.
Benny Wenda, interim president of the Provisional Government of West Papua, said today he had made the appeal by writing to the foreign ministers of Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the US.
“I have also written to the President of the European Commission, the WHO [World Health Organisation] and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the escalating covid-19 situation in our land,” he said in a statement.
“This new crisis is a further existential threat to my people.”
“Just yesterday, villagers from the West Moskona district were attacked by troops after attending a peaceful worship session against ‘Special Autonomy’, fleeing to the forests and the city of Bintuni,” he said.
“Woman and children are afraid to return to their villages in case the military and police arrest or attack them.”
50,000 plus displaced “More than 50,000 people have been displaced in Nduga, Puncak and Intan Jaya over the past two and a half years. Their homes have been destroyed, their churches burned and their schools occupied by soldiers.
“They are left in internal displacement camps, where the virus will spread rapidly. Already in the cities, patients are being turned away or treated in cars outside the hospital.”
Western countries and the WHO had an urgent moral obligation to give vaccine doses direct the local Papuan government for distribution, Wenda said.
“As the 2018 Asmat health crisis showed, Jakarta cannot be trusted with the health of the West Papuan people,” he said.
“Over nearly 60 years of colonisation we have seen a chronic failure to develop health facilities in West Papua, leaving us dying on top of the natural riches Indonesia is extracting. If Jakarta is allowed to hold the reigns of vaccine development, my people will suffer further.”
Wenda said the developments were part of a “continued genocide against my people”.
“Our forests have been torn down, our mountains decapitated, our way of life destroyed. Indonesia restricts healthcare and enforces a colonial education whilst killing anyone who speaks out for self-determination,” Wenda said.
“Launching military operations in the middle of a pandemic is a policy designed to further wipe out our population. We need urgent international assistance, direct to the local Papuan government, not through the colonial occupier.”
EDITORIAL:By the editorial board of The Jakarta Post
The unanimous House of Representatives decision in Indonesia last week to endorse the revised Papuan Special Autonomy Law shows, yet again, the propensity of the Jakarta elite to dictate the future of the territory, despite persistent calls to honor local demands.
This “new deal” is not likely to end violence in the resource-rich provinces, which stems in large part from Jakarta’s refusal to settle past human rights abuses there.
On paper, the revision offers some of the substantial changes needed to help Papuans close the gap with the rest of the nation. For example, it extends special autonomy funding for Papua and West Papua to 2041 and increases its amount from 2 percent to 2.25 percent of the general allocation fund, with a particular focus on health and education.
The Finance Ministry estimates that over the next 20 years, the two provinces will receive Rp 234.6 trillion (US$16 billion).
The revisions also strengthen initiatives to empower native Papuans in the policy-making process by allocating one fourth of the Regional Legislative Council to native, nonpartisan Papuans by appointment. They also mandate that 30 percent of those seats go to native Papuan women.
Under the new law, a new institution will be established to “synchronize, harmonize, evaluate and coordinate” the implementation of special autonomy. Headed by the Vice President, the new body will answer to the President and will have a secretariat in Papua. The previous government formed a presidential unit to accelerate development in Papua and West Papua (UP4B), but President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo dissolved it shortly after taking office in 2014.
The chairman of the special House committee deliberating the revision, Komarudin Watubun, a Papuan, described the new law as “a breakthrough” as it would require the government to consult the Papuan and West Papuan governments in the drafting of implementing regulations.
But this is where the core problem of the special autonomy law lies. In democracy, respecting the will of the public, including dissenting views, is vital to the lawmaking process, precisely because the laws will affect that public. Public scrutiny should precede rather than follow a law, but in the case of the special autonomy law, that mechanism was dropped from the House’s deliberation, which lasted seven months, under the pretext of social distancing to contain the spread of covid-19.
The Jakarta elite have clearly left the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) behind as a representation of the customs and will of the provinces’ people, as well as the Papuan Legislative Council (DPRP), not to mention civil society groups, tribes and those who mistrust special autonomy and the government. In the words of MRP chief Timotius Murib, the revisions reveal Jakarta’s lack of good intentions for Papuan development.
This is not the first time the executive and legislative powers have colluded to bypass public consultation on a highly controversial bill. The tactic worked in the passage of the Job Creation Law last year, as well as the new Mining Law, and the approach is apparently repeating in the ongoing deliberation of the Criminal Code revision.
As long as the obsolete, Jakarta-centered approach remains intact, Papuan peace and prosperity will remain elusive.
This Jakarta Post editorial was published on 21 July 2021.
Jerolyn Arimbandai was the only woman teacher of a newly established Catholic-run high school in the Middle Ramu district of Papua New Guinea’s Madang province.
She was married to Steven Arimbandai, a local from Josephstaal, also a teacher at Josephstaal High School. They had a child and were expecting their second.
On June 27, she decided to move to town in preparation for the birth. Her decision to move to town was due to the fact that the Josephstaal Health Centre had run out of basic medical supplies four months prior.
At eight months pregnant, she walked a 25km road. I was with the group accompanying here when we left Josephstaal at 7:00 am. We reached Guam at 6:30 pm.
She departed for town at 9:00 pm. I couldn’t get on the vehicle since it was overloaded with passengers and cocoa bags.
At around 4:00am, they reached Bogia when she experienced the onset of labor pain and was brought to Bogia Health Centre.
Her delivery was supervised at Bogia centre and she was diagnosed with post-partum hemorrhage. She was than referred to Madang General Hospital in the hope that they would get there in time for doctors to treat her.
Died at the hospital front gate She died in front of the Modilon Hospital gate.
Her decision to seek medical assistance elsewhere was due to poor basic government service delivery at Josephstaal.
Cameraman Vinansius Wavite travelled to Josephstaal with Patrick Angrai in 2020. They documented the difficulties faced by the people. Image: My Land My Country
The people of Josephstaal are still struggling, trying to bring in goods and services. The only government services that are available are health and education. All other services are all closed.
Health and education are the only “flag raisers” of the province and the nation.
Patrick Angrai … “We have staff and equipment problems every year. There are only a few officers serving Josephstaal LLG. We have never had full staffing. Most professionals do not want to go to Josephstaal because it is isolated and difficult for their families. Image: My Land My Country
The road is yet to be connected from Guam to Josephstaal. The existing road from the Madang-Sogeram road is now covered with tall grass and shrubs.
To get goods and services to Josephstaal is expensive. The three different payments needed are vehicle hire, boat hire and youth to help.
Sogeram Bridge was washed away by floods in 2019 and is yet to be reconstructed.
There is a mention of road construction from Guam to Josephstaal. The social media updates about the road construction and its progress are all lies.
There has been no progress.
The meaning of the death? The Middle Ramu member of Parliament, Johnny Alonk, represents the people of Middle Ramu and Josephstaal is one of the four areas in the district.
What does Jerolyn Arimbandai’s death tell us about millions of kina committed to the so-called shopping list request from the K10 million (NZ$4.1 million) District Services Improvement Programme (DSIP) funds?
Middle Ramu does not have other roads connecting to town. The only road is the Josephstaal road.
Which road is the Middle Ramu MP funding every year while the Josephstaal road continues to deteriorate?
My question to the provincial government: Does this female teacher’s death tell you anything about your distribution of funds throughout the entire province?
The people of Josephstaal had so much hope.
Patrick Angraiis a Papua New Guinean health worker. This article was first published on journalist Scott Waide’s blog My Land My Country and it is republished with permission.
Gone are the days when health programmes were designed to simply punish or reward people to encourage behaviour change. We now know lasting behaviour change is more complex and nuanced, and this has prompted a proliferation of programmes that attend to factors like motivation, confidence, social support and social determinants of health.
Among such programmes, we’ve observed a trend towards gender-targeted interventions. Examples include programmes for men focusing on rugby fandom as a route to getting them to look after their health, and those for women that concentrate on small, holistic health changes to limit the impact of damaging body ideals.
Health programmes are often tailored for either men or women. Shutterstock/Nataliia Martseniuk
While biological sex is based on our anatomy and physiology, gender is a socialised identity. Our gendered identities accompany societal expectations of how we should or should not act.
There is no doubt gender shapes how we “do” health — the way we eat, sleep, exercise, connect with others and manage stress. While gender-specific needs are important, a gendered approach may ignore people who identify as neither and it runs the risk of creating new biases.
A case for women-focused health programmes
Women-focused health programmes were arguably developed as an antidote to an overwhelmingly patriarchal society.
The most obvious bias in health research is that much of the data on women’s health has been collected by and from men.
Gendered disadvantages or inequities for women also result from poor representation in leadership positions and unfair norms that place greater expectations on them.
For example, women spend more time than men doing unpaid household work and taking on caring responsibilities. These imbalances trickle down to shape how women spend their time and care for their health.
In response, women-specific research centres have been established in New Zealand and internationally to help close the gap in knowledge regarding women’s health.
Similarly, organisations like YWCA and Women’s Health Victoria position gendered inequities at the centre of their work and help create a better understanding of how health programmes can effectively support women’s long-term outcomes for behaviour change.
In New Zealand, Shift supports young women to be physically active through a focus on collaboration, fun, building community and leadership. Next Level Health empowers women by using a holistic and weight-neutral approach to behaviour change. This moves the focus away from body weight and defines health more broadly, emphasising well-being, connection to people and place and other behaviours.
As a result, sleep, self-care and stress management become as important as physical activity and nutrition. Such programmes create a more inclusive and relevant vision of health and counteract the body image concerns women often experience due to socialised pressures to attain an “ideal” body.
Men are less likely to seek medical help. Shutterstock/Chinnapong
‘Tough’ approach to men’s health
Despite a male-dominated health system, men continue to have a higher risk of various health conditions, including coronary heart disease and being overweight.
When it comes to health behaviour programmes, men are notoriously difficult to recruit. This may be due to the fact men are less likely to seek help.
Some, such as Tough Talk, play with stereotypical male traits to encourage men to discuss their health. In parallel with women’s health research, male health research centres are fast becoming commonplace.
Considering these gender differences, a gendered approach can be justified. Gender equality and health equity are global priorities and such programmes have potential to address them. Playing to peoples’ gendered identities may work for recruitment and effectiveness, too.
Slipping through the cracks
While gendered interventions aim to fill certain gaps, they may actually create new ones, particularly when we consider that many health programmes are funded by nationally competitive grants that often favour projects with potential for greater impact (the biggest slice of the population).
People who identify with the wider group of LGBTQI+ are vulnerable in terms of mental health. This disparity exists because of the greater inequities this community faces.
Some solutions may come from gender-diverse marketing that emphasise gender responsiveness, rather than placing a specific gender at the centre of campaigns.
Perhaps non-gendered health programmes could create open discussion about how people identify their gender, rather than repeating an inherited gendered story. Admittedly, that might be idealistic for a lifestyle programme.
We’re not arguing against gender-specific programmes. Gender bias in health research is an ongoing issue, among others, that requires targeted action to eliminate harmful inequities.
But we suggest gender responsiveness as a compatible approach for lifestyle programmes, in which gender is embraced but does not drive the programme. A choose-your-own-path approach that allows for diverse identities and autonomy, regardless of gender. Otherwise, the gaps we aim to fill might become gaping holes elsewhere.
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.
With more infectious variants of the COVID-19 virus emerging, teachers and students have been required to wear masks in high school classrooms. It was mandatory in Greater Sydney and all of Victoria before the recent switch to remote learning under lockdowns. Mask wearing has also been compulsory in schools overseas, including parts of the US, Canada and Malaysia.
The new variants appear to have increased infection risks for younger people, and most Australians are not yet fully vaccinated. Until that time, masks may well be one of our best tools to allow a return to face-to-face schooling.
However, having to wear masks in the classroom may create challenges for teachers and students. Mask-wearing can have negative impacts on all students, although the issues can be greater for students from minority cultures and those with chronic health or disability barriers.
Education is primarily a communication and relational activity. Masks not only hinder the visual communication tools we rely on but can also muffle speech, create discomfort and be psychologically unsettling for some. The word mask is thought to come from the Medieval Latin masca, meaning spectre or nightmare.
Most of the barriers to wearing masks can be overcome. By harnessing the benefits of embracing the mask, classrooms can adapt and thrive during the pandemic. Adopting recommended practices for using masks in the classroom will benefit all students.
Openly and regularly discuss mask use with all students. Teach and practise mask etiquette so students understand the need to avoid touching the mask and to touch only the edges if they need to adjust their mask. They may need to do this to maximise comfort and to ensure the mouth and nose are properly covered, protecting the wearer and those around them.
Encourage students to use hand sanitiser, especially after touching the mask.
Remind students to clean reusable masks every day and to dispose of single-use masks.
Encouraging students to use hand sanitiser adds to the protection masks provide. Shutterstock
Young people take many visual cues from the mouth of the speaker, while adults take more visual cues from the eyes. When wearing masks covering the lower half of the face, teachers and students will naturally become more aware of upper face expressions.
Exaggeration is helpful to communicate clearly while wearing a mask. Teachers should continue to use natural facial expressions like smiling, such as the “Duchenne smile”, but exaggerate eye gestures and eyebrow movements to aid communication. The face has 42 individual muscles. We should use them all.
Play with facial expressions when using masks and have students read social cues from the eye movements they can see. Make the development of social and emotional intelligence a game of exploration to promote an understanding of psychology and how we react to others. This is merging science and the arts.
Teachers can and should use their whole body to communicate. For example, the teacher can shrug their shoulders when asking a question, or shake or nod their head to communicate a point of view. Exaggerated hand gestures and being near to the students are other helpful strategies.
Wearing a mask means we have to express more with our eyes and body language. Shutterstock
Although the mask covers the mouth, teachers can generally still be heard through the cloth. The key here is again a form of exaggeration as well as proximity to the student. Teachers can stay close to their listeners, speak more slowly, articulate all sounds clearly and increase volume.
However, teachers must balance vocal volume with projecting the voice. Teachers can practise diaphragmatic breathing to help avoid vocal straining.
Where possible, try to rely less on talking for teaching. Use PowerPoint and written communication. Keep language simple and straightforward.
Where possible, use technology such as iPads or IT devices. Choose or make a video clip with subtitles instead of having to speak while wearing a mask. This is particularly important for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Use a microphone, carefully placing it near the mouth but not against the mask material.
Don’t panic
Masks do allow enough airflow to breathe comfortably. However, remain vigilant to children who do panic or feel claustrophobic when required to wear a mask. These psychological challenges can be made worse when a child has breathing difficulties such as asthma.
Schedule regular quiet breaks throughout the day – even every hour.
Create a safe space
Staff should try to include a photograph of themselves on their school ID badge, if wearing one. This can help reassure those who feel isolated and uncomfortable when people are wearing masks.
Children with neurological disabilities, such as autism or dyspraxia, will not always have the issues some might expect with wearing a mask. Like all children, they just need to know who we are and why we are all wearing masks.
The most important thing is to communicate. Talk with and listen to students, as the best teachers always do. Let them talk about their masks and take ownership of the situation, and then we can move forward with learning.
Taking the time to talk with individual students and hear what they have to say is most important. Shutterstock
The challenges of mask-wearing can be opportunities. Rather than seeing the mask as a burden, see it as an opportunity to teach and have fun.
Incorporate lessons that look at masks in history, from the earliest Greek plays through to Asian theatre and more recent times. Look at superhero movies, look at politics and public protests. Understand medicine and the use of masks throughout history – why we wear them to keep both ourselves and others healthy.
Explore the inclusive nature of masks and how they can create acceptance and equity. Research has found masks allow children to disassociate from identities and see themselves and others from a more empathetic and accepting perspective.
Many societies where people commonly wore masks prior to COVID, in parts of Asia for example, have thrived. Schools are microcosms of society. The mask is not a barrier to learning. A mask should only be a barrier to the spread of the virus, so mask up and enjoy the masquerade.
Jill Duncan is affiliated with Aussie Deaf Kids, Disability Council NSW, Deafness & Education International.
David Roy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Gone are the days when health programmes were designed to simply punish or reward people to encourage behaviour change. We now know lasting behaviour change is more complex and nuanced, and this has prompted a proliferation of programmes that attend to factors like motivation, confidence, social support and social determinants of health.
Among such programmes, we’ve observed a trend towards gender-targeted interventions. Examples include programmes for men focusing on rugby fandom as a route to getting them to look after their health, and those for women that concentrate on small, holistic health changes to limit the impact of damaging body ideals.
Health programmes are often tailored for either men or women. Shutterstock/Nataliia Martseniuk
While biological sex is based on our anatomy and physiology, gender is a socialised identity. Our gendered identities accompany societal expectations of how we should or should not act.
There is no doubt gender shapes how we “do” health — the way we eat, sleep, exercise, connect with others and manage stress. While gender-specific needs are important, a gendered approach may ignore people who identify as neither and it runs the risk of creating new biases.
A case for women-focused health programmes
Women-focused health programmes were arguably developed as an antidote to an overwhelmingly patriarchal society.
The most obvious bias in health research is that much of the data on women’s health has been collected by and from men.
Gendered disadvantages or inequities for women also result from poor representation in leadership positions and unfair norms that place greater expectations on them.
For example, women spend more time than men doing unpaid household work and taking on caring responsibilities. These imbalances trickle down to shape how women spend their time and care for their health.
In response, women-specific research centres have been established in New Zealand and internationally to help close the gap in knowledge regarding women’s health.
Similarly, organisations like YWCA and Women’s Health Victoria position gendered inequities at the centre of their work and help create a better understanding of how health programmes can effectively support women’s long-term outcomes for behaviour change.
In New Zealand, Shift supports young women to be physically active through a focus on collaboration, fun, building community and leadership. Next Level Health empowers women by using a holistic and weight-neutral approach to behaviour change. This moves the focus away from body weight and defines health more broadly, emphasising well-being, connection to people and place and other behaviours.
As a result, sleep, self-care and stress management become as important as physical activity and nutrition. Such programmes create a more inclusive and relevant vision of health and counteract the body image concerns women often experience due to socialised pressures to attain an “ideal” body.
Men are less likely to seek medical help. Shutterstock/Chinnapong
‘Tough’ approach to men’s health
Despite a male-dominated health system, men continue to have a higher risk of various health conditions, including coronary heart disease and being overweight.
When it comes to health behaviour programmes, men are notoriously difficult to recruit. This may be due to the fact men are less likely to seek help.
Some, such as Tough Talk, play with stereotypical male traits to encourage men to discuss their health. In parallel with women’s health research, male health research centres are fast becoming commonplace.
Considering these gender differences, a gendered approach can be justified. Gender equality and health equity are global priorities and such programmes have potential to address them. Playing to peoples’ gendered identities may work for recruitment and effectiveness, too.
Slipping through the cracks
While gendered interventions aim to fill certain gaps, they may actually create new ones, particularly when we consider that many health programmes are funded by nationally competitive grants that often favour projects with potential for greater impact (the biggest slice of the population).
People who identify with the wider group of LGBTQI+ are vulnerable in terms of mental health. This disparity exists because of the greater inequities this community faces.
Some solutions may come from gender-diverse marketing that emphasise gender responsiveness, rather than placing a specific gender at the centre of campaigns.
Perhaps non-gendered health programmes could create open discussion about how people identify their gender, rather than repeating an inherited gendered story. Admittedly, that might be idealistic for a lifestyle programme.
We’re not arguing against gender-specific programmes. Gender bias in health research is an ongoing issue, among others, that requires targeted action to eliminate harmful inequities.
But we suggest gender responsiveness as a compatible approach for lifestyle programmes, in which gender is embraced but does not drive the programme. A choose-your-own-path approach that allows for diverse identities and autonomy, regardless of gender. Otherwise, the gaps we aim to fill might become gaping holes elsewhere.
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.
A major journalistic investigation has found evidence of malicious software being used by governments around the world, including allegations of spying on prominent individuals.
From a list of more 50,000 phone numbers, journalists identified more than 1,000 people in 50 countries reportedly under surveillance using the Pegasus spyware. The software was developed by the Israeli company NSO Group and sold to government clients.
Among the reported targets of the spyware are journalists, politicians, government officials, chief executives and human rights activists.
Reports thus far allude to a surveillance effort reminiscent of an Orwellian nightmare, in which the spyware can capture keystrokes, intercept communications, track the device and use the camera and microphone to spy on the user.
How did they do it?
There’s nothing particularly complicated about how the Pegasus spyware infects the phones of victims. The initial hack involves a crafted SMS or iMessage that provides a link to a website. If clicked, this link delivers malicious software that compromises the device.
The aim is to seize full control of the mobile device’s operating system, either by rooting (on Android devices) or jailbreaking (on Apple iOS devices).
Usually, rooting on an Android device is done by the user to install applications and games from non-supported app stores, or re-enable a functionality that was disabled by the manufacturer.
Similarly, a jailbreak can be deployed on Apple devices to allow the installation of apps not available on the Apple App Store, or to unlock the phone for use on alternative cellular networks. Many jailbreak approaches require the phone to be connected to a computer each time it’s turned on (referred to as a “tethered jailbreak”).
Rooting and jailbreaking both remove the security controls embedded in Android or iOS operating systems. They are typically a combination of configuration changes and a “hack” of core elements of the operating system to run modified code.
In the case of spyware, once a device is unlocked, the perpetrator can deploy further software to secure remote access to the device’s data and functions. This user is likely to remain completely unaware.
Most media reports on Pegasus relate to the compromise of Apple devices. The spyware infects Android devices too, but isn’t as effective as it relies on a rooting technique that isn’t 100% reliable. When the initial infection attempt fails, the spyware supposedly prompts the user to grant relevant permissions so it can be deployed effectively.
Apple applies a high level of control to the code of its operating system, as well as apps offered through its app store. This creates a closed-system often referred to as “security by obscurity”. Apple also exercises complete control over when updates are rolled out, which are then quickly adopted by users.
Apple devices are frequently updated to the latest iOS version via automatic patch installation. This helps improve security and also increases the value of finding a workable compromise to the latest iOS version, as the new one will be used on a large proportion of devices globally.
On the other hand, Android devices are based on open-source concepts, so hardware manufacturers can adapt the operating system to add additional features or optimise performance. We typically see a large number of Android devices running a variety of versions — inevitably resulting in some unpatched and insecure devices (which is advantageous for cybercriminals).
Ultimately, both platforms are vulnerable to compromise. The key factors are convenience and motivation. While developing an iOS malware tool requires greater investment in time, effort and money, having many devices running an identical environment means there is a greater chance of success at a significant scale.
While many Android devices will likely be vulnerable to compromise, the diversity of hardware and software makes it more difficult to deploy a single malicious tool to a wide user base.
How can I tell if I’m being monitored?
While the leak of more than 50,000 allegedly monitored phone numbers seems like a lot, it’s unlikely the Pegasus spyware has been used to monitor anyone who isn’t publicly prominent or politically active.
It is in the very nature of spyware to remain covert and undetected on a device. That said, there are mechanisms in place to show whether your device has been compromised.
The (relatively) easy way to determine this is to use the Amnesty International Mobile Verification Toolkit (MVT). This tool can run under either Linux or MacOS and can examine the files and configuration of your mobile device by analysing a backup taken from the phone.
While the analysis won’t confirm or disprove whether a device is compromised, it detects “indicators of compromise” which can provide evidence of infection.
In particular, the tool can detect the presence of specific software (processes) running on the device, as well as a range of domains used as part of the global infrastructure supporting a spyware network.
What can I do to be better protected?
Although most people are unlikely to be targeted by this type of attack, there are still simple steps you can take to minimise your potential exposure — not only to Pegasus but to other malicious attacks too.
1) Only open links from known and trusted contacts and sources when using your device. Pegasus is deployed to Apple devices through an iMessage link. And this is is the same technique used by many cybercriminals for both malware distribution and less technical scams. The same advice applies to links sent via email or other messaging applications.
2) Make sure your device is updated with any relevant patches and upgrades. While having a standardised version of an operating system creates a stable base for attackers to target, it’s still your best defence.
If you use Android, don’t rely on notifications for new versions of the operating system. Check for the latest version yourself, as your device’s manufacturer may not be providing updates.
3) Although it may sound obvious, you should limit physical access to your phone. Do this by enabling pin, finger or face-locking on the device. The eSafety Commissioner’s website has a range of videos explaining how to configure your device securely.
4) Avoid public and free WiFi services (including hotels), especially when accessing sensitive information. The use of a VPN is a good solution when you need to use such networks.
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.
Is the Morrison government’s COVID vaccination rollout program one of Australia’s biggest ever public policy failures?
As COVID-19 infection numbers in locked-down Sydney show little sign of abating and Victoria extends its fifth lockdown, the prospect of life resuming some level of normality appears distant.
In recent weeks, we have learned more about the flaws in the federal Coalition government’s vaccination program. There’s the failure to procure sufficient vaccine and an accompanying over-reliance on the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The complications with rolling out the latter have exposed the shortage of supply of the Pfizer vaccine.
Then there is the sluggish pace of the “it’s not a race” vaccine rollout, particularly among vulnerable people, such as aged and disability care residents, and frontline health workers. Only 13% of Australia’s eligible population (those aged 16 and above) are fully vaccinated, while 35.3% are partially vaccinated. That’s a long way short of the goal of a fully inoculated adult population by October 2021, as initially promised.
Exacerbating these problems has been the lack of an effective public education campaign about the vaccine. This has left a vacuum, which anti-vaxxers and the vaccine-hesitant have filled.
The policy missteps, which have Australia languishing at the bottom of the OECD for the proportion of its population that is fully vaccinated, have elicited a rising chorus of condemnation.
Some of the criticism comes from usually supportive sources, such as right-wing commentators Janet Albrechtsen and Miranda Divine.
Public confidence in the Coalition government and the prime minister has dropped due to the vaccine rollout. Lukas Coch/AAP
How do we measure public policy failure?
There’s no doubt the Commonwealth government, measured by its inability to reach professed objectives, which are then repeatedly revised, has performed poorly.
But are we ready to conclude that what we are seeing is a near-unprecedented instance of policy failure, especially when there are other pressing public policy issues on which the government has also been found wanting, most noticeably climate change?
There are three principal factors for measuring public policy success or failure.
The first is an assessment of how successfully the policy action ameliorates the problem it seeks to solve. This appraisal must take into account the consequences of that action. Consequences are often unintended and unanticipated. They might not become apparent for some time and can be difficult to quantify and link unequivocally to the policy in question. For example, the Coalition’s inclination to cease support for manufacturing in Australia has led, as is now evident, to our incapacity to meet the demand even for COVID vaccine production.
Second, an assessment of policy success or failure must consider the significance of the policy. That is, the failure of a minor government program has less negative impact than the failure of an economic, social, environmental or public health policy that affects the entire community.
Third, we must take account of the reputational enhancement or damage ensuing from a particular course of action. This may have decisive effects on a government’s electoral prospects.
Applying these measures, we can say that, to date, the Morrison government’s approach to the COVID vaccination rollout fares badly on all three criteria.
On all three measures of policy effectiveness, the vaccine rollout fails. Mick Tsikas/AAP
The vaccine rollout has failed the tests of public policy success
The problem is not that the proposal – a level of vaccination that will enable the community to “live with” endemic COVID – is misconceived. It is that incompetent planning, logistics and implementation have so far prevented it from sufficiently ameliorating the threat we face.
We can see, from international comparisons, the dimensions of risk while COVID remains insufficiently checked and potentially able to generate more dangerous mutations.
Second, the significance of success or failure in this domain – brought home by recurrent lockdowns – is manifest. There are negative flow-on effects for the entire community, not only in containing the virus, but also with clear impact on the economy, mental health, domestic violence and trust in government.
We are also confronted with counter examples: Seattle, for instance, in dire circumstances not so long ago, is now more or less back to normal because of the swift uptake of vaccination.
Third, the reputational damage to the federal government is evident in a string of public opinion polls that have found a substantial decline in confidence in the Coalition and the prime minister.
… but there is one that is worse
Some other examples help us flesh out the picture. One is a public policy from recent decades that did not achieve its intended purpose: the Rudd government’s Resource Super Profits Tax and its successor negotiated by the Gillard government, the Minerals Resource Rent Tax.
These policies failed on at least two levels. First, they did not reap anything like the revenue that was forecast. Second, the taxes were electorally damaging for the Labor governments, engendering a fierce backlash from the mining industry.
A more significant public policy failure, with consequences that took much longer to become apparent, was the Howard government’s Aged Care Act of 1997. This legislation established the framework for the funding and regulation of the aged care system. Partially privatising the aged care sector, that policy regime is widely recognised as being responsible for the underfunding of the system and associated chronic shortcomings, which the recent royal commission thoroughly documented.
This has been a product of the failure of the parties, but in particular of internecine battles within the Coalition and a brutal politics that, as Martin Parkinson argues, brought about “a fracture of the political centre”, rendering it incapable of the negotiation and consensus necessary for resolution.
While the vaccine rollout has been a failure, inaction on climate change represents the biggest policy failure in recent times. AAP/Department of Defence handout
Indeed, the intractability of climate change as a policy problem suggests that it, rather than the handling of vaccine rollout, is the biggest failure of modern times.
Despite the chaos that has been well documented, the required levels of vaccination can still be achieved, even if belatedly. The situation is potentially capable of resolution, and possibly in time for Seattle-like “normality” to be re-established. Adequate climate action, on the other hand, still appears to be incapable of resolution under this government.
But will the Morrison government’s mishandling of the vaccine rollout be politically fatal? Certainly, falling confidence in the rollout is translating into a decline in support for the Coalition. Yet we should be wary of jumping to conclusions.
The prime minister has until next May to hold an election. The government has ample time to play catch-up with the rollout. If further outbreaks are contained and the elusive herd immunity is achieved by then, lockdowns will have become a thing of the past. The relief at being able to move on may obliterate current disquiet.
Further, in normal circumstances, policy virtue is not necessarily synonymous with political success. The last federal election was an indicator of this. The Coalition triumphed despite a threadbare policy program. In other words, policy prowess is only ever one measure of a government’s success.
Carolyn Holbrook receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
James Walter and Paul Strangio 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.
There’s a great moment in George Eliot’s 1861 classic Silas Marner, where a young woman bemoans how people with “neither ache nor pain” want to be “better than well”. Written more than a century before the rise of the “wellness industry” of exclusive gyms, self-help and endless supplements, the phrase is prophetic.
Now comes So you think you know what’s good for you?, a book promoted as the “ultimate health guide” from Australia’s highest profile doctor. A medical journalist with a global reputation, Dr Norman Swan has been a broadcaster with the ABC for almost 40 years.
Despite it’s smug title, and a few possible flaws we will get to later, the book has lots of welcome common sense and evidence-based tips for living healthier. And some surprises too, such as suggestions for how young queer people might best come out.
Perhaps this book’s greatest strength is its key message, often repeated, that with health, it’s better to focus on the bigger picture, the whole complex package, and not obsess too much on a few of the individual bits and pieces of the puzzle. Rise above the nutrients and think more about sharing a decent meal with loved ones, because, “social connectedness is the foundation of well-being.”
The wellness ‘bullshit’
One of the big myths busted early in the book is what Norman delicately calls the “bullshit” idea that wellness is some state of perpetual bliss we can all aspire to. “Wellness and well-being” he writes, “are intermittent phenomena”, appreciated because they stand out from the rest of our lives.
The odd bit of myth-busting aside, the book covers a lot of familiar ground. Sugar rots your teeth. Eating better, exercising more and drinking less booze will boost your chances of staying healthy longer. We’ve heard it before, but it doesn’t hurt to hear it again. And unsurprisingly, it’s convincing when it comes from this respected celebrity.
The idea that if we do all the right things, we’ll achieve a state of perpetual bliss is BS. Shutterstock
Just reading the book’s opening pages made me reach for a mandarin. By day two, I’d decided to get off the couch, stop reading so much George Eliot, and do some more vigorous exercise. By day three, our household was stocking up on extra garlic and discussing extra virgin olive oil around the dinner table with our seven year old.
Food, fads and fasting
The strongest section of the book is about food. Amid the analysis of different dietary fads, there’s some simple advice:
The more plants you eat as a proportion of your diet, the better.
The classic Mediterranean diet, with its olive oil and leafy greens, gets a very big tick. Vegan fasting, despite no strong evidence to support it, is deemed worth a go.
Additives and enhanced food are written off as more about marketing than nutrition. Vitamin and mineral supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry based on very little science. “Largely a con”, says Norman.
The elements of surprise
Despite an early promise in the book there’ll be no human interest stories, there are quite a few anecdotes about the author, which will no doubt please his fans. We learn that Norman almost never sleeps, loves a daily nap, hates almond lattes, is recovering from a salt-addiction and once consulted a dietician who suggested the reason he was hungry all the time was because he ate too much.
Much more seriously we hear stories from a grey Scottish childhood with a father who “hadn’t a clue about child rearing”, and see glimpses into a year-long episode of “stomach-churning anxiety” due to illness, separation, pain and loss.
One powerful story features the four-year old Norman, on a visit with his father to a Christmas carnival. Against his wishes the toddler was “plonked” alone on a fast-moving ride, and his resulting screams of terror were misread by his “gormless dad” as just being the normal fun of the fair.
He uses the anecdote to highlight the stress that can come from a loss of control. And that opens a great section on how society’s structures can undermine our sense of control on a mass scale, and how so much of our health is determined by government policies on housing, education and fairness.
One whole section is titled “The sex thing”, which like the rest of the book, contains a good dose of common-sense. There are musings on whether a rating system is needed for pornography, strong endorsement of the role of condoms, and caution about cosmetic genital surgery.
Particularly welcome was the celebration of the clitoris, whose role in the reality of sex is still stubbornly ignored by too much of the wider screen culture. “The vast majority of women do not orgasm with penetrative sex alone” writes Norman, because “the clitoris is usually the source of women’s orgasms.”
Swan’s book looks at the evidence around women’s orgasms. Shutterstock
And there’s a mention too of the push to label women’s common sexual challenges as a medical condition of low desire. “Call me a cynic,” he writes, “but creating a name for a problem is a prerequisitie for the pharmaceutical industry to find a treatment.”
He’s dead right. My book Sex, Lies and Pharmaceuticals documented how an alliance of sex researchers and drug companies have repeatedly tried to create new categories of illness, in order to build billion-dollar markets. And in my book with Alan Cassels, Selling Sickness, we expose how this problem of medicalising ordinary life is widespread across the medical landscape.
Some non-fatal flaws
One weakness, for me, was the book’s structure. There are lots of very short bites, sometimes not so coherently arranged, and a feeling now and again that words were written very quickly. The section on potential health impacts of screens and devices was just seven pages, compared to other sections that ran for more than 70 pages.
Another minor concern is the referencing. There’s a mountain of references at the end, but no use of endnotes, so it’s sometimes hard to tell which statements arise from evidence, and which are Norman’s analysis.
A deeper concern is that parts of the section on “Living Younger Longer” might feed unhealthy obsessions with constantly measuring all those individual risk factors, such as weight, waste, blood pressure and cholesterol.
The “worried well” are already the target of unbalanced promotion disguised as journalism that urges us to test more and more frequently for the early signs of heart disease, dementia and cancer, without any mention of potential downsides, such as unnecessary diagnosis and treatments that may bring us more harm than good.
The book has the occasional poke at drug or food industry marketing, but it doesn’t go into much detail. You won’t read, for instance, that medicine’s evidence-base has been distorted through commercial funding and influence, or about global campaigns, such as The BMJ’s, to forge more independence from industry, and produce more trustworthy evidence.
Similarly, the book has the occasional enthusiastic plug for the value of medications – for depression, high blood pressure or high cholesterol – but there’s no mention of the huge threat to your health from overdiagnosis and the overuse of tests and treatments.
But let’s not quibble. The book champions the value of context, cautions against getting too distracted by tiny details, and concludes with a warning that we’re all at risk of “knowing more and more about less and less”.
And as Norman Swan reminds us, when it comes to health, going for “good enough” may ultimately be much healthier for us, than trying desperately to be “better than well.”
So you think you know what’s good for you? is published by Hachette Australia
Ray Moynihan is at Bond University’s Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare, a member of the National Health and Medical Research Council, NHMRC-funded Wiser Healthcare research collaboration to reduce overdiagnosis, author of four books on the business of medicine, and host of The Recommended Dose podcast, produced by Cochrane Australia and co-promoted by the BMJ.
He receives funding from the NHMRC, and has co-produced a television program with Dr Swan.
Blue whales, the largest animals to ever live, are surprisingly elusive.
They’re bigger than the biggest dinosaur ever was, capable of growing over 30 metres long and can weigh over 100 tonnes — almost as long as a 737 plane and as heavy as 40 elephants. They also have one of the loudest voices, and can talk to each other hundreds of kilometres across the sea.
Why, then, are they so difficult to find in some parts off Australia?
My new research paper recorded only six verified sightings of the pygmy blue whale off Sydney in the last 18 years. Two of these occurred just last year. This blue whale subspecies is known to mostly occur along Australia’s west coast.
Rare sightings like these are important because pygmy blue whales are a “data deficient” animal. Every opportunity we have to learn about them is crucial to help us better protect them.
Blue whales down under
Don’t let its name fool you, the pygmy blue whale can still grow shockingly large, up to 24 metres in length. It’s one of two blue whale subspecies that occur in Australian waters – the other being the Antarctic blue whale, the biggest whale of them all at around 33 metres long.
A blue whale lunging for krill.
Unfortunately, historical whaling hunted blue whales to near extinction in the Southern Ocean. The Antarctic blue whale was depleted to only a few hundred individuals and, while they’re slowly bouncing back, they’re still listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
In contrast, we know little about pre- and post-whaling numbers for pygmy blue whales. Their listing as a data deficient species by the IUCN means we don’t have a full understanding of their population status.
Blue whales can grow to around 30 metres, almost the same length as a 737 plane. Vanessa Pirotta, Author provided
One reason may be because blue whales are logistically challenging to study. For example, blue whales don’t just hang around in one area all the time. They’re capable of swimming thousands of kilometres for food and to breed.
They can also hold their breath for up to 90 minutes underwater, which can make them hard to spot unless they’re near the surface. To see them, people need to be in the right place at the right time.
This may require scientists to be on dedicated research vessels or in a plane to spot them, which can be expensive and weather-dependent.
This also makes learning about them much harder compared to other, more accessible species, such as coastal bottlenose dolphins.
To learn more about pygmy blue whales in Australia, marine scientists have developed a variety of techniques, including listening to whales talking, taking skin samples and satellite tagging.
While this work is useful, it has focused mainly in areas where pygmy blue whales are known to occur, such as southern and western Australian waters.
Pygmy blue whales are known to feed in the Perth Canyon, Western Australia, and between the Great Australian Bight and Bass Strait during summer. They most likely breed in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans during winter.
But we don’t know much about pygmy blue whale presence in other parts of Australian waters, such as the east coast.
Bottlenose dolphins are more commonly seen. Shutterstock
How can we conserve a species we know very little about?
Well, it can be tricky. The more information we know, the better we’re placed to assess their conservation needs. But focusing our efforts on species we know nothing about may require a conservative approach until we learn more.
Some would argue it’s better to protect a species we know needs our conservation dollar before spending precious resources on something uncertain.
Fortunately, Australia has some of the world’s best protection policies for marine mammals, including whales. This means a precautionary approach is already in place to protect these creatures.
Citizen science sightings help contribute to our understanding of blue whale distributions in Australian waters. Shutterstock
To help uphold this international and national protection, scientists must continue to learn more about data-deficient animals like the pygmy blue whale to help safeguard against known and future threats.
This includes collisions with ships, overfishing, entanglement with fishing gear, increased human activity in the ocean, and climate change, which may affect when and where whales occur.
Some, like the pygmy blue whale, are poorly studied. One reason is because they’re cryptic or boat shy, such as the Australian snubfin dolphin.
Or, they might be tricky to see, such as the false killer whale, whose sightings remain irregular in Australian coastal waters. Opportunities to learn more about them occur when they become stranded.
False killer whales are another data-deficient marine animal. Shutterstock
So while citizen science sightings of pygmy blue whales may be rare off the Australian east coast, they do help contribute to our understanding of their distribution in Australian waters.
The two sightings of pygmy blue whales off Maroubra, Sydney, last year were within two months of each other. This was thanks to drones (flown under state rules).
This prompted my research review of blue whale sightings off Sydney, which found citizen scientists made similar sightings in 2002 – the first official sighting from land off Sydney — and between 2012-14.
We don’t know exactly what type of pygmy blue whales these are (three distinct groups are recognised: the Indo-Australian, New Zealand and Madagascar groups). However, whale calls detected along Australia’s east coast in previous years suggest they’re most likely New Zealand pygmy blue whales, and they could have been heading to breeding waters north of Tonga.
So, the next time you are by the sea, keep a look out and tell a scientist via social media if you see something interesting. You just never know when the world’s biggest, or shiest, animal may turn up out of the blue.
Vanessa Pirotta 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.
Online teaching became the norm almost overnight when the pandemic hit. For students, the situation’s complexity was brutal, the shift frustrating but unavoidable.
Prospective students weighing up study options might have been confused too. However, they are now better placed to understand what universities offer in an increasingly competitive digital learning market. They also have more choices.
Incoming University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott has warned competition for enrolments is intensifying as students’ options grow. “The [news] media experience demonstrated clearly that your competitors in the digital space went well beyond your traditional competitors in the analog space,” said Scott, a former managing editor of the ABC and senior executive at Fairfax Media.
“Digital” education will redefine how students view and select universities. It may allow for more personalised learning paths, lifelong and more accessible learning, upskilling for employment and a more remote and diverse body of students.
As learning became removed from the campus experience last year, learner-teacher engagement and peer networking altered dramatically. The digital transition was a monumental and urgent task.
But time has passed. Fully or partly digitalised university programs have proliferated. And many have become more sophisticated as academics and students receive support to take the leap.
A recent PwC report on higher education digitisation affirms:
“The changes forced by the rapid digitisation of the sector will not be undone.”
“Digital” in education can now mean anything from simple videoed lectures, online documents and tutorials to high-end digital animation and simulation tools.
Just before the currentlockdowns, Macquarie University, among others, announced most lectures would continue online while “small group” in-person learning would require students to wear masks. Melbourne University said it was “planning to deliver around 90% of semester 2 subjects on campus”. It is also rolling out “blended synchronous learning” using in-venue microphones and cameras so remote and campus-based students come together in a single class, its DVC (Academic) Gregor Kennedy said.
RMIT University posted: “Classes that require specialist spaces or equipment will be prioritised for on-campus learning.” At Sydney University, the campus was to remain open during lockdown for critical teaching and research activity only. The University of Queensland and Monash University, among many others, have introduced online invigilated examinations.
The gap between the best and worst of what institutions offer digitally is vast.
In the worst cases, digital learning means students are asked to read scanned textbook chapters and have academics or tutors talk at them through a recording without any interaction. It’s a terribly disengaging experience for the student and hence less effective for learning. But it requires very little investment by universities.
In the best cases, universities offer active learning through digitally driven simulations and well-designed activities. These include peer group activity, networking and technology-enhanced alternatives to on-campus experience. The result is a varied and engaging experience, but it requires substantial investment by the university.
So, how can prospective students tell which universities provide worthwhile digital education? They should consider the following criteria:
Focus on online/blended student experience
What is the value given to students feeling connected, being part of a learning community, having a social dimension in addition to agency over their learning, and being on campus when possible?
Do study options suit life and lifestyle needs that the pandemic brought to light as important?
Transparency about digital quality
Does the university adequately communicate its definition of “digital” quality? Pay special attention to assessment mechanisms, to avoid having to deal with postponed exams, for example.
The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) has provided guidelines for online learning quality. Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge has announced a renewed Higher Education Standards Panel with online and hybrid course quality as part of its new tasks.
Evidence of agility, convenience and accessibility
What solutions can be adapted to post-COVID educational expectations, both locally and internationally?
Are there options for polysynchronous learning: some on one’s own time, some with others?
What does inclusive digital education – accessibility for vision-impaired students, for example – look like?
Clarity about pricing
Is the program or unit priced to be a low-cost standardised product, or is it priced for high value? Does the university offer financial support options?
Ambition of digital design
Does the program and learning design have a focus on long-term COVID-resilient learning and career outcomes? Is there solid evidence of industry relations?
And (for the most ambitious) does the university explore and/or use artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics to customise learning paths for individuals?
Some universities are using digital education to tap into new markets. These universities include Melbourne, RMIT (boasting RMIT Online), Adelaide and Griffith. At different price points, their offerings increasingly include demonstrated digital expertise, blended synchronous learning options and well-defined online engagement and connection.
The education market is bigger and more competitive than ever before. Shutterstock
Universities are also responding to industry demand for accessible upskilling and enhanced learning (often “micro” qualifications). Again, their offerings vary, especially across disciplines.
The PwC report predicts most universities will compete with mid-range offerings. This group will offer customised learning in parallel to mass offers, keeping revenue streams open, maintaining a brand in a technology-enhanced world and counterbalancing border restrictions on international students.
Some universities will opt for a serious quantum leap into online or blended education programs. These universities are likely to outcompete other providers and diversify their student bodies in ways that enhance the student experience.
Others continue with minimal investment or low-cost solutions. These providers are looking to return to the “old normal” of a strictly face-to-face experience. They aim to manage learners’ frustrations as they arise, rather than invest in long-term quality digital services.
This approach may be understandable for universities with serious cashflow issues. In the long run it’s probably shortsighted and may lead to student and industry dissatisfaction.
We can see the divide between these approaches in submissions from each higher education provider to the federal government in consultations on a new strategy for international education. Interestingly, providers’ views show little correlation with type of institution, whether highly ranked or not, rural or urban. Our discussion above is based on our deep dive into those submissions.
Gabriele has worked in or with various higher education organisations and digital service providers mentioned in this article.
Angelito Calma 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.
Netflix’s Sexy Beasts, out today, promises to move past superficial dating by having contestants meet while wearing heavy make-up and prosthetics to disguise their physical attributes.
First up is Emma, the demon, a six-foot tall model from New York. When asked about her expectations of dating and her ideal partner, Emma explains “it is just all in the chemistry” and “sexual attraction is definitely a must.”
Throughout the series, contestants speak of physical attributes they want to see in a romantic partner: mandrill Bennett hopes to find someone with “big boobs”; beaver James explains it is “ass first, personality second”; and the pixie Amber connects with her date over his big bicep muscles.
Masks aren’t enough to disguise build, height, and complexion — or the fact all of the contestants are conventionally attractive. Although we are shown the pairs connecting in disguise, the lead up to the unmasking proves expectations of meeting someone physically attractive still remains.
In a modern-day Perfect Match, Sexy Beasts asks if people can fall in love “solely” based on personality.
But how do we really fall in love?
The biology of love can be measured …
Signs of physical attraction can be measured in the brain as biological responses to an appealing visual stimuli. Brain imaging has shown a number of areas actively light up when we see someone we consider attractive. These activated areas are consistent regardless of an individual’s gender identity and sexual preference.
Specific areas of our brains light up when we see someone attractive. Netflix
Physical attractiveness is not just based on facial qualities. We judge physical attractiveness based on waist-to-hip ratio and breast size (for female bodies in particular); waist-to-chest radio (for male bodies in particular); and skin tone.
According to evolutionary psychology, heterosexual males tend to look for a partner who signifies youth and fertility. Heterosexual females tend to look for a partner with a strong immune system and who can provide support for the young.
The “neurobiology of love theory” posits love is an emotion that has evolved to encourage beneficial biological behaviours such as sex, reproduction and survival of individuals and their species.
The general thesis here is love is a learned conditioned response.
… but it’s not all biology
This explanation for how we understand love is limited.
Social and developmental researchers specialising in relationships (such as myself) believe individuals will evaluate potential romantic partners based on a trade-off of three different desirable characteristics: physical attractiveness, yes, but also kindness and wealth.
You can’t just be hot. You must also be kind. Netflix
In relationships, “kindness” can also be described as warmth and trustworthiness, having a partner who is understanding and supportive. “Wealth” relates to both status and resource, having a partner who is successful in their profession. Globally, kindness has been rated as the most important criteria, followed by physical attractiveness and then wealth.
It is highly improbable one individual will be able to perfectly meet all these standards. Therefore, expectations are often modified to justify partner selection.
Failing to adjust expectations, some individuals will continually change partners to try and find someone who can fit all of their expectations.
My research has shown “falling short” or “not living up” to partners’ expectations is a recipe for relationship sabotage.
Sexy Beasts tries to take “physical attractiveness” out of the equation, forcing contestants to rely instead on their judgements of “what is important” to establish and maintain a long lasting relationship. But we can’t modify our expectations simply by completely removing one factor from consideration.
How to build a relationship
Watching Sexy Beasts as a relationship expert, I was not convinced contestants in this show connected based on personality alone. The show removes some elements of judging physical attractiveness, but it doesn’t give the space for the individuals to judge kindness and wealth.
Social context is an important factor when deciding which partner characteristics are important. As with all reality dating shows, these contestants are motivated not by love, but by winning a competition — even if that means going against what is important to them in a partner and a relationship.
True love requires compatibility, but also work. Netflix
The owl, Gabi, is a veterinary student from West Virginia who talks about her love for dogs — but she is matched to a potential partner who is allergic to dogs. The dolphin Nina is looking for a “cowboy” — but does not chose the contestant who matches that description.
The panda Kariselle, an outgoing and “nerdy” party motivator from New Jersey, is looking for a husband. But, on the show, she rejects the bull, Josh, who is “dating to marry” and looking for an outgoing partner with the same “nerdy” interests as him.
To promote connection without physical attraction we should look at other qualities. Warmth, expressivity, openness, and a good sense of humour are common factors conducive to long-term relationships. Although individuals might be able to meet and start a relationship disguised as “sexy beasts”, long-term commitment requires a connection based on personal insight and understanding of what we need in a partner.
Hours of work have gone into the creation of each of these “sexy beasts”. But it is nothing compared to the work it takes to make a relationship last.
Raquel Peel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
New Zealand’s cyber security agency believes China has been behind numerous hack attacks spanning years.
The government joined Western allies and Japan in calling out Beijing for so-called state-sponsored hacks, including a major incursion in February when Microsoft email servers were targeted.
The US has charged four Chinese nationals — three security officials and one contract hacker — with targeting dozens of companies and government agencies in the United States and overseas under the cover of a tech company.
“What we do is when we see malicious cyber activity on New Zealand networks, that may be through our own capabilities that we have to help protect New Zealand networks or it may be something that’s reported to us, we look at the malware that’s used,” Government Communications Security Bureau Director-General Andrew Hampton told RNZ Checkpoint.
“We look at how the actor behaves. We look at who they might be targeting and what they do if they get onto a network.
“That allows us to build a bit of a picture of who the actor is. We then compare that with information that we receive, often from our intelligence partners who are also observing such activity.
“That allows us to make an assessment, and it’s always a probability assessment about who the actor is.
The APT 40 group “In this case, because of the amount of information we’ve been able to access both from our own capabilities and from our partners, we’ve got a reasonably high level of confidence that the actor who we’ve seen undertaking this campaign over a number of years, and in particular, who was responsible for the Microsoft Exchange compromise, was the APT 40 group — Advanced Persistent Threat Group 40 — which has been identified as associated with the Chinese Ministry of State Security.
The RNZ National live stream. Video: Checkpoint
“The actors here are state sponsored actors rather than what we would normally define as a criminal group. What we’re seeing here is a state sponsored actor likely to be motivated by a desire to steal information.”
Hampton said there was a blurring of lines between what a state agency does, and what a criminal group does.
“Some of the technical capabilities that previously only state organisations had, have now got into the hands of criminal groups.
“Also what we’ve seen in a range of countries is individuals who may work part-time in a government intelligence agency, and then may work part-time in a criminal enterprise. Or they may have previously worked in a state intelligence agency and are now out by themselves but still have links links back to the state.
“We don’t know the full detail of the nature of the relationship, but what we do know is the Ministry of State Security in China, for example, is a very large organisation with many thousands of of employees.
“So they are big organisations with people on their payroll but they also would have connections with other individuals and organisations.
Information shared with criminals “Something else worth noting with regard to this most recent compromise involving the Microsoft Exchange, what we saw there is once the Ministry of State Security actors had identified the vulnerability and exploited it, they then shared that information with a range of other actors, including criminal groups, so they too could exploit it.
“This is obviously a real concern to see this type of behaviour occurring,” Hampton said.
All evidence showed the cyber attacks were all originating from mainland China, Hampton told Checkpoint.
He said such attacks would be aimed at stealing data or possibly positioning themselves on a system to be able to access information in the future.
“A common tactic we see, unfortunately, is there may be a vulnerability in a system,” Hampton said.
“It could be a generic vulnerability across all users of that particular system, and a malicious actor may become aware of that vulnerability, so they would use that to get onto the network.
“That doesn’t mean they will then start exfiltrating data from day one or something like that. They may just want to to sit there in the event that at some point in the future they may want to start doing that.
Malicious actors “This exploitation of known vulnerabilities is a real concern. This is why all organisations need to keep their security patches up to date, because what can happen is you can have malicious actors use technology to scan whole countries to see who hasn’t updated their patches.
“They then use that vulnerability to get on the network and they may not do anything with it for some time. Or they might produce a list of all the organisations, say, in New Zealand who haven’t updated their patches.
“Then they make a decision – okay these are the four to five we want to further exploit.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The West Papuan Council of Churches (WPCC) has condemned the Indonesian government’s Special Autonomy (Otsus) law ratified by the Jakarta parliament last week, describing it as racist and warning that Papuans could “become extinct”.
The WPCC was speaking in an online forum organised by the International Coalition for Papua (ICP) last Wednesday — the day before the draft bill was ratified.
It appealed to the Pacific and international community to stop the Indonesian government’s racism toward the West Papuans which was being perpetuated by the Otsus Law, widely condemned by Papuans.
The forum included representatives of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO), the United Evangelical Mission (UEM), the West Papua Project, the Franciscans International, and the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC).
The Evangelical Church in Indonesia (GIDI) president Dorman Wandikbo said the Otsus Law had become an enabler for gross human rights violations in West Papua in the past 20 years, such as the Biak, Abepura, Paniai and Wamena massacres.
“Therefore, the Papuan people reject the continuation of the Otsus Law,” he said.
Wandikbo cited the result of a study conducted by the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), which said the root of the problems in Papua was racism, which had caused Papuans to suffer culturally, politically, and economically despite being given a special autonomy.
Appeal for international help He asked for the international community’s help in underlining the rejection of continuation of the Otsus Law.
Wandikbo also said that the covid-19 pandemic must not be used as an excuse to obstruct the United Nations special envoy on human rights from entering West Papua.
“This is an emergency situation. We, the Papuan people, will be extinct in 20 or 30 years if something is not done,” he said.
“God put us here in the land of Papua not to be killed, enslaved, nor called monkeys.”
Human rights lawyer Veronica Koman said international organisations such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were effectively banned from entering the region.
Alliance of West Papuan Baptist Churches president Reverend Socratez Yoman … “the Papuan people are left out.” Image: APR File
Reverend Socratez Yoman of the WPCC, who is also the head of the Aliance of West Papua Baptist Churches, said that Indonesian lawmakers had been debating the Special Autonomy Law while ignoring the law itself, which required the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) and the Papuan Legislation Council (DPRP) to be included in the evaluation and amendment of the law.
“In fact, the MRP and DPRP are not included in the deliberation process. Only Jakarta ha[d] to agree, the Papuan people are left out,” Reverend Yoman said.
Division into more provinces Reverend Yoman also said that under the upcoming Otsus Law, the Indonesian government planned to divide the region — currently two provinces, Papua and West Papua — into more provinces despite the low population in Papua.
“Who is this [plan] really for? It will only result in more military basis, more migrants coming from the other provinces in Indonesia, and we will be a minority in our own land and eventually be extinct,” he said.
In the online forum, Sister Rode Wanimbo of the WPCC also gave updates on the situation in West Papua, as she had just returned from Puncak regency’s capital of Ilaga last Tuesday.
“There are 11 civilians who have been shot dead in Ilaga from April to July this year. There are also nine churches destroyed and bombed by the Indonesian military from the air,” she said.
Wanimbo said that there were currently 4862 displaced people accommodated in six districts in Puncak, not including the displaced people from Paluga village and Tegelobak village.
“They don’t build a tent, the community let the displaced people stay in their homes. No health services for these displaced people,” he said.
Food aid limited “They got food aid from the local government once, but mostly it was from the church, parliament members, and the people,” he said.
Responding to the WPCC updates on the latest conditions in West Papua, WCC director of International Affairs Peter Prove said that the WCC had held a bilateral meeting in Geneva with the Indonesian government and other diplomats in a hope to bring the Papuan issue to light.
They were especially trying to address the internally displaced people in West Papua and pushing for humanitarian actors to be allowed to enter the region.
“I have also talked to the UN Special Adviser that West Papua has a high risk for genocide,” he said.
I wasn’t invited to the inaugural Vanuatu media awards a couple of weeks ago. Nor was I asked to participate.
Instead, I spent the weekend preparing the final draft of the Media Association of Vanuatu’s Code of Ethics and Practice. I am proud to say it was adopted by the MAV executive last Friday.
If I had been there, and if I had been asked to say something, this is what I would have said (seriously: when did I ever wait for someone to ask me for my opinion?): Journalism isn’t just a profession; it’s a public service. It consists of sharing, broadcasting or publishing information in the public interest.
That’s the first paragraph in the new preamble of an updated Media Code of Ethics and Practice.
This code is integral to our work. It guides us from day to day. It tells us what we must do, what we should do, and what we should aspire to. It will help us serve the community better.
By describing how we should report the news, it helps us to decide what is news, and what’s not.
I agreed to help with this final draft because I know how important it is to think carefully about these things. Agonising over each word of this code has been an invaluable process for me. It’s taught me new things. It’s reinforced others. And it’s led me to do the one thing required of every reporter:
Challenge assumptions Challenge every single assumption.
Reporting starts with asking questions. Who? What? When? Where? Why?
Socrates, one of humanity’s most famous inquiring minds, reportedly said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
The professional journey of every reporter begins with that phrase.
The Media Association of Vanuatu awards 2021. Image: MAV
In that spirit of examination, I want to take a moment to consider where we are as a media community, where we’ve come from, and where we need to go.
Vanuatu’s media can congratulate themselves for a number of things:
Our populace has a more nuanced and subtle understanding of the law and governance than many others. We joke about bush lawyers, but our interest in the law — and respect for it — is a product of how we in the media portray it.
We are bound to defend and protect the truth. The truth is the seed we sow. And from that seed, we reap a better democracY.
— Dan McGarry
Understanding politics The same is true of our understanding of politics and Parliamentary procedure. Vanuatu follows Parliament the way some nations follow football. Our society is more engaged with the process of government than a great many others. The media plays a role in that, and we should be proud of it.
The status of women has advanced by leaps and bounds, both in media industry, and in society at large. Of course, the lioness’ share of the work has been done by two generations of fearless women who have campaigned tirelessly, selflessly to improve their lot.
But we have been there to mark their progress, to celebrate their wins, and to shine a light on the countless obstacles that still impede their progress.
The number of prosecutions and convictions for spousal abuse, sexual violence and other gender-based crimes is rising. These crimes are still happening far too often, but we can fairly say that the new, tougher sentences being handed out are a result of an awareness that we helped raise.
Our nation’s environmental awareness has been assisted greatly by the media. Again, we aren’t the ones saving the planet, but we are celebrating the people who do.
By giving space to the wisdom of kastom and the knowledge of science, we can exercise our right and our duty to protect this land.
The list of our achievements is long. I’m grateful that we finally found time to recognise and celebrate them. We have much to be proud of, and we should take this moment to applaud ourselves for a job well done.
About our failures Now… let’s talk about our failures.
The Code of Ethics requires that we be frank, honest and fair. It also instructs us not to leave out any uncomfortable facts just because they don’t fit the narrative. But we cannot ignore the fact that we could do much, much more, and we could do far, far better.
Fear still dominates and diminishes us. Don’t pretend it’s not there. And don’t you dare tell me it hasn’t made you back off a story. Every single press conferences reeks of faltering confidence.
We’re all guilty of it. Every single one of us. Back in 2015, I made sure my ABC colleague Liam Fox was in the room when Marcellino Pipite announced that he had exercised his power as Acting Head of State and pardoned himself and his cronies.
I made sure he was there because I knew he would ask the one question that mattered: “Aren’t you just trying to save your own skin?”
I’m grateful to Liam for stepping up. But now I wish I’d been the one who had the courage to ask.
We have to find a way past our fear, and we can only do that together. If we all enter the room ready to ask hard questions, it’s easier for each one of us to quit wishing we could and just do it.
Stand up for each other We have to learn to stand up for each other. Ten years ago, media pioneer Marc Neil-Jones was savagely assaulted by a minister of state.
That bullying act of injustice upset me deeply. It’s also what inspired me to take Marc’s place when his health forced him to step aside.
But what upset me even more was the failure of the media community to say one thing, and say it clearly: Violence against the media is never OK.
Never.
The only way we can be sure that those days of violent intimidation are past is if we hold that line, and condemn any act of coercion or violence loudly and in one voice.
To this day, I’m ashamed that we didn’t do at least that much for Marc.
Where is Marc’s lifetime achievement award? How much longer are we going to ignore his bravery, his leadership? Is his courage and determination going to be forgotten?
Not by me, it won’t.
Standing up to threats I know how hard it is to stand up to disapproval, verbal abuse, threats of violence, abusive language, rumours, lies and prejudice. I know how hard it is to stand up to my own peers, to take it on the chin when I find out I’m wrong, and to refuse to bend when I know I’m right.
I’ve learned this lesson: They can take your job. They can take your livelihood. They can stab you in the back. They can grind you down. They can attack your dignity, they can shake your confidence.
But they can’t change the truth. Because it’s not my truth, or yours, or theirs.
You can find another place to work. You can find other ways to ply your trade. You can bear up under pressure, even when nobody else believes you can. You can learn to carry on.
You can do all of that, if you’re faithful to the truth. The truth is what we serve, not the director, the producer, the editor.
The truth is our republic. We have a duty to defend it. All of it. Not just the bits that please us. All of it. All the time. Even when it costs us. Especially when it costs us.
We are bound to defend and protect the truth. The truth is the seed we sow. And from that seed, we reap a better democracy.
Holding power to account Democracy unchallenged isn’t democracy. The people can’t rule if they can’t ask questions. This principle underpins the media’s role in keeping democracy healthy, and rebuilding it when it’s under threat. The role of the media is to hold power to account.
In Vanuatu, this basic idea needs to be better understood by the government and the governed alike. We can do this by helping journalists better understand their role, and helping them get what they need to fulfil that role more effectively.
The revised Media Code of Ethics and Practice is a milestone on that road. But it’s meaningless if we don’t stand by it.
To my media colleagues, I say: Forget your jealousies, your rivalries. Reject pride, collusion and corruption wherever you see it, even in yourself. Especially in yourself.
Stand with MAV. Uphold this code, and we will stand together with the truth. Because the truth is our republic.
Dan McGarry is former media director (pending an appeal) of the Vanuatu Daily Post / Buzz FM and independent journalist and he held that position since 2015 until the government blocked his work permit in 2019. HisVillage Explaineris a semi-regular newsletter containing analysis and insight focusing on under-reported aspects of Pacific societies, politics and economics.
Fiji has recorded 784 cases of covid-19 in the last 24 hours to 8am on Monday.
That compares to 1043 cases in the previous 24-hour period. Among these were the first five cases recorded in the country’s eastern division, three from Ovalau and two from Gau.
The Health Ministry also confirmed 15 deaths last night, taking the toll to 113 – 111 of them from the latest outbreak that started in April.
Seven patients had died at home, and all but two of the 15 victims had received one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Health Secretary Dr James Fong said 17 other deaths were under investigation to determine their cause.
He said 48 people who tested positive to covid-19 since March 2020 had died, but their deaths were caused by pre-existing medical conditions and not the virus.
“There have been seven deaths of covid-positive patients in the last 24 hours.
Non-covid deaths “However, their deaths have been classified as non-covid related by their doctors who have determined that these deaths were caused by serious pre-existing medical conditions and not covid-19.
“There have been 125 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 14,247 active cases in Fiji.
“There have been 18,298 cases since March 20202 with 18,228 from this April outbreak. We have recorded 3890 recoveries.”
A Fiji police cordon around a covid containment area. Image: Fiji govt
A 65-year-old woman from Laucala Beach presented to Suva’s Colonial War Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Department in severe respiratory distress on 18 July. She died seven days after admission.
A 77-year-old man from Valelevu, Nasinu, died at home on 18 July.
A 47-year-old man from Lami near Suva also died at home on 12 July.
A 67-year-old woman from Nasinu died at home on 17 July. Her family had reported that she was unwell with Covid-19 symptoms for one week prior to her death.
A 51-year-old man from Colo-i-Suva died at home on 17 July.
A 40-year-old man from Lami presented to the FEMAT field hospital in respiratory distress. He died six days after admission on 17 July.
A 72-year-old man from Nabua near Suva presented to a medical facility in severe respiratory distress. He was retrieved by a medical team to the CWM Hospital on 18 July. He died one day later in hospital.
A 65-year-old man from Suva died at home on 18 July.
An 81-year-old woman from Samabula in Suva presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress on 18 July. She died in hospital on the same day.
A 63-year-old man from Delainavesi near Suva died at home on 17 July.
A 79-year-old woman from Cunningham near Suva also died at home on 17 July.
A 73-year-old woman from Suva presented to the FEMAT field hospital in severe respiratory distress on 18 July but died one day later.
An 83-year-old man from Nasese presented to the field hospital in severe respiratory distress on 17 July. He died four days after admission.
A 65-year-old man from Suva presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress on 18 July.
A 50-year-old woman from Dakuibeqa presented to the CWM Hospital in severe respiratory distress on 16 July and died on the same day.
Facemasks in Suva’s fish market. Image: RNZ/AFP
Screening, testing ramped up A total of 1246 individuals were screened and 611 swabbed at stationary screening clinics in the last 24 hours, Dr Fong said.
This brings to 323,960 individuals screened and 56,019 swabbed to date.
“Our mobile screening teams screened a total of 2,536 individuals and swabbed 273 in the last 24 hours,” he said.
“This brings our cumulative total to 719,501 individuals screened and 62,029 swabbed by our mobile teams to date.
“A total of 229,237 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 272,098 tested since testing began in March 2020.”
Dr Fong said 3871 tests had been reported as of July 17.
He said the national seven-day daily test average was 3875 tests per day or 4.4 tests per 1000 population.
“The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 26 percent and continues on an upward trend.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) test positivity threshold is five percent.
67 percent of population have one dose Dr Fong said that as of the July 17, 393,095 adults in Fiji had received their first dose of the vaccine and 78,624 got both jabs.
“This means that 67 percent of the target population have received at least one dose and 13.4 percent are now fully vaccinated.
“Fijians can check the ministry’s vaccine dashboard to find real-time data on first-dose and second-dose numbers at the national, divisional, and sub-divisional levels.
“The 7-day average of new cases per day is 988 cases per day or 1116 cases per million population per day.”
With the high numbers of new daily cases, Dr Fong the ministry is seeing increasing cases of severe disease and deaths in the country.
A Fiji covid-19 ‘protection” banner. Image: Fiji govt/FB
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
A New Zealand explorer who trekked in West Papua before Indonesian rule says he is saddened to see what colonisation has done to the region’s indigenous people.
Philip Temple, who is also a renowned author, was part of a small group who made the first recorded ascent of the Carstensz Pyramid in West Papua in 1962 before Dutch colonial rule ended.
“The Dutch had already given [West Papua] its own flag and all that sort of thing. And in fact when we made the first ascent of the Carstenz Pyramid, that was the flag we took to the top,” he said.
“It was a West Papuan flag that made it to the top, not an Indonesian flag.”
Temple said it was sad to see ongoing human rights violations against West Papuans, and their marginalisation in their own homeland due to transmigration of settlers from other, heavily populated parts of Indonesia.
A member of the Dani tribe hangs on to Philip Temple for balance as he embarks on the first Yehlimeh trek. Image: Heinrich Harrer/RNZ
He also cited the violence and displacement suffered by the indigenous people of Papua’s highlands due to ongoing conflict between Indonesian security forces and pro-independence fighters.
This was the remote interior region where Temple explored six decades ago. Today it is also a resource-rich region where the one of the world’s largest gold mines, Grasberg, operated by US company Freeport McMoran, has been in operation since Indonesian administration began, producing major revenue for the state while devastating the environment.
Papua example of modern colonisation What has happened to the territory, according to Temple, is another example of modern colonisation.
“There’s quite a thing going on in New Zealand at the moment about the effects of colonisation, and yet not that far away in the geopolitical sphere, it’s happening right now,” he said.
“What is really distressing for me is that the Dani people, who I got to know pretty well, they’ve been completely taken over by Indonesian settlers, especially in the Grand Valley, the Baliem, and they’re now treated as kind of curiosities by Indonesian visitors and so on.
“It’s the same kind of thing that happened to Māori at the end of the 19th century.”
Temple said that the New Zealand government’s reluctance to upset Indonesia by pushing for a resolution of the conflict in West Papua is at odds with its obligations to support the rights of indigenous Pacific peoples.
He said there was a lot that New Zealand could do, including raising the issue at the United Nations level, and also review defence ties it has with Indonesia, as well as military exports to Indonesia.
Descending to Mangaleme in the Toli Valley in Papua. Image: Philip Temple/RNZ
NZ ‘closely monitors’ West Papua A spokesperson from New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it continued to closely monitor developments in Papua.
“For example, earlier this year the New Zealand Ambassador met virtually with local government and civil society leaders in Papua,” he said.
“We support the PIF (Pacific Islands Forum) Leaders’ call for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to be permitted to visit Papua, in a manner that is safe and consistent with covid-19 restrictions.
“New Zealand recognises Papua as part of Indonesia’s sovereign territory. We encourage Indonesia to continue with its efforts to deliver on the goals and principles underpinning special autonomy for the benefit of all Papuans, including its recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples in Papua.
“New Zealand continues to encourage Indonesia to promote and protect the human rights of all its citizens. We take appropriate opportunities to raise concerns with the Indonesian government.”
Temple has written dozens of books, including The Last True Explorer: Into Darkest New Guinea, published by Godwit in 2002, which details his exporations of unmapped swathes of central New Guinea Highlands.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
As many as 714,066 Papuans and 112 organisations which are part of the Papuan People’s Petition (PRP) have rejected last week’s enactment into law of revisions to Law Number 21/2001 on Papua Special Autonomy (Otsus), reports CNN Indonesia.
They believe that special autonomy is not the answer to resolving the problems in the land of Papua.
“There’s no such thing as Otsus in the Papuan people’s dictionary. The Papuan people are asking for the right to self-determination,” said Rawarap from the group West Papua Youth and Student National Solidarity (Sonamapa) during a PRP event broadcast on the Suara Papua TV YouTube channel on Friday, July 16.
Rawarap believes that special autonomy is a product conceived out of an illicit affair between the political elite in Papua and Jakarta. According to Rawarap, the policy has not accommodated the Papuan people at all.
“Otsus is like an illegitimate child conceived during a sex party between the Papua elite and the Jakarta elite. We explicitly reject Otsus because Otsus is an illicit product. It’s the result of an illicit affair,” he added.
Rawarap said that the decision by the House of Representatives (DPR) to ratify the revisions into law would not in any way make Papuans feel proud.
More than 20 years of the implementation of special autonomy has failed to bring prosperity to the Papuan people.
‘Still many mama-mama‘ “The fact also is that many have already explained that over the 20 years Otsus has been in force in the land of Papua, there are still many mama-mama [traditional Papuan women traders] who sell on the side of the road,” he said.
“Still using cardboard, sacks as mats, sitting on the road selling areca.
“The fact also is that there are still many Papuan children who drop out of school and cannot continue their studies at tertiary institutions because education is expensive, yet there is money from Otsus.
“But, the fact is that many Papuan children drop out of study or do not continue school, and the unemployment rate is high — what is there to be proud of with Otsus?,” he asked.
Rawarap then touched on the findings of the National Statistics Agency (BPS) which says that the Human Development Index for Papua and West Papua provinces are the lowest in the country despite Otsus being in place for two decades.
“Sonamapa — along with the 112 organisations involved in the Papua People’s Petition reject Otsus — explicitly states that we reject Otsus Chapter II resulting out of secret revisions [to the Otsus Law] by the [DPR’s] special committee,” he said.
PRP spokesperson Sam Awom said that group rejected all forms of compromise with any deliberations on special autonomy which failecd to involve ordinary Papuan people.
‘Return mandate to the people’ “He also asked policy makers to return a mandate to the Papuan people to determine their own future,” he said.
“We demand the immediate return to the Papuan people [of the right] to choose and determine their own future on whether they accept Otsus or independence as a country”, said Awom, reading out a statement.
Awom declared that they would hold a national strike if the demands of the Papuan people were not followed up.
“If the petition [against Otsus] is not followed up, then we will hold a national, peaceful civil strike throughout the territory of West Papua,” he said.
Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs Mahfud MD has stated that the government will prioritise dialogue with “separatists” seeking self-determination and independence in Papua and use law enforcement against alleged armed criminal groups (KKB).
“On the Papua issue the government will use an approach prioritising prosperity which is comprehensive and covers all aspects,” he said.
“In confronting separatism, the government will prioritise dialogue.”
Several thousand people in French Polynesia have joined a march demanding France own up to the damage caused by its nuclear weapons tests.
The rally yesterday was organised by nuclear veterans group and the pro-independence opposition to mark the day in 1974 when fallout from the Centaur atmospheric nuclear test covered all of French Polynesia.
The protest under the banner Mā’ohi Lives Matter came a week before French President Emmanuel Macron is due for his delayed first official visit to the territory.
A pro-independence parliamentarian, Moetai Brotherson, said that over the years the French tests had contributed to the death of thousands of people yet France refused to apologise for that.
The pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru said France had denied the reality for decades, adding that he fought against France’s lies which he likened to terrorism.
In 2018, Temaru’s Tavini Huiraatira Party and the dominant Māohi Protestant Church alleged that the weapons testing amounted to a crime against humanity and referred all living French presidents to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The Mā’ohi Lives Matter protest banner. Image: FB Tavini Huiraatira
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan now includes “Word from The Hill”, where she discusses the news with members of The Conversations’s politics team.
In this episode, politics + society editor Amanda Dunn and Michelle talk about where we never expected to be in mid 2021 – 13 million people locked down in three states.
They also canvass the “car park rorts” in which marginal electorates were brazenly targeted in a $389 million car park construction program for the 2019 election, and if such misconduct will ever be stemmed.
Additional audio
Gaena, Blue Dot Sessions, from Free Music Archive.
Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
A concerning feature of Delta is the number of children and adolescents becoming infected. Earlier in the pandemic, Australians were able to feel reassured that transmission in schools was negligible. But Delta is already proving different, with some evidence of transmission among school children, teachers and their households emerging in Australia.
Australia’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), may soon approve the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines for adolescents aged 12-15.
If the vaccines are approved for this age group, how might we undertake mass vaccination of adolescents in Australia? And who will be involved in decisions about consent?
The National Immunisation Program is funded by the federal government, which means vaccines listed in the schedule are provided for free.
Vaccines are given in high schools by nurse immunisers. If a dose is missed at school, adolescents are eligible to “catch-up” via their GP (meaning the vaccine is still free).
It makes good sense to include COVID vaccines as part of the tried and trusted school-based immunisation program.
Who gives consent?
Because these immunisations are given through schools, adolescent vaccination in Australia is a partnership between health and education departments.
Written parental or guardian consent is required prior to the administration of vaccines.
This differs to what’s done through health settings, such as general practice, where adolescent “competency to consent” is an important consideration.
“Competency to consent” refers to the capacity of someone under 18 to consent to or refuse medical treatment. It signifies the minor has reached sufficient intelligence and understanding to fully understand the proposed treatment. The seriousness of the treatment is taken into consideration and capacity is assessed by individual health professionals. If deemed competent, then there’s no legal requirement for parental or guardian consent. Although, parental consent in addition to adolescent consent is encouraged as best practice.
Currently, adolescents need written parental or guardian consent to get vaccinated through high school immunisation programs. Shutterstock
2 approaches to adolescent COVID vaccination
First, we must improve adolescents’ understanding of vaccination to support their involvement in decision-making. In our own research about HPV vaccination, we found information designed specifically for adolescents is important. Adolescents otherwise have limited understanding of the vaccines they receive, or the diseases they prevent.
Even if consent from a parent or guardian is required as it is in the school-based program, promoting vaccine literacy among adolescents is appropriate and ethical. Understanding the purpose and process of vaccination increases vaccine confidence and reduces fear and anxiety.
Second, we need to acknowledge adolescents’ legal right to consent where they are competent to do so. This is pertinent where parental consent isn’t obtained, often due to a simple failure to return a consent form in time.
Where this happens, a GP can obtain informed consent in the usual way for medical treatment.
However, the requirement to access a GP practice presents other barriers for mature minors (those under 18 years who are competent to consent), which may impede vaccine uptake.
The national imperative is to achieve as high coverage of COVID vaccination as possible across the population. To achieve this and reduce the impact of the pandemic on young people’s health, we must work with young people.
What do young people think?
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has established a network of researchers who champion adolescent health, called the Wellbeing Health & Youth Centre.
This network has created the WH&Y Commission, which includes the voices of young people. Its goal is to ensure adolescent health research and policymaking are guided by young people themselves.
We asked three young WH&Y Commissioners what they thought about the issue of COVID vaccines and adolescents.
Here’s what they had to say
Young people should be given unbiased, accurate information about the benefits and risks associated with COVID vaccines.
Young people understand that because it’s a new vaccine, there will inevitably be scepticism. They’re aware family members may be hesitant or hold opposing views, which could deny young people their right to be fully informed. They want transparent instruction and information to be a huge priority for governments.
Young people deemed competent should be afforded their legal right to consent to a COVID vaccine. This would acknowledge the autonomy of, and trust placed in, young people to make their own medical decisions. There should be appropriate structures in place to protect young people’s privacy in their decision-making process. This is important to avoid stigmatisation based on their choice.
Australian Common Law reflects the understanding that over the second decade of life, young people gain autonomy over their lives and are capable of making decisions about their own health care. For the majority, this will involve conversations with, and support from, parents and guardians.
From early adolescence, scientific information about COVID vaccine benefits and risks should be provided in a way young people understand.
Ideally, adolescents should also be granted the legal and ethical right to make their own decisions, as would ordinarily happen for medical interventions of low risk. — WH&Y Commissioners Anhaar Kareem, Jenon Castro and Aish Naidu.
This article was co-authored with WH&Y Commissioners Anhaar Kareem, Jenon Castro and Aish Naidu.
Melissa Kang is an Associate Investigator on the Wellbeing Health & Youth (WH&Y) NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence. She has previously provided paid consultant advice on GP education for engaging adolescents to Pfizer.
Cristyn Davies is a researcher on the Wellbeing Health & Youth (WH&Y) NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence.
She holds current research funding from IMCRC (Innovation Manufacturing Collaborative Research Centre).
Rachel Skinner is Deputy Director of Wellbeing, Health & Youth (WH&Y) NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence. She is NSW Ministry of Health’s Senior Clinical Advisor in Youth Health and Wellbeing. She has received competitive grant funding from the following organisations: Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council, NSW Health Office of Health and Medical Research and IMCRC (Innovation Manufacturing Collaborative Research Centre). She has received honoraria for educational presentations on HPV vaccination from Seqirus and Merck.
The federal government has declared its “independent assessments” plan for the National Disability Insurance Scheme “dead”. But it has another plan to save money: get people with disabilities off welfare and into jobs.
It is committing A$3.5 million to building a “dedicated job platform connecting people with disability with employers”. It hopes 100,000 job seekers and 45,000 businesses will be on it within 18 months.
There are similar technological fixes in the pipe for the broader Jobactive employment services program. A new “digital services” model for job seekers is due to be rolled out from July 2022.
But technology is unlikely to achieve much without addressing the fundamental flaw in the government’s approach to helping those with disabilities or other disadvantages find jobs.
The problem with the system is that it premised on competition, not collaboration.
This model of employment services, delivered by outsourced providers, seems to have mostly benefited the providers.
The Jobactive and Disability Employment Services (DES) programs work roughly the same way. To receive income support payments, job seekers must sign up with an employment services provider.
DES providers are paid regular service fees and outcome fees when a client has a job for four, 13, 26 and 52 weeks. Ongoing support fees are paid for clients who need further assistance maintaining their employment.
Jobactive providers are paid when clients have been in a job for four, 13 and 26 weeks, at three different rates according to a client’s “job readiness”.
Those most ready (stream A) are meant to get some assistance such as putting together a resume. The least ready (stream C) are meant to get help with the issues preventing them gaining or keeping a job.
This system was introduced in the late 1990s by the Howard government, which shut down the old Commonwealth Employment Service. Competition was meant to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of employment services. Since then, however, the evidence it has largely failed has accumulated.
In 2019 a Senate inquiry reported widespread perceptions the main outcomes were “generating income and employment within service providers”.
Job seekers have described their experience of service providers “going through the motions”. Those who have worked for providers have described a system that has turned unemployment into a profitable business.
Gaming the system seems to be all too common, with the most disadvantaged (stream C job seekers) being “parked” while service providers focus on the “cream” from stream A and B seekers, which pay less but are much easier to place.
Providers making more
In 2020 Boston Consulting Group came to similar conclusions after reviewing the Disability Employment Services program. Its report was made public in May due to a Freedom of Information application by The Guardian.
Despite “reforms” in 2018 to make the system even more competitive, the review says, “significant concerns remain regarding the program’s efficacy and efficiency”.
The review canvasses problems including mixed service quality, inflexibility, low innovation, excessive complexity and ineffective market mechanisms. “Market competition has increased, yet market mechanisms have not driven observable improvements in outcomes for participants,” it states.
What had improved were payments to providers — by an average of 38% for each 26-week employment outcome (from $27,800 to $38,400).
Close to a third (28%) of the providers had more than doubled their revenue. The number of job seekers being employed for 26 weeks, however, increased less than 8% (from about 7,595 a quarter to 8,171).
According to data published this month by Michael West Media, since 2015 the federal government has paid the following to the five biggest DES and Jobactive employment service providers: $1.21 billion to Max Solutions; $667 million to APM/Serendipity; $606 million to Sarina Russo Job Access; $257 million to Neato Employment Services; and $221 million to Sureway Employment and Training.
Building a better system
I have seen through my own professional and academic practice — as a professor of construction management — how dysfunctional, fragmented and damaging this system is. I have also seen how some in the construction industry have stepped up to fill gaps in a system which fails them as much as the disadvantaged job seekers it is meant to help.
Construction is Australia’s fourth-biggest employer. About 1.15 million people, 9% of the total workforce, work in the sector. It is the largest employer of young people, the largest provider of apprenticeships.
With the federal government having committed A$225 billion to infrastructure projects over the next four years, it is estimated the sector will employ an extra 300,000 workers nationally by 2024.
So there are huge opportunities for industry to provide more jobs for those with disabilities and other disadvantages.
Investing in collaboration
But this requires more than employment service providers just “going through the motions”. It needs a system of real engagement.
Most employers in the industry are small to medium-sized businesses. They worry about their margins and are averse to employing anyone they perceive as being a safety risk or less productive. Few have the knowledge and inclination to take risks on disadvantaged job seekers through the DES and Jobactive programs.
This is true generally. Just 4% of employers use the system to fill vacancies, according to federal government data.
One approach is to emulate an initiative by construction company Multiplex, which since 2010 has been developing “connectivity centres” to increase employment opportunities for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The aim of this initiative is to support both job seekers and employers by reconnecting employment service providers and support services (such as in mental health, domestic violence and housing) forced apart by the current system.
As a result job seekers get more customised, targeted and relevant training that actually matches what employers want.
The key point is that collaboration is more effective than competition.
The current system does not provide the support both job seekers and employers need. Technology will not fix its flaws. Indeed, it may further depersonalise a system which already too often treats people like commodities.
Martin Loosemore receives funding from The Australian Research Council.
On Monday, a senate hearing produced yet more damning evidence about the “car park rorts” affair.
The Australian National Audit Office told a parliamentary committee a list of the top 20 marginal electorates guided the distribution of a $389 million car park construction fund during the 2019 election campaign.
Sitting Coalition MPs were invited to nominate projects for funding. In some cases, money was allocated to electorates when a project had not yet been identified. An adviser from the Prime Minister’s Office was involved in the funding allocation — the same adviser involved in the “sports rorts” incident.
Earlier this month, the Audit Office released a scathing report, finding 77% of the commuter car park sites selected were in Coalition electorates, rather than in areas of real need with congestion issues. None of the 47 project sites selected for funding commitment were proposed by the infrastructure department.
So, why do these rorts keep happening? What mechanisms are in place to try and stop them? And what further protections do we need?
Why do rorts keep happening?
Pork-barrelling involves the channelling of public funds to government electorates for political purposes, rather than proper allocation according to merit.
We have been inundated with pork-barrelling scandals in recent years. This includes the “sports rorts” scandal that led to Bridget McKenzie’s resignation from cabinet last year, and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s biased distribution of the Stronger Communities fund.
The Audit Office has delivered a damning assessment of the Coalition’s car park fund. Mick Tsikas/AAP
Australia has a single member electorate parliamentary system, which makes it more susceptible to pork-barrelling than multi-member electorates like Norway or Spain. The belief is that politicians who “bring home the bacon” for their constituents are electorally rewarded for doing so.
This means there are incentives for the central cabinet to strategically apportion benefits to marginal electorates to increase prospects of electoral success. There is also an incentive to bias the apportionment of funds towards the party in power.
In short, rorts scandals keep happening because governments believe that channelling money to marginal and government electorates will win them elections.
What are the accountability arrangements for grants?
At the federal level, we have sophisticated financial management legislation that provides a framework for grant rules. The Commonwealth grant rules provide a detailed set of guidelines that ministers and government officials must follow on grant application and selection processes.
However, there are significant loopholes in the rules. For example, the “car park rorts” scandal is not covered by these rules because it involves money being channelled through the states.
Also, there are no sanctions for breaching the rules. So ministers and government officials can break the rules without any repercussions.
Who keeps an eye on the grants?
The auditor-general is the main actor who investigates federal grants administration. The auditor-general has significant coercive powers, and is independent of government. Although the auditor-general lacks the power to change governmental practices, the publicity of their reports may encourage government agencies to respond in a positive and productive way.
In Australia, parliaments have a strong constitutional role as overseers of the activities of government.
Australian National Audit Office executive director Brian Boyd appeared before a senate committee on Monday. Lukas Coch/AAP
Parliamentary committees have become the main form of scrutiny of government in recent years. They are set up to investigate specific matters of policy or to evaluate the performance of government.
Parliamentary committees are normally tasked with making inquiries into matters by taking submissions, hearing evidence and reporting their findings to parliament. They have been highly effective identifying and investigating issues relating to government rorts.
Where to now?
To fix the system, we need to reform the rules about grants allocation and close the loopholes. We also need to impose punishment for breaching the rules.
It is imperative our grants administration system be reformed to ensure that taxpayer funds are protected from governmental abuse. If the ministerial discretion available in grants processes is improperly used, this can give rise to political favouritism and corruption.
Ministers, as our elected representatives, are the custodians of public trust. As part of a well-functioning democracy, it is important there is probity, transparency and accountability in the use of public funds.
Yee-Fui Ng does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The biggest unstated message from the intergenerational report released during the lull between lockdowns is that we will need more tax.
Not now. At the moment it’s a matter of throwing everything we’ve got at getting on top of the COVID outbreaks and worrying about how to (and the extent to which we will need to) pay for it later.
But when the economy is healthy again, taxes are going to have to rise, big time.
That the intergenerational report doesn’t say so explicitly might be because the government is sticking with its arbitrary and implausible guarantee that tax collections will never climb above 23.9% of GDP, which is the average between the introduction of the goods and services tax and the global financial crisis.
Or it might be because what’s needed sits oddly with legislated high-end tax cuts likely to cost $17 billion per year from 2024-25.
Among the drivers of increased government spending identified by the report is spending on health, at present 4.6% of gross domestic product, and on the report’s projections set to climb to 6.2% over the next 40 years.
We’ll want better health
To fund that alone the government will need to collect 6% more tax in 2061 than had spending on health stayed where it was as a proportion of GDP.
Perhaps surprisingly, most of the extra spending on health won’t be a direct result of the population ageing. It’ll be because health technologies are getting better and becoming much, much more expensive (à la the COVID vaccines). And because incomes are rising.
Rising incomes, the report explains, are the largest driver of government spending on health internationally.
That’s because for some things, including the provision of hospitals, private spending can’t cut it, no matter how well off you are.
Australia’s richest man needed hospitals as much as anyone. AP
After billionaire Kerry Packer suffered a massive heart attack while playing polo in 1990, he was rushed to Sydney’s Liverpool Hospital.
When the ANU election survey began in 1990, 54% of Australians surveyed regarded health as “extremely important” in determining their vote. It’s now 70%. In 1990 11% regarded health as “not very important”. It’s now just 2%.
The intergenerational report has spending on aged care climbing from 1.2% to 2.1% of GDP, which by itself means the tax take will have to be 4% higher than otherwise, but it was prepared ahead of the government’s final response to the aged care royal commission.
The interim response had 14 (mostly expensive) recommendations subject to “further consideration”.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme already accounts for one in 20 tax dollars collected and is set to overtake Medicare.
The report says the government’s response to the royal commission into disability care presently underway is likely to place “additional pressure” on costs.
We’ll need to spend more than projected
None of this extra spending is bad if it delivers value for money, and it’s what the public wants. But it is hard to reconcile with official projections in the report showing government spending climbing only 2.5% per year in real terms over the next 40 years, compared to 3.4% per year in the past 40.
The report gets there in part by an outrageous sleight of hand. It says JobSeeker and other payments will become tiny as a proportion of GDP because they will only climb with inflation (which is typically low) rather than wage growth or GDP growth (which is typically higher, and lines up with how the pension grows).
A moment’s reflection would show that if that actually happened for 40 years — which is what the treasury’s report assumes — JobSeeker would fall from 70% of the single age pension to a hard-to-justify 40%.
JobSeeker and age pension as projected in intergenerational report
Payment for a single person, dollars per fortnight. JobSeeker indexed to IGR inflation projections, pension indexed to IGR wage projections.
We know it won’t happen because it hasn’t happened.
JobSeeker was boosted this year after only 20 years rather than 40 in order to make sure that sort of thing wouldn’t happen.
And we know there’s nothing to stop an intergenerational report using more realistic assumptions.
The 2015 report, released at a time when the Abbott government planned to adjust the pension in line with the more miserly JobSeeker formula, relaxed the assumption after 13 years because if it left it in place the pension would slide untenably below community expectations.
We’ll easily be able to afford more tax
There’s nothing wrong with paying more tax if it’s for things we want, like better health care, better aged care, better disability care and benefits we can live on.
The intergenerational report has government spending climbing by four percentage points of GDP between now and 2061. But it also has real GDP per person almost doubling, climbing 80%.
Even if that’s an overestimate and GDP per person grows by, say, 50%, and the need for tax grows by more than four points, we’ll easily be able to afford the extra tax, and we’ll want what that tax will buy. Expectations climb with income.
The present government will be long gone by the time the tax to GDP ratio reaches its “cap” of 23.9% of GDP (which the report expects in 2035).
Mathias Cormann has moved to the OECD where average tax rates are high. Ian Langsdon/EPA
The finance minister who came up with the cap, Mathias Cormann, is now head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in which the average tax take is 34% of GDP.
An obvious place to look for the tax is high-income senior citizens, at present enjoying tax-free super, refundable franking credits and special tax offsets. Grattan Institute calculations suggest an older household earning $100,000 pays less than half the tax of a working-age household on the same amount.
Like less well-off seniors, they are highly likely to use the services tax provides.
To say we’ll need more tax is not to say the government needs to fund all of its spending with tax.
It is projecting budget deficits for the next 40 years. Budgets have been in deficit for all but a few of the past 100 years.
But it will need to cover much of it with tax to keep the economy in check. If we want what tax provides, we’ll be prepared to pay it.
Peter Martin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
In 2019, when astronomers captured the first image of a black hole’s shadow — a bright orange doughnut-shaped halo created by the black hole’s intense gravity bending light around it — it was rightly hailed as a breakthrough.
Now, I have joined the Event Horizon Telescope team in following up on their earlier achievement, by creating a new image showing jets of plasma being ejected from the core of a different supermassive black hole, at the centre of the galaxy Centaurus A.
Centaurus A’s black hole is about 120 times less massive than that of M87, the galaxy where the black hole halo was spotted (and which also has its own set of plasma jets). So no black hole shadow was expected or seen in Centaurus A’s case.
But the results, published in Nature Astronomy, nevertheless provide another fascinating insight into the huge black holes that lurk at the centre of many galaxies.
Centaurus A is so-named because it is the brightest (hence “A”) object in the constellation Centaurus, in the southern skies. Centaurus A appears as one of the largest radio galaxies in our skies, because of its relative closeness, at 15 million light years from Earth.
In the visible light spectrum, this galaxy is characterised by a dark “dust lane” that blocks our view of its centre. But radio waves are unaffected by this material, so radioastronomers can study its centre in detail.
Centaurus A, like other “active” galaxies, has a supermassive black hole at its centre, which is fed by material falling in towards it. Much of that material ends up falling into, or orbiting around, the black hole. But some of it – through a process not yet understood – is shot out in a pair of diametrically opposed “jets”.
These plasma jets are one of the most mysterious and energetic features of galaxies. They travel at speeds close to the speed of light, and so the effects of Einstein’s theory of relativity become important.
One prediction is that the jet travelling towards us will appear brighter, while the opposing jet, travelling away from us, will appear fainter.
In fact, detailed studies of most active galaxies only reveal a one-sided jet, with the counter-jet too faint to observe.
Centaurus A is one of the few examples for which both the jet and counter-jet have previously been seen. Observations with a network of telescopes, including CSIRO’s 64-metre Parkes telescope and Australia Telescope Compact Array, had provided the most detailed images before now.
Our team used an international network of seven telescopes spanning North and South America and Antarctica. (Australia sadly doesn’t have the high-altitude observation sites necessary to make this kind of observation.)
The telescopes imaged the black hole’s jets in 16 times more detail than previous images. This revealed two things: first, and slightly surprisingly, nothing is seen in the vicinity of the black hole itself; and second, and even more intriguingly, only the outer edges of the jets seem to emit radiation.
While this “edge-brightening” has been seen for several other nearby active galaxies, this is the first time it has been seen in Centaurus A, and seen so clearly.
Left: the previous best image of the Centaurus A black hole’s plasma jets; middle: the new image; right: the larger plasma jets from M87’s black hole. Nature Astronomy
The edge of the jet may be brightened by the interaction of the jet plasma with the gas and dust in the galaxy. The narrowness of the jets also hints that strong magnetic fields may be coiled around the jet, and these may also lead to brighter edges and create an invisible “spine” to the jet.
The overall geometry and properties of the jet bear a striking resemblance to those of the jet in M87, as well as to jets launched by smaller black holes (tens of solar masses rather than millions or billions) in our own galaxy, the Milky Way. This supports the idea that the same processes happen in both supermassive black holes and their lighter counterparts, suggesting supermassive black holes are simply a scaled-up version of smaller ones, without requiring any new (or additional) physical mechanisms to be invoked.
As to why we saw nothing in the vicinity of the supermassive black hole itself, it is possible our line of sight is blocked by dense matter falling towards the black hole. We might be able to see more by increasing our observing frequency into the terahertz range, but that is a huge technical challenge.
COVID restrictions resulted in our 2020 observing campaign being abandoned, however the Event Horizon Telescope array was back in operation for a campaign in April this year, with further observations of M87 and Centaurus A on its list of targets.
Another source that has already been observed is the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. Much closer than those of Centaurus A (15 million light years) or M87 (55 million light years), it is “only” 25,000 light years away, but it is also much less massive — roughly five million times the mass of our Sun.
While we believe this black hole has been active in the distant past, recent observations have not revealed any bright jets emerging from the centre of our galaxy, suggesting it is not currently as active, but could potentially become active again in the future. It will be interesting to see what our forthcoming observations reveal.
Phil Edwards does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rose Butler, DECRA Senior Research Fellow, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University
Mick Tsikas/AAP
People from different class backgrounds often fall in love in books and on screen — think Sally Rooney’s Normal People, Melina Marchetta’s Looking For Alibrandi, or Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things. But this is not just a fictional trope, it happens in real life, too.
Australia is historically thought of as an egalitarian society, which means discussions and representations of class, privilege and inequality are commonly hidden or coded in other language.
Our research brings it out into the open, through a study of people who partner with someone from a different class.
What happens when people from different class backgrounds fall in love?
In 2020, we undertook eleven interviews with members of six cross-class couples. For these couples, love across class is an everyday reality and the differences are sometimes subtle, sometimes striking.
These people’s ages ranged from their early 20s to early 60s.
Seven were from a white background, one person identified as Jewish European, one as Vietnamese-Australian, one as Eurasian and one as coming from a mixed-race background. Five couples were heterosexual and one was same-sex.
What is class?
In Australia, people from different class backgrounds may have grown up within very different family, social and schooling contexts. Class influences where we live, study and work, our health and well-being and many other aspects of life.
Falling in love with someone from a different class is the basis for many great novels — and real life complications. Aijaz Rhi/AP/AAP
Scholars argue class is also a cultural experience. Through our upbringing, we accumulate a set of dispositions and sensibilities — a way of being in the world — which feels comfortable and “natural” to us. While we may acquire new habits and skills later in life, these acquired dispositions may lack the comfortable feel associated with those learned in childhood.
Studying the role of class in our personal relationships also requires paying attention to how class is shaped by race, migration, gender, and sexuality.
So, we asked about people’s childhoods, the origin of their relationship and how class shapes everyday life. We covered: approaches to money, attitudes to work, decisions about where to live and home ownership, the use of free time, food preferences, holidays, social life, and parenting.
The bubble bursting
At the start of their relationships, many of our interviewees were not aware they had partnered across class. We heard stories of realisation.
For Stephanie, it was “probably knowing the schools” which led her to realise she was from a different class background to her partner, Harry. Harry is white and grew up in a “quite working class” coal-mining region. He attended a “disadvantaged” rural public school where “we didn’t have any, like, goalposts on our footy field … we had to use our schoolbags”.
Stephanie, who is also white, is from a wealthy urban background. She attended a prestigious school in Adelaide and described living in “this bubble of, like, private school world”. She described that bubble “bursting”.
Others developed a deeper understanding of their partner’s class backgrounds after meeting their family.
This was the case for Madeline on visiting David’s family. Previously, “I only knew him as a university student,” she explained, “and all of our conversations [were] about degrees, about our careers”. Madeline is Eurasian and from a wealthy background — she grew up speaking multiple languages in Asia and accessed an elite education in Europe. David, who is white, “grew up sort of in and out of housing commission” in coastal NSW.
Rewards
As these relationships solidified, class-based differences became a complex and rewarding aspect of the relationship. Interviewees valued different things about partnering across class.
Madeline spoke of the conversations she and David had around privilege and poverty. She told us it was “a pretty awesome thing, if you can talk about these difficult topics with your partner”.
Some couples only realise they are from different classes once they meet each other’s families. Robert McGrath/AAP
Phuong felt “it was sort of good to say out loud” these experiences, “and think about privilege and how much it shapes you. And your kids ultimately”. Phuong is from a working-class, Vietnamese-Australian background and shares her Melbourne life with Tabby, who is white and from an affluent middle-class background.
As well as being interesting, other couples found class difference to be a healthy challenge and a source of humour and playful fun.
Tabby concluded a number of funny stories by reflecting that class difference had consistently “been very present […] in discussions about our relationship and, but usually in quite a light-hearted way”.
Ambivalence and conflict
However, class-based differences could cause tension within these relationships. In Harry’s view, Stephanie
will never truly understand what it’s like to be broke. Or on the verge of broke. And I kind of live with it all the time.
He sees this as a “great conflict in our marriage” and “an unsolvable riddle”.
Others spoke of an ambivalence around their class identity, which did not reflect mainstream narratives of upward class mobility as a desired goal.
Billy, who is white and from an upper middle-class background, and what he saw as “old money”, told us that his partner Adele “does feel sad” about their world in inner-city Sydney. Adele is from a “mixed-race” background and a tight-knit, working-class family in Wollongong. Billy and Adele are now part of the “well-educated middle” or “bourgeoise academics”, she joked. There was regret that their children might not get to experience the working-class culture of Adele’s childhood.
What about you?
Our research shows class and class differences play a powerful role in our intimate lives, but this can be difficult to articulate. Public depictions of class difference commonly involve derision, mockery and comedy, rather than inter-class negotiation and understanding.
Our research captures experiences of couples already engaged in the daily, messy, complex and enriching work of negotiating class difference in their personal lives. Their insights can deepen our comprehension of what class is and means to people in Australia today. And for our interviewees, reflecting on the role of class in their intimate lives sometimes proved cathartic or illuminating.
This research is ongoing. We would love to hear from a wide range of people willing to discuss their experiences of love across class. If you would like to participate, you can get in touch here.
Rose Butler receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Eve Vincent no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.
Today’s multi-country condemnation of cyber-attacks by Chinese state-sponsored agencies was a sign of increasing frustration at recent behaviour. But it also masks the real problem — international law isn’t strong or coherent enough to deal with this growing threat.
The coordinated announcement by several countries, including the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, echoes the most recent threat assessment from the US intelligence community: cyber threats from nation states and their surrogates will remain acute for the foreseeable future.
Joining the chorus against China may be diplomatically risky for New Zealand and others, and China has already described the claims as “groundless and irresponsible”. But there is no doubt the problem is real.
The latest report from New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) recorded 353 cyber security incidents in the 12 months to the middle of 2020, compared with 339 incidents in the previous year.
Given the focus is on potentially high-impact events targeting organisations of national significance, this is likely only a small proportion of the total. But the GCSB estimated state-sponsored attacks accounted for up to 30% of incidents recorded in 2019-20.
Since that report, more serious incidents have occurred, including attacks on the stock-exchange and Waikato hospital. The attacks are becoming more sophisticated and inflicting greater damage.
Globally, there are warnings that a major cyberattack could be as deadly as a weapon of mass destruction. The need to de-escalate is urgent.
Global solutions missing
New Zealand would be relatively well-prepared to cope with domestic incidents using criminal, privacy and even harmful digital communications laws. But most cybercrime originates overseas, and global solutions don’t really exist.
In theory, the attacks can be divided into two types — those by criminals and those by foreign governments. In reality, the line between the two is blurred.
Dealing with foreign criminals is slightly easier than combating attacks by other governments, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has recognised the need for a global effort to fight this kind of cybercrime.
Unfortunately, some of the countries most often suspected of allowing international cybercrime to be committed from within their borders have not signed, meaning they are not bound by its obligations.
Malicious state-sponsored cyber activity involving espionage, ransoms or breaches of privacy might qualify as unfriendly and in bad faith, but they are not acts of war.
However, cyberattacks directed by other governments could amount to acts of war if they cause death, serious injury or significant damage to the targeted state. Cyberattacks that meddle in foreign elections may, depending on their impact, dangerously undermine peace.
And yet, despite these extreme risks, there is no international convention governing state-based cyberattacks in the ways the Geneva Conventions cover the rules of warfare or arms control conventions limit weapons of mass destruction.
Drawing a red line on cybercrime: US President Joe Biden meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva in June. GettyImages
Risks of retaliation
The latest condemnation of Chinese-linked cyberattacks notwithstanding, the problem is not going away.
At their recent meeting in Geneva, US President Joe Biden told his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, the US would retaliate against any attacks on its critical infrastructure. A new US agency aimed at countering ransomware attacks would respond in “unseen and seen ways”, according to the administration.
Such responses would be legal under international law if there were no alternative means of resolution or reparation, and could be argued to be necessary and proportionate.
Also, the response can be unilateral or collective, meaning the US might call on its friends and allies to help. New Zealand has said it is open to the proposition that victim states can, in limited circumstances, request assistance from other states to apply proportionate countermeasures against someone acting in breach of international law.
Things are moving fast and none of it is very reassuring. In an interconnected world facing a growing threat from cyberattacks, we appear to be drifting away from order, stability and safety and towards the darkness of increasing lawlessness.
The coordinated condemnation of China by New Zealand and others has considerably upped the ante. All parties should now be seeking a rules-based international solution or the risk will only grow.
Alexander Gillespie 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.
Recent disasters such as the Black Summer bushfires and the Juukan Gorge destruction highlighted the need to put Indigenous people at the centre of decision-making about Australia’s natural places. But what’s the right way to combine traditional ancient wisdom with modern environmental management?
A project off Western Australia’s northwest coast offers a potential way forward. For the first time in the state’s history, Indigenous knowledge has been central to the design of a marine park.
The protected area will span 660,000 hectares northeast of Broome, taking in the stunning Buccaneer Archipelago and Dampier Peninsula. The area comprises thousands of small islands fringed by coral reefs and seagrass beds. The waters support a rich abundance of species such as corals, fish, turtles and dugongs, as well as humpback whales which give birth in the region.
Often, Indigenous input is sought only in the consultation phase of park planning, once maps have been drawn up. But in this case, Traditional Owners co-designed three marine parks with the state government and will jointly manage them. Traditional ecological and cultural wisdom has been embraced and valued, enhancing Western scientific knowledge of a fragile stretch of Australia’s coast.
Traditional owners have been caring for country for thousands of years. Nick Thake
Caring for Sea Country
The marine park co-design is a collaboration between WA’s Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and Bardi Jawi, Mayala and Dambeemangarddee Traditional Owners. It will comprise three adjoining protected areas, each jointly managed by a Traditional Owner group.
The Buccaneer Archipelago region has the state’s highest concentration of Traditional Owner communities living adjacent to an existing or proposed marine park.
Local Indigenous people refer to these areas as “Sea Country”. They depend on the waters for food and to carry out traditional practices, and have cared for them sustainably for thousands of years.
Industry, fishing and tourism are putting pressure on the region’s environment. In particular, the recent sealing of Cape Leveque Road improved access to the Dampier Peninsula and will result in massive increases in tourism and boating.
Adding to this, marine heatwaves and other climate-related changes pose a serious threat to corals, macroalgae and seagrass.
A new sealed road to Cape Leveque will add to pressures on the marine area. Shutterstock
Genuine two-way partnerships
Combining traditional Indigenous knowledge with a Western approach requires methods that are both culturally appropriate and scientifically robust.
In 2018, Bardi Jawi rangers and staff from the Australian Institute of Marine Science carried out “participatory mapping” to design a mornitoring program for corals and fish. The rangers and marine park planners went on to use this method when designing the marine park.
Participatory mapping starts with Traditional Owners and marine park planners documenting the traditional owners’ ecological knowledge, cultural values and aspirations. From this, maps are developed then built on via on-Country observations.
This process allows scientists to record and understand traditional knowledge of an environment in a way that is also useful for Western conservation and management planning.
Participatory mapping involves traditional owners and marine park planners. Nick Thake
The co-design approach was built on genuine partnerships, mutual respect and two-way learning. The partnerships developed over several years through other joint projects by scientists and Bardi Jawi rangers.
The department listened to and implemented this strong Indigenous voice in the development of the marine parks’ draft plans.
According to the Traditional Owners themselves, the sea is fundamental to the spiritual, social and physical existence. Their diet relies heavily on food from the sea such as fish, turtles, dugongs, crabs and oysters. Under Indigenous laws, traditional owners are required to protect significant features in the sea and for some groups, resources such as pearl shell has traditionally been collected and used for ceremony and trade.
A WA government document outlines how the proposed marine parks contain “special purpose zones” to protect traditional culture and heritage. They allow for seasonal camping areas and places where Traditional Owners can collect customary food and other resources. They will also protect culturally significant features such as cultural sites reefs, seagrass beds and mangrove communities.
The document also says the proposal protects places with “intangible” value related to traditional law, ceremony and stories.
These zones are in addition to sanctuary zones protecting areas of critical habitat, and general use zones where sustainable activities are allowed.
Science informs the activities allowed in each zone. Shutterstock
Scientific rigour
Protected areas in marine parks must be sized, spaced and positioned to allow “population connectivity” – the dispersal of eggs, larvae, juveniles and adults through the area.
My involvement in the marine park design included participating in a study which led to recommendations for how best to achieve this connectivity.
The study was part of a bigger program to improve and integrate ecological and social science knowledge in this region. This information was incorporated into two-way learning and planning, which fed into the proposed marine park.
Proven on-ground success
Key to the success of the new marine parks will be the practical capacity of Traditional Owners and Rangers. Indigenous sea ranger groups in the region have already shown they can work with both traditional governance and knowledge structures and non-Indigenous Australian organisations.
What’s more, the Bardi Jawi,Dambeemangarddee and Mayala people have their own healthy country plans. These plans clearly document how they have looked after country for millennia and want to continue this in future.
The Bardi Jawi and Dambeemanagrdee people have also established an Indigenous Protected Area which they’ve successfully cared for since 2013.
Healthy Country, healthy people
Some recreational fishers believe the proposed exclusions are unreasonable. But there is growing evidence fish populations benefit from sanctuary networks. And many local fishers recognise the increasing threats to the region and welcome Traditional Owners playing a larger management role.
It’s hoped the final marine parks plan will find the right balance between the needs of Traditional Owners, commercial and recreational fishing, pearling and other uses.
By involving traditional custodians from the start, there’s every chance we will realise the ancient Indigenous idea that healthy Country means healthy people – and that will benefit everyone.
The author would like to acknowledge the Bardi Jawi, Mayala and Dambeemangarddee Traditional Owners and their continuing culture, knowledge, beliefs and spiritual connection to Country. The author recognises they are Australia’s first scientists.
Jim Underwood works for the Australian Institute of Marine Science. He received funding from Western Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Behnam Akhavan, Senior Lecturer, ARC DECRA Fellow, School of Biomedical Engineering and School of Physics, University of Sydney
Have you ever imagined your smart phone or tablet without a touch screen? This could soon be the case if we run out of indium, one of the rarest minerals on Earth.
Indium is used in many high-tech devices such as touch screens, smart phones, solar panels and smart windows, in the form of indium tin oxide. This compound is optically transparent and electrically conductive — the two crucial features required for touch screens to work.
But there’s a problem: we have no guaranteed long-term supply of indium. It is naturally found only in tiny traces, and is therefore impractical to mine directly. Almost all of the world’s indium comes as a byproduct of zinc mining.
Fortunately, we have a potential solution: my colleagues and I have developed a new way to make optically transparent and electrically conductive coatings without indium.
A worsening problem
Because the world’s indium supply is tied to zinc mining, its availability and price will depend on the demand for zinc.
Possible declines in zinc demand — already evident in the car manufacturing industry — along with the ever-increasing usage of smart phones and touch panels — are set to exacerbate the potential shortage of indium in the future.
One option is to try and recycle indium. But recovering it from used devices is expensive because of the tiny amounts involved.
When a crucial material is in short supply, we should look for alternatives. And that’s exactly what my colleagues and I have found.
How does it work?
Our new coating, details of which are published in the journal Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, involves plasma technology.
Plasma is like a soup of charged particles in which electrons have been ripped away from their atoms, and is often described as the fourth state of matter, after solid, liquid and gas. It might sound like an exotic substance, but in fact it comprises more than 99% of the visible objects in the universe. Our Sun, like most stars, is essentially a giant ball of glowing plasma.
Closer to home, fluorescent lightbulbs and neon signs also contain plasma. Our new touchscreen films don’t contain plasma, but their manufacture uses plasma as a way to create new materials that would otherwise be impossible to make.
The new material is created using a process called plasma sputtering. Behnam Akhavan
Our coating is made of an ultra-thin layer of silver, sandwiched between two layers of tungsten oxide. This structure is less than 100 nanometres thick — roughly one-thousandth of the width of a human hair.
These ultra-thin sandwich layers are created and coated onto glass using a process called “plasma sputtering”. This involves subjecting a mixture of argon and oxygen gases to a strong electric field, until this mixture transforms into the plasma state. The plasma is used to bombard a tungsten solid target, detaching atoms from it and depositing them as a super-thin layer onto the glass surface.
We then repeat this process using silver, and then a final third time tungsten oxide embedded with silver nanoparticles. The entire process takes only a few minutes, produces minimal waste, is cheaper than using indium, and can be used for any glass surface such as a phone screen or window.
The finished result is a sandwich of tungsten oxide and silver, coated onto glass. Behnam Akhavan, Author provided
The finished plasma coating also has another intriguing feature: it is electrochromic, meaning it can become more or less opaque, or change colour, if an electrical voltage is applied.
This means it could be used to create super-thin “printable displays” that can become dimmer or brighter, or change colour as desired. They would be flexible and use little power, meaning they could be used for a range of purposes including smart labels or smart windows.
The material’s opacity can be changed by varying the voltage. Behnam Akhavan, Author provided
Smart windows coated with our new films could be used to block the flow of light and thus heat as required. Our plasma film can be applied to any glass surface, which can then be set to adjust its transparency depending on the weather outside. Unlike existing “photochromic” spectacle lenses, which respond to ambient light levels, our material responds to electrical signals, meaning it can be manipulated at will.
Our new indium-free technology holds great potential to manufacture the next-generation touch-screen devices such as smart phones or electronic papers, as well as smart windows and solar cells for environmental sustainability. This technology is ready to be scaled up for creating coatings on commercial glass, and we are now doing further research and development to adapt them for future wearable electronic devices.
Razvan Martin of Romania was stripped of his bronze medal after testing positive for drugs eight years after the 2012 London Olympics.Hassan Ammar/AP
Another Olympics is upon us, inexorable even in the face of COVID. With it comes the inevitable, salacious speculation around doping scandals.
There have been doping scandals at every Olympics in my lifetime and a few before, reaching back to the middle of the 20th century. Now, because of the lag between new drugs coming into sport and the development of reliable drug tests, there’s a 10-year retrospective testing window. This leaves the question of exactly who wins what an open question for a decade.
With the testing window used for the 2012 London Olympics now closed (it used to be eight years), we only now have a final account of both medals and doping at those games.
According to Olympics historian Bill Mallon, more than 140 athletes were banned or disqualified, including 42 medallists (13 of which were gold). Nearly half were caught using retrospective testing.
Because doping has become so much a part of the Olympics, one wonders whether the inevitable doping scandals in Tokyo will be as earth-shattering as they once were, or whether the public will merely shrug.
How many positive tests come back every year
The anti-doping industry has become a lot better at what it does since the establishment of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 2000 and the introduction of the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC) in 2001. Revisions to the WADC came into force in 2009, 2015 and 2021.
WADA has invested US$83 million (A$112 million) in developing more advanced drug-testing capabilities since 2001, and US$3.6 million (A$4.8 million) on doping prevention research since 2005.
With the Tokyo Games expected to cost an official US$15.4 billion (A$20.8 billion) to stage (with audits suggesting the true figure is at least US$25 billion or A$33.8 billion), however, the amount of money WADA has spent on research since 2001 seems modest.
Despite this investment, the rate of positive tests has remained fairly stable.
The most recent figures released by WADA in 2019 showed the proportion of “adverse analytical findings” (the technical term for positive drug tests) relative to the total number of tests conducted wobbling between 0.97% (2019) and 1.32% (2016).
Athletes and their support teams know the drug-testing game well. They can use the lag between a new performance-enhancing drug being developed, that drug being prohibited and a reliable test being developed to their advantage. It’s just one factor coaches and other support personnel take into account when managing how their athletes use different drugs.
Unless there is a complete game-changer in anti-doping efforts — like a fundamental shift in drug-testing technology — we can reasonably expect an Olympic year to result in the same level of “adverse analytical findings” as any other year.
That means athletes will most likely be caught doping in Tokyo. Just how many — or how long it will take — remains to be seen. With the retrospective testing window, the final medal and doping tallies will only be known in the second half of 2031.
How sport has become more punitive
While drug testing has become more sophisticated, most of the changes to the World Anti-Doping Code since 2001 have actually been to bolster penalties for acts indirectly related to the taking of performance-enhancing drugs (what are known as “non-analytical” rule violations).
There are only two anti-doping violations in the code directly related to drugs being found in an athlete’s body.
By comparison, there are now nine others that deal with indirect violations. These include not being where you said you would be three times for out-of-competition drug tests, associating with someone under sanction for violating an anti-doping rule, and discouraging someone from reporting potential violations to authorities.
In many cases, these types of violations have seen athletes and support personnel vilified and stigmatised as “drug cheats” despite no direct evidence they have ever used a prohibited substance or method.
Last year, for instance, the US sprinter Christian Coleman was given a two-year ban after missing three out-of-competition drug tests in a year. The Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the ban to 18 months, noting it believed Coleman did not dope and did not avoid being tested. Nonetheless, he will still miss the Tokyo Olympics as a “drug cheat”.
All of these rules have made life much harder for athletes, but their impact appears to be fairly minimal in reducing interest in performance-enhancing drugs.
According to the most recent report by WADA (which gives data only up to 2018), only 283 athletes were sanctioned for “non-analytical” rule violations that year, compared to 2,771 athletes for violations directly related to ingesting drugs.
Learning to live with doping?
The obvious question is whether we just have to live with a certain amount of doping in sport. Given the last time an Olympics was without a doping controversy was the middle of the 20th century, it would seem so.
Russia’s Tatyana Lebedeva was stripped of her two silver medals from the 2008 Beijing Olympics ten years later. David J. Phillip/AP
That does not mean we should stop protecting the integrity of sport. Rather, it is a recognition that anti-doping is just one part of this effort.
As an international leader in anti-doping measures, Australia established Sport Integrity Australia last year to replace the standalone Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority. This move explicitly recognises that doping is part of a much bigger picture that includes match fixing and abuse of athletes.
The greater scandal is perhaps that so little money is invested in anti-doping and sport integrity. Sport Integrity Australia is budgeted to cost Australian taxpayers A$27.4 million (US$20.2 million) in 2020-21, compared to the eye-watering amount of money that goes through Australian sport and recreation every year (A$19.7 billion or US$14.5 billion for 2019).
So, it remains to be seen exactly how much attention the inevitable doping scandals at the Tokyo Games will attract. My main worry is doping scandals have become business-as-usual, one-day dramas in the sporting spectacle that is the Olympics, and little else. As such, I suspect every positive COVID test will generate far more interest than a positive drug test in Tokyo.
Jason Mazanov has received funding from the Australian Anti-Doping Research Programme and the World Anti-Doping Agency Social Science Research Grants programme in the past. Jason also reviews anti-doping social science research grant applications for a number of international agencies.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Ordway, Assistant Professor Sport Management and Sport Integrity Lead, University of Canberra
Shelby Houlihan blames a pork burrito for her positive drug test that cost her a chance to compete in Tokyo.Charlie Neibergall/AP
It’s been a tough year for doping control officers trying to access athletes before the COVID-disrupted Tokyo Olympics. Testing numbers dropped dramatically due to COVID restrictions, although the testing organisations claim to be operating at normal levels now.
Thrown into this mix are a number of suspected doping cases arising from increasingly sophisticated laboratory analysis methods that are detecting lower and lower levels of prohibited substances.
Rather than being evidence an athlete intentionally used a performance-enhancing substance to cheat, however, these results are more likely to be the result of contaminated foods, supplements or medicines.
Even more concerning is the evidence presented this week by German journalist Hajo Seppelt and the ARD documentary team in Doping Top Secret: GUILTY, which showed how athletes can potentially be sabotaged through casual contact.
All of this begs the question whether anti-doping bodies could achieve a better balance using an “ethics of care” approach, which seeks to support “clean” athletes rather than automatically assuming guilt.
One suggestion we advocate is referring extremely low-level positive cases, which likely result from contamination, to an independent body. This body could then determine whether there had been an attempt to cheat, rather than placing the onus on athletes to prove their innocence.
‘Eating pork can lead to a false positive’
Last month, Shelby Houlihan, the American record holder in both the 1,500 and 5,000 metre track events, announced on Instagram that the Court of Arbitration (CAS) had upheld a four-year suspension for testing positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone.
The court rejected her assertion that the positive test in December could have been caused by eating a pork burrito hours before providing her urine sample. The finding denied her a chance to qualify for the Tokyo Games.
In February, Kenyan long distance runner James Kibet was also banned by the Athletics Integrity Unit for four years after testing positive for nandrolone and anabolic steroids. He claimed he had ingested pork fat from a Kenyan farmer who admitted feeding his animals supplements.
In contrast, the American long jumper, Jarrion Lawson, had his four-year ban for ingesting the banned anabolic steroid trenbolone overturned last March when he argued his positive test was probably caused by eating tainted beef at a restaurant.
Similarly, the Badminton World Federation doping hearing panel accepted it was highly likely that contaminated meat in Thailand was the cause of Ratchanok Intanon’s positive drug test in 2019.
While it is important to take the facts of each case on their merits, the application of the rules and athlete punishments in these circumstances can appear to be frustratingly inconsistent.
Although farming with steroids and hormones is illegal in most countries, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has been warning athletes about the risk of contaminated meat, especially from China and Mexico, for more than a decade.
A 2015 WADA study also highlighted the risks of steroids found in pork.
At the same time, WADA laboratories are increasingly detecting minuscule traces of prohibited substances. What a laboratory cannot tell from a sample is whether a positive result is from inadvertent contamination (from meat, for example) or is evidence of the tail end of a sophisticated micro-dosing regimen designed to cheat the system.
Much like a police alcohol breathalyser, athletes returning a “positive” test begin from a position of strict liability. The burden falls to them to prove the source of the prohibited substance.
Even when the amount of the substance could have had no performance benefit, athletes must salvage their reputation and careers through a proverbial “hunt for the needle in the haystack” to determine the origin of the contamination.
This can be extremely challenging for athletes to prove. As the case of Australian swimmer Shayna Jack demonstrates, the appeals processes, media hype and social media trolling take their toll. Jack warned anti-doping authorities that “one day someone’s not going to get through it”.
New reforms don’t fix all the problems
Cases like these raise questions about the effectiveness of current anti-doping policies.
Recognising the challenge, the latest WADA Code still leaves the burden on the athlete to prove their innocence, but allows for the standard four-year ban to be reduced to a reprimand.
WADA has raised the reporting threshold used by laboratories to determine a potential breach of the WADA Code. This would presumably reduce the number of cases from non-intentional contamination from meats or medicines.
From the start of June, WADA also requires laboratories to conduct additional investigations for positive tests resulting from a limited range of prohibited substances. What is not clear is whether all laboratories have the capacity to conduct these investigations, hence our call for an independent investigative body to assist.
However, former WADA Director-General David Howman says these changes do not go far enough. He supports forensic testing methods, such as hair and saliva testing, being used in anti-doping cases. (These might also provide additional evidence of long-term drug use instead of contamination.)
There are numerous heartbreaking examples of athletes who do not have the financial means, access to independent legal advice or sophisticated scientific knowledge to prove their innocence. Most are still suspended after a positive test, leaving them vulnerable to media speculation as they fight their corner.
A new ‘ethics of care’ approach
While the first rule of cheating is deny, deny, deny, the vast majority of athletes are not cheats. Nonetheless, they can easily and inadvertently be tripped up by the rigidity of the anti-doping rules.
It is not by accident that many of the athletes who have fallen foul of the system also come from the most disadvantaged countries.
Rather than starting from a position of “guilt”, is it time for an athlete-centric, “ethics of care” approach?
Cases of extremely low levels of prohibited substances could be referred to an independent third party for investigation, rather than putting that financial burden and inevitable stress onto the athlete.
International sports federations already fund arms-length testing programs through bodies such as the International Testing Agency (ITA). If all low-level positive cases were automatically referred to an independent review body, the focus could be on determining whether actual cheating took place — not a mere breach of the rules and arbitrary thresholds.
Would this give greater comfort to the arm-chair sport viewer AND restore athletes’ trust in the anti-doping system? Quite possibly.
Athletes are not the enemy. It is timely to recognise the central role of the athlete within the anti-doping 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.
With most COVID-19 restrictions now lifted in England, the world is watching to see what this so-called “freedom day” will bring.
Some scepticism is warranted, given Britain’s approach throughout the pandemic has hardly been a success. By July 19, there had been 128,985 deaths from COVID-19, and the death rate per million of population was just under 1,900.
True, there are countries with worse rates, including Hungary, Italy and the Czech Republic in Europe. But countries that have taken a different approach have vastly better figures: for example, 35.8 deaths per million of population in Australia, and 5.39 in New Zealand.
No doubt Boris Johnson’s government took its emphatic 2019 election victory and relatively successful vaccination program as a mandate for opening up.
But the current situation doesn’t support such optimism. Infection rates are now the worst in Europe and the death rate is climbing. By contrast, Australia has much lower death and infection rates but state authorities have responded with lockdowns.
Furthermore, many scientists have condemned the opening-up policy. The authors of the John Snow Memorandum stress the risks to the 17 million people in the UK who have not been vaccinated, and state:
[This approach] provides fertile ground for the emergence of vaccine-resistant variants. This would place all at risk, including those already vaccinated, within the UK and globally.
Taking the UK to court
Is it enough to hope Boris de Pfeffel Johnson will not just dismiss these concerns as piffle? Perhaps there is an alternative — taking the UK to court. Specifically, to the international courts that deal with matters of human rights.
For countries in the Council of Europe, this would be the European Court of Human Rights. Globally, there is the option of the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations.
How would this work? A court claim requires what lawyers call a “cause of action” — in this case, a breach of human rights, including the right to life and the right not to be subject to inhuman and degrading treatment.
In the main international human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), article 6 requires that the right to life, which belongs to everyone, must be protected. Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) says the same.
In 2019, the UN Human Rights Committee noted this right to life amounts to an “entitlement […] to be free from acts and omissions that are intended or may be expected to cause their unnatural or premature death”.
It also noted the obligation on states to take steps to counter life-threatening diseases.
A duty to protect
European Court of Human Rights case law establishes that the duty to protect life includes a requirement on states to take reasonable steps if they know (or ought to know) there is a real and immediate risk to life.
This has usually involved the criminal actions of dangerous people, but there is no reason it should not cover government policy that rests on an acceptance that people will die.
After all, the entire human rights framework was put in place to limit states from breaching rights.
This duty to protect applies not just to deaths. Both the ICCPR and the ECHR have absolute prohibitions on inhuman and degrading treatment. For many people, the severity of COVID-19, including the consequences of long COVID, meet this standard.
If government policy can mitigate such consequences, human rights standards mandate that it should.
In short, this is not just a matter of the right to health. Because the UK will likely allow the virus to spread from its shores, the rest of the world is at risk and therefore has an interest here. So can other countries take action?
A political calculation
Human rights conventions are treaties — promises by states to each other as to how they will act. Article 33 of the ECHR is very clear: states can ask the European Court of Human Rights to adjudicate whether another state is breaching rights. There are many instances of this happening.
Importantly, the court can issue “interim measures” under its procedural rules to preserve the status quo while it hears a case.
The UN Human Rights Committee may also consider state-to-state complaints under article 41 of the ICCPR if a state has agreed to this — and the UK has made the relevant declaration.
Of course, any decision by a state to take another to court is political. But this pandemic is not just a health issue, it is also a matter of life and death. Protecting life should be a political priority precisely because it is such a fundamental right.
Politicians willing to stand up for human rights should use the tools that exist to achieve that aim.
Kris Gledhill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
New South Wales reported 98 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. Twenty of those were infectious while in the community, a number which needs to get close to zero before the lockdown can end.
To reduce the spread of COVID-19 across Sydney, NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian tightened restrictions in Liverpool, Fairfield, and Canterbury-Bankstown over the weekend. On top of existing stay-at-home orders, residents are now unable to leave these local government areas for work unless they’re deemed “authorised” workers.
Sydney’s Southwest is home to many multicultural communities, which have had to respond quickly to many rounds of restrictions. But while Berejiklian says health authorities are working to tailor and disseminate basic public health messaging for migrant communities, this may not be enough.
Our research shows it’s also important to expand this information to counter myths and misinformation about COVID-19 so people in migrant communities have a clear sense of the risks of infection.
We undertook a series of surveys of just under 15,000 people to assess the differences in knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of COVID-19 among sub-Saharan Africans. This includes a mix of different nationalities, tribes and cultures, including those living in developed countries such as Australia.
We also asked about their compliance with COVID-19 public health control measures such as social distancing, using face masks and hand sanitisers.
We found high levels of beliefs in COVID-19 myths among those from sub-Saharan African countries. While rates were lower among the 143 Africans we surveyed in the diaspora, including Australia, 7.5% of these participants believed in at least one of the following myths:
drinking hot water flushes down the virus
COVID-19 has a minimal effect on people from an African background
COVID-19 was deliberately designed to reduce the world’s population
the ability to hold your breath for ten seconds means you’re COVID-19 negative.
Reassuringly, our research also found a significant association between knowledge of COVID-19 and being worried about contracting the virus, and positive behaviours such as wearing face masks, and using sanitisers.
In other words, the more our respondents knew about COVID-19, the more likely they were to protect themselves and others from the virus.
How do African communities get their information?
Because people’s perception of risk informs how they respond to a threat such as COVID-19, it’s important to understand their sources of information, attitudes, perceived risk of contracting the disease, and compliance with public health control measures.
Many of our survey participants got their information about COVID-19 from formal government and public health authority channels.
But some used social media, which routinely spread myths and misinformation about COVID-19 via video clips. These were commonly shared among communities in Africa and those in the diaspora.
Social media misinformation tended to focus on the origins of COVID-19, the dangers of COVID-19 vaccinations, and conspiracy theories claiming COVID-19 aims to reduce populations of African peoples.
Some respondents in Africa and Australia didn’t believe COVID-19 existed and mistrusted officials. This resulted in an inaccurate perception of their risk of infection, making them more likely to ignore public health messaging and disregard public health measures.
Health authorities need to form strong, mutually trusting bonds with African-Australian and other multicultural communities. Ideally this would be ongoing, not just during a pandemic.
This foundation of trust allows authorities to convincingly communicate health directives such as mask-wearing, testing, vaccinations, and stay-at-home orders.
People are more likely to want to protect themselves and others from COVID-19 if they’re aware of the risks of contracting the virus. Christina @ wocintechchat.com
It’s promising to see health authorities in Western Sydney liaising with community leaders to disseminate basic health information.
But any new messaging campaign now needs to go beyond the generic and favour more nuanced messages that dispel misinformation among African and other multicultural communities in Western Sydney.
Storytelling mediums, including drama, dance and theatre, have been shown to be an effective and efficient means of communicating more nuanced health messages to African and other multicultural audiences.
Creative storytelling techniques can create memorable messages that help audiences identify with the characters and situations presented, and emotionally engage with messages.
These messages motivate people to change their beliefs and behaviours, and can be disseminated using the mass media and social media, in relevant languages, as well as shared among communities.
Importantly, creative storytelling techniques can enhance feelings of community and family cohesion, and lessen the feelings of isolation and social exclusion that migrants often feel, especially during a pandemic.
Levi Osuagwu is affiliated with African Vision Research Institute, Discipline of Optometry, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Durban, 3629, South Africa
Kingsley Emwinyore Agho and Richard Oloruntoba do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher J. O’Bryan, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland
A big reason they’re so harmful is because they uproot soil at vast scales, like tractors ploughing a field. Our new research, published today, is the first to calculate the global extent of this and its implications for carbon emissions.
Our findings were staggering. We discovered the cumulative area of soil uprooted by wild pigs is likely the same area as Taiwan. This releases 4.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year — the same as one million cars. The majority of these emissions occur in Oceania.
A huge portion of Earth’s carbon is stored in soil, so releasing even a small fraction of this into the atmosphere can have a huge impact on climate change.
The problem with pigs
Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are native throughout much of Europe and Asia, but today they live on every continent except Antarctica, making them one of the most widespread invasive mammals on the planet. An estimated three million wild pigs live in Australia alone.
Wild pigs are one of the most widespread invasive animals on Earth. Shutterstock
It’s estimated that wild pigs destroy more than A$100 million (US$74 million) worth of crops and pasture each year in Australia, and more than US$270 million (A$366 million) in just 12 states in the USA.
Wild pigs have also been found to directly threaten 672 vertebrate and plant species across 54 different countries. This includes imperilled Australian ground frogs, tree frogs and multiple orchid species, as pigs destroy their habitats and prey on them.
Their geographic range is expected to expand in the coming decades, suggesting their threats to food security and biodiversity will likely worsen. But here, let’s focus on their contribution to global emissions.
Their carbon hoofprint
Previous research has highlighted the potential contribution of wild pigs to greenhouse gas emissions, but only at local scales.
One such study was conducted for three years in hardwood forests of Switzerland. The researchers found wild pigs caused soil carbon emissions to increase by around 23% per year.
Similarly, a study in the Jigong Mountains National Nature Reserve in China found soil emissions increased by more than 70% per year in places disturbed by wild pigs.
Wild pigs turn over 36,214 to 123,517 square kilometres of soil each year. Shutterstock
To find out what the impact was on a global scale, we ran 10,000 simulations of wild pig population sizes in their non-native distribution, including in the Americas, Oceania, Africa and parts of Southeast Asia.
For each simulation, we determined the amount of soil they would disturb using another model from a different study. Lastly, we used local case studies to calculate the minimum and maximum amount of wild pig-driven carbon emissions.
And we estimate the soil wild pigs uproot worldwide each year is likely between 36,214 and 123,517 square kilometres — or between the sizes of Taiwan and England.
Most of this soil damage and associated emissions occur in Oceania due to the large distribution of wild pigs there, and the amount of carbon stored in the soil in this region.
So how exactly does disturbing soil release emissions?
Wild pigs use their tough snouts to excavate soil in search of plant parts such as roots, fungi and invertebrates. This “ploughing” behaviour commonly disturbs soil at a depth of about five to 15 centimetres, which is roughly the same depth as crop tilling by farmers.
Wild pigs uproot soil in search of food, such as invertebrates and plant roots. University of Kentucky, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Forestry Extension.
Because wild pigs are highly social and often feed in large groups, they can completely destroy a small paddock in a short period. This makes them a formidable foe to the organic carbon stored in soil.
In general, soil organic carbon is the balance between organic matter input into the soil (such as fungi, animal waste, root growth and leaf litter) versus outputs (such as decomposition, respiration and erosion). This balance is an indicator of soil health.
When soils are disturbed, whether from ploughing a field or from an animal burrowing or uprooting, carbon is released into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas.
This is because digging up soil exposes it to oxygen, and oxygen promotes the rapid growth of microbes. These newly invigorated microbes, in turn, break down the organic matter containing carbon.
Wild pigs have a rapid breeding rate, which makes controlling populations difficult. Shutterstock
Tough and cunning
Wild pig control is incredibly difficult and costly due to their cunning behaviour, rapid breeding rate, and overall tough nature.
For example, wild pigs have been known to avoid traps if they had been previously caught, and they are skilled at changing their behaviour to avoid hunters.
In Australia, management efforts include coordinated hunting events to slow the spread of wild pig populations. Other techniques include setting traps and installing fences to prevent wild pig expansion, or aerial control programs.
Some of these control methods can also cause substantial carbon emissions, such as using helicopters for aerial control and other vehicles for hunting. Still, the long-term benefits of wild pig reduction may far outweigh these costs.
Working towards reduced global emissions is no simple feat, and our study is another tool in the toolbox for assessing the threats of this widespread invasive species.
Christopher O’Bryan receives funding from the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre in Australia and the Australian Research Council (ARC).
Eve McDonald-Madden receives funding from Australian Research Council.
Matthew H. Holden receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC).
Nicholas R Patton receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC), and the Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).
Jim Hone does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
This is the first article in a series providing school students with evidence-based advice for choosing subjects in their senior years.
From about August each year, young people in year 10 go through a round of interviews to close in on their subject selections for years 11 and 12.
They’re given a portfolio full of reading materials. They may also attend vibrant careers markets to get helpful information. The principal and heads of the year give presentations, and occasionally a VIP guest speaker will arrive.
Somewhere at this point, my sobbing daughter had cried: “I’m growing up too quickly!” She’d been told a complex story about ATARs, prerequisites and options for her career path, all with the solemn authority about the importance of making wise decisions.
Studies have shown students experience anxiety around choosing subjects that relate to their desired career path. Nothing as serious as this will have happened in most children’s lives before now.
What if they don’t know what they want to do? Or worse, what if they make a mistake in their subject choices?
The good news is, there is not much need to worry. Choices you make now about your subjects don’t need to have a severe impact on your future.
There are some myths about senior schooling all kids and parents need to know. Here are six of them.
Myth 1: you need an ATAR to go to university
There are several pathways to university — an ATAR is only one of them.
The federal education department reports there are significant intakes for courses that don’t require an ATAR. A 2020 report says the share of university offers for applicants with no ATAR or who were non-year 12 applicants was 60.5% in 2020. This was up from 60.1% in 2019.
Some courses, like engineering, normally require an ATAR of somewhere around the mid 80s. But you could also get in through having done a VET certificate or diploma. RMIT, for instance, offers up to two years of credit to transfer from TAFE into an undergraduate degree.
There are many alternative pathways described by most institutions on their websites. Curtin University has a helpful journey finder for students without a competitive ATAR.
There are several pathways into university. Shutterstock
A year 12 student, expecting not to gain an ATAR, who is not studying English or doesn’t expect to gain a 50 scaled rank for English, has at least three pathways into Curtin — sitting the Special Tertiary Admissions Test, doing a course at Curtin College, and using a portfolio for assessment.
Curtin also has a UniReady Enabling Program. This is a short course of 17 weeks. Completing the course means you will fulfil Curtin’s minimum admission criteria of a 70 ATAR. Many universities have similar types of preparatory pathways.
Myth 2: your senior subjects majorly influence your career
With all the disruption we’re experiencing, technical and social, we actually don’t have any idea what types of careers will be available in the future. Industry advice bodies, like the National Skills Commission, recommend students choose subjects that suit their interest and skill set, rather than to prepare for a specific future career.
Reports show today’s 15-year-olds will likely change employers 17 times and have five different careers through their working life. Many of their career may have very little, if any, connection to the senior subjects they took at school.
A 2018 report by industry body Deloitte Access Economics showed 72% of employers “demanded” communication skills when hiring and that transferable skills, such as as teamwork, communication, problem-solving, innovation and emotional judgement, “have become widely acknowledged as important in driving business success”.
The ability to work in a team will be an important skills for future employers. Shutterstock
This can include subjects like music, dance, debating and theatre will teach the exact skills employers value the most.
Myth 3: you should do ‘hard’ subjects to get a high ATAR
All subjects are hard if you lack interest or ability. Students are unlikely to do well if they are unhappy and unmotivated.
Research shows being motivated will improve how well you do in something. But academic performance is better associated with internal motivation (such as liking something) than external (like the drive for an ATAR).
So, if a student only values a subject for what it might get them, like a high ATAR, they’ll do better than if there was no purpose at all. But they won’t do as well as if they are internally motivated by it.
Myth 4: your ATAR will stand as the measure of your ability into the future
The ATAR is simply a profile of achievement on a limited number of tasks over a defined period. A person at the end of school, aged 17 or 18, hasn’t reached the end of their development.
Studies show there is an interaction between gains in knowledge and expertise, and losses in the speed of cognitive processing as we age (meaning we learn less as we get older, to some extent).
You will keep learning from experience. Shutterstock
But these losses are offset by an older person’s access to a rich base of experience which can inform their understanding of things and their actions. Also the older a person is, the better developed their self-regulation and motivation.
Year 12 can be demanding and stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. The most common source of distress in the senior years comes from anxiety, specifically test anxiety, and the pressures that come from selecting subjects for reasons not driven by interest and ability.
These years should not be devoted to self-flagellation for a high ATAR.
Students with a range of subjects types will have variety in their day and week. They are likely to have the best experience in their senior years.
Variety in your day can help you enjoy your senior years. Shutterstock
Research suggests a balanced life underscores success and general achievement, and setting the tone is vital during these formative years.
Myth 6: taking a VET subject in year 11 or 12 will affect your ATAR
Taking a VET subject reduces the opportunity to take another ATAR subject. It could be argued this puts greater pressure on achievement in the remaining ATAR subjects. But taking a VET subject also reduces the ATAR subjects on your dance card, so they may well be easier to manage.
Including a VET subject is also likely to provide a balanced education in senior years, which may actually improve a student’s chances for a high ATAR.
So here’s what you should think about when making your subject choices:
what do you like?
what comes easily to you?
will the selection give you variety in your day?
in which subjects will you have the most fun?
Other articles in this series on senior-subject selection will explore individual subjects.
Nan Bahr does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage
By Richard Kohn, Ph.D. From Columbia, MD
Recently, there have been reports in the news media that Nicaragua is destroying its rain forests and allowing beef ranchers to convert them to pastures in the country’s vast nature reserves. A network of supposed human rights and environmental groups are calling for an increase in the intensity of sanctions against Nicaragua, ending beef imports from Nicaragua, and ending international carbon trading credits that support reforestation programs there.
Contrary to this misleading narrative, the nature reserves in Nicaragua are not being deforested, and the Nicaraguan government has been promoting more sustainable beef production and reforestation. Economic sanctions could jeopardize these efforts.
My personal experience refutes misleading news
I am a professor of animal science at the University of Maryland specializing in evaluating environmental impacts of animal production systems–especially for beef and dairy. I am very familiar with Nicaragua since I lived there from 1987 to 1988 working with ranchers as an extensionist. I have visited since then, most recently in January of 2020 when I attended a study delegation that examined agroecology as practiced in Nicaragua. On this last trip, I started a dialogue with counterparts in my field through the Asociación de Trabajadores del Campo (Rural Workers Association) to lay the groundwork for a University of Maryland study abroad course in Nicaragua in agriculture and environmental studies. After seeing the statements in the U.S. media about Nicaraguan beef production that were inconsistent with my first-hand knowledge of the country, I decided to investigate the issue.
Nicaragua is a member of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which has enabled it to benefit from higher prices for grass-fed beef. In an apparent violation of the agreement, in 2018 the U.S. applied sanctions on Nicaragua that interrupted free trade. These sanctions prevent Nicaragua from obtaining loans from international lending authorities and freeze the foreign assets of many individual Nicaraguans.[1] Now there is a bill called the RENACER Act in front of both houses of Congress[2] which would impose harsh economic sanctions on the country aimed at returning it to extreme poverty in order to help an opposition candidate win this year’s election in Nicaragua. And if that fails, win support for the possibility of a planned coup attempt thereafter.[3]
Beef production and the environment
The U.S. news media often exaggerate the environmental impact of beef production. For example, articles online and in the popular press attribute as much as 60% of greenhouse gas emissions to consumption of meat. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the actual contribution is estimated to be about 2% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.[4] Fossil fuel production and use is responsible for 90%. A little more greenhouse gas is emitted from production of imported beef, but it doesn’t appreciably affect the total.
The mainstream news media often misinform about beef production to an even greater extent when that beef production occurs in a country the U.S. government has selected for regime change. The percentage of domestic greenhouse gas emissions coming from beef production is higher for Nicaragua than that for the U.S. because Nicaragua has much lower total greenhouse gas emissions from other sources, including fossil fuels. The total greenhouse gas production per capita in the U.S. excluding land use change (mostly from fossil fuels) is eight times higher than for Nicaragua.[5]
Often, reported greenhouse gas emissions from beef production include land-use changes for expanded beef production. Although the estimates published in the mainstream media are often too high, there can be some increase in greenhouse gas emissions from land use change. When land is converted from forest to pasture, less carbon is stored in the forest canopy, and therefore the carbon is presumed to be added to the atmosphere. The deforestation that occurs in developing countries occurs for many reasons besides the need for cattle grazing. Furthermore, when forests are converted to row crops for food production, even less carbon is stored in crop cover and soil compared with either cattle grazing or forestry. The U.S. converted much of its forest to agricultural land decades ago, so currently there isn’t much land use change associated with conversion of forests to agriculture in this country. In developing countries however, ongoing land use change accounts for a significant percentage of estimated greenhouse gas emissions.
International climate agreements such as the Paris Accords charge each country with decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by a similar percentage irrespective of what industries they have, what products they import or export, or whether they already have low greenhouse gas emissions. Countries that already have low greenhouse gas emissions could have a more difficult time cutting the few emissions they have; reforestation is one option. Reforestation decreases estimates of global greenhouse gas emissions no matter where the reforestation occurs, but developing countries face greater pressure to protect and replant their forests since they can’t decrease greenhouse gas emissions as easily as wealthy countries by using less fossil fuel because they already use very little.
A little summary on U.S. intervention in Nicaragua
For many years, Nicaragua exported beef as well as coffee and bananas, and the U.S. government supported international agribusinesses and the wealthy landowners in that country. The U.S. Marines invaded Nicaragua in 1909 to protect U.S. investments. A Nicaraguan revolutionary, Augusto Sandino, fought a guerilla campaign that ousted the U.S. Marines in 1933. The U.S. then negotiated the installation of one of the world’s most notorious dictators, Anastasio Somoza, whose family ruled Nicaragua until 1979. A guerrilla army calling itself the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (Sandinista National Liberation Front, or FSLN), or Sandinistas, deposed the Somoza dynasty after 45 years of dictatorship. The Sandinistas established democratic elections and converted themselves from guerrilla army to political party. Many wealthy landowners fled the country and the new government redistributed abandoned properties to peasant farmers.[6]
Then the U.S. organized the so-called Contras–right wing rebel groups, including former Somoza National Guard fighters in Honduras– who crossed over the border at night and attacked the symbols of the Sandinista revolution: healthcare clinics, schools, and of course, small farms. Most of the fighting was in rural areas. This, together with a harsh economic embargo and the mining of Nicaragua’s harbors by the CIA, soon had the country mired in more poverty and hardship. A U.S.-backed Presidential candidate won elections in 1990 even though most people polled supported the Sandinistas but were tired of war. Three successive neo-liberal governments ruled Nicaragua over the next 16 years. Facing continued poverty, the population re-elected Daniel Ortega from the FSLN Party as President in 2006, and he has repeatedly won re-election thereafter. Since the Sandinistas returned to office, poverty and extreme poverty decreased to half of previous levels; literacy and healthcare have improved; and many indigenous people have been given title to collectively own land in eastern Nicaragua.[7]
The previous U.S.-backed governments in Nicaragua re-directed the economy toward servicing the interests of the United States: large private farms were engaged exclusively in export agriculture while most landless peasants went hungry. Since 2007 the Sandinistas have diversified agriculture to meet the needs of their own population. Although the Sandinistas support a variety of food production practices, and the country has become more than 90% food self-sufficient,[8] the export of crops like beef and coffee is still important to Nicaragua’s economy. Increasing sanctions by stopping export of beef to the US would be yet another blow to the country’s efforts to improve the standard of living of its people.
Improved cattle management in Nicaragua
Cattle do contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, but proper management can mitigate this. Good cattle feeding and waste management practices can decrease methane and nitrous oxide emissions, and cropping and grazing practices can either deplete or accumulate carbon stores in soils and crops. In many parts of Nicaragua, grass-fed beef ranching and milk production are practiced sustainably, and several beef and dairy producers’ organizations have recently signed an agreement to promote more sustainable practices.[9] Managing cattle for faster rates of growth is one way to decrease emissions of the greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide. U.S. beef production is highly efficient in this regard, but there is a lot of opportunity in Nicaragua to improve pastures’ ability to support faster growth by using more digestible plants.
Another sustainable practice is to have continuous pastures with trees that constantly build and trap organic matter in soils. This is particularly helpful since much of Nicaraguan land is too hilly or receives too little rainfall to be suitable for annual row crops; torrential rains routinely come at the end of the dry season, washing away soils on any hilly fields that lack groundcover. When forests on steep slopes are destroyed and carelessly converted to agriculture without consideration of the long-term potential for erosion, soil carbon can be depleted and soon the tired soils also produce less vegetation. The carbon lost is added to the air. Here, mitigation by including trees in pastures is important. Although forests capture more carbon than pastures, trees in pastures grow faster and trap more carbon per tree. In 2020, I showed a picture to a Nicaraguan farmer of a beautiful pasture with trees interspersed within it and framed by rustic fence posts. He said it was nice, but they should have used trees in place of the fence posts, as is now the norm. He was right and there definitely have been campaigns to improve grazing practices and plant more trees.
A final point to bear in mind is that the beef industry brings significant revenue to the country—money that is currently used for poverty alleviation programs and reforestation—but has a small impact on U.S. industry. The 700 million U.S. dollars Nicaragua exports annually in beef and dairy accounts for 25% of the nation’s foreign exchange, but only 5% of the U.S.’ imports (after Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico.)[10]
Nicaragua and its programs to replant trees
The Nicaraguan government has been using carbon trading programs to incentivize tree planting and improve pastures with more nutritious plants. These practices decrease the greenhouse gas impact of beef ranching in Nicaragua.
The World Bank published the tree coverage maps in Figure 1.7 Much of the deforestation had already occurred before the Sandinistas returned to power, as one can see from thinning of the forests in the northeast between 2000 and 2005 during the end of the neoliberal governments, and further thinning in the region between 2010 and 2014. This territory is controlled by indigenous communities and they have developed some of it for domestic use in crops and livestock, but the large natural reserves remain. The 2014 map shows recovering tree coverage once trees were planted throughout the country since the Sandinistas returned to power in 2007.
Figure 1. Changes in tree coverage in Nicaragua from 2000 to 2014 (World Bank, 2015).7
False news that doesn’t recognize Nicaragua’s success
The mainstream news media and websites claiming to represent environmental organizations have been calling to defund Nicaragua. They accuse the Sandinistas of contributing to climate change by destroying forests to convert land to pastures to export beef. For example, last October, PBS Newshour ran a story called “Conflict Beef”, claiming that indigenous people were being run off their land and killed to make room for more cattle ranching.[11] They claimed the disputes were driven by the sudden increase in demand for beef in the U.S. because of lower domestic beef production due to the pandemic. The implication was that the U.S. should stop importing beef from Nicaragua for humanitarian reasons. It should be noted that according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there were no increases in beef imports to the U.S. from Nicaragua during the pandemic.[12] Furthermore, the large nature reserves in Nicaragua have not been deforested, and although there have been illegal land grabs in some remote areas, the government has been attempting to prevent them.
Some groups have called for the World Bank to stop funding Nicaragua’s reforestation programs. For example, the anti-Sandinista environmental organization COCIBOLCA, which is led by the celebrity Bianca Jagger, opposes World Bank funding of reforestation programs in Nicaragua.[13] The Nicaraguan anti-Sandinista newspaper La Prensa reported[14] that funding for the program to continue reforestation in Nicaragua has already been canceled according to sources from the World Bank. However, reports in La Prensa are often inaccurate, and information directly from the World Bank has indicated a high level of satisfaction with the Nicaraguan government’s administration of its programs. [15]
Whether or not international funding for reforestation has already been cut, pressure from the vast media network against Nicaragua will be used to continue pushing for more sanctions and more interference with its economy.
U.S. sanctions have the potential to create a large impact on Nicaragua’s forests. It is the small military and police force that are charged with protecting land resources and indigenous people who live in remote forested areas, and US sanctions directly target those entities. The latest round of sanctions before the U.S. Congress will completely embargo supplies to the military and police from imported goods from the U.S., for example. Other U.S. sanctions block international funding for programs in Nicaragua which may include reforestation programs. Because the U.S. sanctions are broad and vague and the enforcement is arbitrary and severe, there is a real risk of over-enforcement in which investors avoid Nicaragua all together. The economic damage done by the sanctions will force the Nicaraguan government to choose between feeding the population and preserving the forests, as it will likely no longer be able to do both.
Campaign to benefit U.S. political allies in Nicaragua
The carbon footprint of the average Nicaraguan is miniscule compared to that of the average U.S. citizen. The Sandinista-led government has been planting trees and improving environmental efficiency of beef production while the previous U.S.-backed administrations saw the overharvesting of forests to increase beef exports.
The result of current and proposed U.S. sanctions on Nicaragua will be to plunge the country back into poverty, increase hunger, and prevent Nicaragua from decreasing its greenhouse gas emissions. The objective is to blame all of these problems on the Sandinistas in order to favor candidates that will better serve the interests of U.S. corporations. Those interests include the deregulated cheap exploitation of Nicaragua’s labor, land, and other natural resources.
Therefore, sanctions on Nicaragua are likely to increase greenhouse gas emissions whether or not they cause the replacement of the Nicaraguan government.
Richard Kohn is a professor of Animal Science at the University of Maryland. His research interests include evaluating the environmental impacts of animal production systems.
[Main photo: Pasture in Estelí Department, Nicaragua. The long dry season and low water table limit the amount of row crops that can be grown. Stockpiled pastures like this keep the ground covered to prevent erosion. Photo credit: R. Kohn, 2020]
[13] López, L. B. 2019. Dictadura de Nicaragua da por hecho que echó mano a los 55 millones de dólares de los fondos verdes del Banco Mundial. La Prensa, Nov. 14, 2019. https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2019/11/14/nacionales/2610668-dictadura-de-nicaragua-fondos-verdes-del-banco-mundial.
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