The New South Wales Law Reform Commission has released its recommendations for reform of the state’s sexual consent laws.
After a process lasting more than two-and-a-half years, the report is a disappointment to survivors and advocates seeking comprehensive reforms.
The review was sparked by the advocacy of Saxon Mullins, the complainant in the high-profile rape case of Luke Lazarus.
A jury found Lazarus guilty of rape in 2015, but his conviction was overturned on appeal. He was then acquitted in a judge-only trial. An appeal court found a legal error in the judge’s reasoning, but ruled it would be “oppressive” for Lazarus to face a third trial.
The Lazarus case highlighted the complexity of consent law in NSW after two trial judges applied the law incorrectly. However, the Law Reform Commission report fails to address the main concerns raised by the case.
Importantly, the reforms would not require defendants to try to find out whether a person wants to have sex before claiming they believed the person consented. This undermines attempts to enshrine affirmative consent in NSW law.
Mistaken belief in consent
The central issue in the Lazarus case was whether he believed on “reasonable grounds” that Mullins was consenting. Judge Robyn Tupman ruled he did, because Mullins supposedly “did not say ‘stop’ or ‘no’” and “did not take any physical action” to resist him.
This approach is concerning, since sexual assault victims often “freeze”, meaning they do not physically resist their attackers. Recent research shows defendants are more likely to allege a mistaken belief in consent where a victim freezes during the attack.
The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal decided the judge made a mistake in failing to discuss what (if any) steps Lazarus took to ascertain consent. However, even if she had addressed this issue, the result might not have changed.
NSW law does not require a defendant to check whether the other person wants to have sex before alleging a mistaken belief. It merely says the court must consider any steps they took to do so.
This means anything the defendant did to ascertain consent, no matter how inadequate, can be used to support their alleged mistake. However, a defendant who did nothing to obtain consent can still be acquitted on this basis.
a person who does not take steps to check if their sexual partner consents should not be allowed to argue that they believe there was consent.
However, the review did not embrace this change. It cited concern for “the rights of accused persons” – even though a positive steps requirement has existed in Tasmania and Canada for more than 15 years without apparent problems.
Affirmative consent
The review aimed to promote an affirmative consent standard. This means consent must be active and ongoing throughout a sexual encounter. It is based on “yes means yes”, rather than simply “no means no”.
To this end, the report proposes new jury directions to address widespread misconceptions about sexual violence. It acknowledges the substantial body of peer-reviewed evidence showing the impact of “rape myths” on criminal trials.
The report recommends the law should expressly state a person does not consent to sex if they do not say or do anything to indicate consent, as well as that a person does not consent simply because they don’t physically or verbally resist.
These changes could help address cases where the victim freezes during an assault. However, the lack of any positive steps requirement for mistaken belief in consent undermines the recommendations.
A defendant would be unable to argue the victim consented just because she didn’t say no. But the defendant could still use the victim’s lack of resistance to support an alleged mistaken belief in consent – as in the Lazarus case.
A positive steps requirement is therefore fundamental to affirmative consent.
Withdrawal of consent
The NSW Law Reform Commission’s reforms would clarify that a person who consents to a particular sexual act doesn’t consent to a different act. This would cover cases where a person covertly removes a condom during sex or switches to another type of sexual act without consent.
The report also recommends the law expressly state that a person may withdraw consent to sex by words or conduct at any time. This proposal might at first seem consistent with an affirmative consent standard.
However, the change would require a person to actively revoke consent once it is given. This is unrealistic where, for example, a person becomes unconscious during a sexual act or a consensual sexual interaction turns violent.
The proposal on withdrawal of consent has therefore been described as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”. It would undermine affirmative consent by placing the onus on victims to resist aggressive or non-consensual sexual behaviour.
The NSW Law Reform Commission’s recommendations are a missed opportunity for the state to lead the way in making affirmative consent the law.
Instead, after two-and-a-half years – and thousands of submissions and survey responses – the proposals still fall short of shifting responsibility for sexual violence onto the perpetrators.
In a new series, writers pay tribute to fictional detectives on page and on screen.
Hard-boiled doesn’t come close to describing Sam Spade.
He’s the original Private Investigator on which all other PIs are based. You’ll be very glad to have him on your side, and terrified to have him as your opponent.
Spade was the invention of the great noir crime writer, Dashiell Hammett, who published his first novel in 1929. Spade is often overlooked for the dashing Philip Marlowe, created by the more well-known crime writer, Raymond Chandler, who began publishing soon after Hammett stopped in the late 1930s.
Chandler was clearly influenced by Hammett, with Marlowe and Spade sharing many of the same qualities — tough, no-nonsense, hard-drinking and wise-cracking. Both are morally upright. And they share an eye for the ladies. But I’ve always thought that Spade was smarter than Marlowe, and had a deeper insight into the human condition, especially when that condition involved murder, blackmail and theft.
Dashiell Hammett photographed in 1934.Wikimedia Commons
Serial contender
Spade and the first story he appeared in, The Maltese Falcon, made their debut in the 1920s Black Mask magazine, serialised over five editions.
Hammett wrote four other Spade stories for different magazines, collected in A Man called Spade and Other Stories. He also created the characters of Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man) and the Continental Op (Red Harvest and The Dain Curse).
In The Maltese Falcon, Spade investigates the sudden murder of his partner, Miles Archer, while fending off a myriad of shady characters — Joel Cairo, Wilmer Cook, Kasper Gutman and Spade’s love interest, Brigid O’Shaughnessy — all focused on locating a stolen fabled gold and jewelled black falcon figure. It was so popular it was soon released as a novel.
Humphrey Bogart played Spade in the second film portrayal, which became a hit when it was screeened in 1941. He portrayed Spade as Hammett described him:
Spade has no original … For your private detective does not … want to be an erudite solver of riddles in the Sherlock Holmes manner; he wants to be a hard and shifty fellow, able to take care of himself in any situation, able to get the best of anybody he comes in contact with, whether criminal, innocent bystander or client.
Spade isn’t just some rough and ready thug. He’s got smarts about him. Not just street smarts, but a psychological insight into what drives people to do the things they do. And he knows that motivation is often driven by greed, investigating according to the edict of “Follow the Money” some 47 years before the saying was uttered in the All the President’s Men.
Spade looks at others through a prism of distrust, dishonesty and deceit. But with his own personal honour intact. The fantastic thing about Spade, which you don’t realise until the end of The Maltese Falcon, is that he knows every single person he comes across is a liar and a fraud.
‘He’s as fast on the draw … as he in the drawing room!’
In his cynical and sceptical manner, he never believes anything anyone says to him at any stage.
Spade’s whole masterful performance is in pretending to believe each liar, to lull them into thinking he’s an easily manipulated stooge, while giving each of the other characters enough rope to, in some cases literally, hang themselves.
The magic of The Maltese Falcon is watching the liars try to out lie each other while Spade stands there chuckling to himself and pretending to believe their tangling webs of fiction.
Even when he makes out that he’s desperate, that his life is on the line as the police try to pin his partner’s murder on him, it is only a ploy to get the liars to stretch their version of the truth even thinner, and thus reveal their intentions even more clearly.
That’s where Spade’s charisma comes from. He’s the lone honest man in a room, playing all the players.
Spade knows there’s no honour amongst thieves so he plays Cairo, Gutman, Cook, and O’Shaughnessy off against each other, seeing who can be the most debased in their greed for the Falcon.
Coincidentally, Bogart played Philip Marlowe in Chandler’s The Big Sleep (1946) five years after The Maltese Falcon. And while Bogart lends both characters his distinctive delivery, there are major differences. Marlowe is not as edgy as Spade. He’s more trusting — a sucker for a pretty face. Spade isn’t any of these.
At the end of The Maltese Falcon, Brigid O’Shaughnessy accuses Spade of just pretending to love her because he is going to hand her over to the police for murder. But he responds, “I don’t care who loves who! I won’t play the sap!”
And even though Spade truly does love her, and will agonise over the decision to do so for the rest of his life, he still turns her in. That’s because Spade doesn’t play the sap for anyone.
He’s smarter and he’s made of stronger stuff than the rest of us. Maybe even something worth more than what he tells the cops is inside the black bird: “The stuff dreams are made of”.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ramon Zenel Shaban, Clinical Chair and Professor of Infection Prevention and Disease Control at the University of Sydney, University of Sydney
Airline travel health advice has so far mostly focused on how to stay hydrated and avoid deep vein thrombosis. What passengers really want, however, is a heightened focus on infection prevention and disease control, free masks, complimentary hand sanitiser, and more space between passengers on the plane.
That’s according to our new study, published in the journal Infection, Disease and Health, which drew on survey responses from 205 frequent flyers across the world.
Airline ticket bookings are likely to soar as borders open between New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
The aviation industry, which has been decimated by COVID-19, must work hard to restore customers’ faith in their commitment to infection control measures.
Here’s what you need to know if you’re considering taking a plane trip soon — and what the airlines can do to reduce risk.
Adopting a set of well established infection prevention and control measures will help minimise the risk of contracting COVID during a flight.
We would fly, if we had to — but we would follow all the same measures we would if we were catching a train or other form of public transport.
Those measures include, but are not limited to:
staying home if unwell. Even if you have the mildest respiratory symptoms, such as a slightly sore throat or hint of a fever, you should not go to the airport and you should not catch a plane. Self-isolate and get tested without delay
washing your hands regularly or using alcohol-based hand rub systematically
observing physical distancing
staying seated and avoiding touching your face
where physical distancing isn’t possible, wearing a face mask.
These are the same long-held set of recommendations you should be following anyway, whether you are catching the train to work or shopping in a supermarket.
Using these well established infection control measures routinely and systematically will render the risk of contracting COVID during a plane trip low.
Adopting a set of well established infections prevention and control measures will help to minimise the risk of contracting COVID-19 during a flight.Shutterstock
Passengers want more from airlines
The main finding from our study is that the flying public — in particular, frequent flyers — want more from their airlines about how to keep safe from infectious diseases.
We surveyed 205 frequent-flying adults across Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn on what they thought airlines need to do to restore passengers confidence and sense of security.
We found:
75.6% reported feeling “somewhat” to “extremely” concerned about contracting an infectious disease while flying, particularly respiratory-related infectious diseases
Only 9.8% thought their preferred airline saw their health as an “essential priority”
86.8% wanted airlines to provide complimentary hand sanitiser
86.8% wanted airlines to provide complimentary sanitary wipes
64.4% wanted airlines to provide complimentary masks
90.7% wanted airlines to provide more information about preventing the spread of infections, which would make the majority feel safer to fly.
More than half of respondents reported never carrying their own alcohol-based hand sanitiser or sanitary wipes on flights in the past. Female respondents were more likely to carry alcohol-based hand sanitisers or sanitary wipes while flying.
We also asked respondents how often they wore a face mask before COVID, to protect themselves from infectious diseases while travelling by air. The vast majority (83.4%) said they never wore one.
However, the majority (83.4%) reported they would to “some extent” feel safe to fly if all passengers and staff were required to wear face masks while flying.
In other words, our study showed people are really prepared to engage in behaviours to reduce risk — some of which they expect airlines to support and others they would support themselves.
COVID-19 spreads around the world on planes
According to the International Air Transport Association, since 2020 began there have been “44 cases of COVID-19 reported in which transmission is thought to have been associated with a flight journey (inclusive of confirmed, probable and potential cases)”.
It’s important to note COVID-19 is a disease spread globally very quickly, via travellers who are infected.
Like many countries, Australia has imposed mandatory quarantine for international arrivals, which is where the infection in travellers is identified. That shows we — both passengers and airlines — must do all we can to implement proper infection prevention control measures around air travel.
Many airlines have introduced measures to reduce COVID-19 risk, such as temperature screening, physical distancing at check-in, and encouraging masks at the airport. That’s good but the research is telling us passengers want more.
Many airlines have introduced measures to reduce COVID-19 risk, such as temperature screening, physical distancing at check-in and encouraging masks at the airport. But passengers want more.Shutterstock
As promising results emerge from the many COVID-19 vaccine trials underway around the world, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has said:
We are looking at changing the terms and conditions to say for international travellers that we will ask people to have the vaccination before they get on the aircraft.
Vaccination is a really important way to prevent the spread of disease and it’s useful for airlines to signal vaccines are coming and are important to them.
We have some way to go before vaccines are available, and there much we don’t yet know — such as how long immunity from a vaccine might last or if booster doses might be required. So there are a range of factors to consider if airlines are to mandate vaccination for their passengers.
It’s useful for airlines to signal vaccines are coming and are important to them.Shutterstock
Joyce has also said it would be “uneconomical” to leave the middle seat in every row empty, instead pointing out its aircraft air conditioning units feature hospital-grade HEPA filters, which remove 99.9% of all particles, including viruses.
HEPA filters in closed spaces make good sense and are important. But they are not the be all and end all. If I am next to someone on a plane who unknowingly has COVID-19 and they are not wearing a face mask and they sneeze on me, and their droplets get into my eyes, nose or mouth, then I am at risk of contracting COVID-19 despite HEPA filtration in the cabin.
In other words, the best protection comes from adopting basic measures systematically. That includes staying home, isolating and getting tested if you have even the mildest of symptoms. It means regular hand hygiene, avoiding touching your face, physical distancing, and using a face mask if you cannot physically distance.
Practising these measures routinely, together with other measures like cabin air filtration, go a long way to keep us safe from infectious diseases when we fly.
We compared the levels of physical activity of New Zealanders before and during the country’s major lockdown between March and May. We found 38.5% of our sample were doing more physical activity then they did prior to lockdown. But 36% did less and 25.5% were doing about the same.
More interesting was that people whose physical activity was either below or at the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended guideline of 150 minutes of moderate activity per week increased their activity, while those who were highly active pre-lockdown did less.
Understanding motivation
Approved lockdown activities specifically allowed exercise and physical activity as long as people stayed in their local neighbourhood. These messages reinforced the benefits of being active, which are well recognised for both physical health and mental health.
Our study shows 23% of participants decided to increase their physical activity to improve their physical and mental health. Both the New Zealand government and the WHO emphasised the link between exercise and health and our results back it up — being physically active during lockdown was associated with greater self-reported psychological well-being. We measured this using the WHO-5 Well-being Index.
During New Zealand’s lockdown, people put teddies in windows to encourage children to go for walks.Steve Todd/Shutterstock
Motivation is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon. There are different types of motivation and each has a different influence on how likely a person is to change their behaviour and to maintain a new habit.
Someone who enjoys being active and sees the value of it experiences what is called autonomous motivation. This provides a strong impetus for people to continue being active in the long term.
In contrast, someone who is active because they feel they have to be (for example, their GP told them they need to improve a health condition) or to avoid feeling guilty about not getting enough exercise is experiencing controlled motivation.
Our results show that, during lockdown, people’s levels of physical activity were associated with autonomous motivation, reflecting research from other countries.
Previous research has shown autonomous motivation leads to sustained physical activity behaviour. People who recognise and value the physical and mental health benefits of being active are likely to have continued being active once lockdown restrictions were lifted.
The role of context
Two other popular reasons for being active during lockdown were because people had more time (25%) or simply because it was a good excuse to get outside (19%). This might partly explain why some people stopped their physical activity after lockdown.
Once lockdown finished, the extra spare time many people reported was likely reduced again. Similarly, once restrictions were lifted, the use of physical activity as an excuse to get outside wasn’t necessary.
Autonomous motivation is not the only influence on whether physical activity is sustained or not.
Habits are formed as a result of repeated behaviours. Once a habit has been formed, it becomes automatic, thus taking very little to no conscious cognitive effort to maintain.
A key feature of habit formation is the role of context. If the context is kept constant during the early days of a new behaviour, it is more likely to become a habit. During lockdown, people spent a lot of time in and around one specific context — their home.
Exercising at home.Kate Green/Getty Images
Consistently undertaking activities in the same location, possibly at the same time (another influence on successful habit formation), would have helped make physical activity habitual.
But this mechanism works both ways. When “bad” habits are formed, they are often more difficult to break.
Holding on to good habits
Our research shows lockdown prompted people to make changes. But then the end of lockdown changed the context in which new habits were formed, which might explain why activity levels dropped again.
That’s not to say these habits are lost forever. It just takes a bit of conscious effort to transpose the habit to a new context — to non-lockdown real life. Having autonomous motivation will support this recommitment.
If you find yourself less active now compared to the lockdown period, you can use this time as an opportunity for another reset. Think about why being physically active is important to you.
Whether to experience all the wonderful health benefits, as a chance to reconnect with family and friends, or any other reason you value, you can use this motivation to recommit to new habits. Identify times and places to be physically active, and repeat.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Williams, Professor in environmental psychology, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne
With three hearts, blue blood, no bones and eight limbs attached to a bulbous head, octopuses seem like they’re from another planet. But in My Octopus Teacher, the hugely popular nature documentary on Netflix, these cephalopods as not only presented as remarkable — but relatable.
The documentary seeks to evoke empathy by telling a story about the bond between a human and a wild octopus off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa.
Burnt out film maker Craig Foster seeks solace in the ocean. He gains the trust of an octopus through daily visits to her world, and presents an engrossing story of her short life and its impact on him.
As a group of conservation social scientists researching how people relate to the natural world, we are curious about what this type of storytelling might mean for wildlife conservation. Let’s look at what the research says.
Empathy with non-humans
Scientific literature is increasingly recognising the importance of storytelling in science, including to help people empathise with the natural world and build support for conservation.
Stories encourage empathy by helping people experience events from the perspective of others. One feels and responds to the world through anothers’ “eyes” — or tentacles — and this shift of viewpoint is linked to the feeling of being transported to “another world”.
My Octopus Teacher transports viewers to the world of an amazing kelp forest, where one may sense trust and intimacy as the octopus wraps her tentacles around the narrator’s finger. Or distress as the octopus is hunted by a shark. And joy as she cleverly evades the threat.
In fact, research shows empathising with other animals or plants can promote positive relationships between humans and wildlife.
A 2007 experiment, for example, asked people to view photographs of an injured bird or felled tree and to either imagine how the bird or tree felt or to view the photographs objectively.
At the end of the experiment, people who empathised were more likely to express concern for the bird or tree and donate to an environmental charity.
Portraying an octopus as ‘human-like’ can be tricky
But stories that engage empathy can still bring challenges for conservation. One reason relates to concerns about anthropomorphism — ascribing human characteristics to things other than humans.
Some viewers may see this in, for instance, the narrator’s suggestion the octopus “dies for her offspring” or “suffers” from losing an arm.
The relationship between anthropomorphism and conservation is hotly debated.
For marine biologist Zoë Doubleday in an interview with Australian Geographic, the suggestion the octopus “dies for her offspring” implies a moral decision rather than a biological imperative, which was among the parts of the film she sees as anthropomorphic.
Others warn against imposing human ways of seeing the world onto nature. Human ideas of social interaction may cloud the way viewers interpret scenes of the octopus resting on Foster’s chest, leaving what the octopus actually seeks with such behaviour unexplored.
On the other hand, there are arguments that “appropriate anthropomorphism” can promote conservation. Showing an octopus is intelligent or feels pain would be considered appropriate as it’s consistent with scientific understanding, and could raise awareness of an animal that rarely features in conservation campaigns.
Research from the US earlier this year suggests people who attribute “human-like” qualities of free will and emotions to animals are more likely to place value on humans and wildlife co-existing — a key conservation goal.
The diver, Craig Foster, has a special relationship with the female octopus.IMDb
The slippery boundary between humans and non-humans is at the heart of My Octopus Teacher. But as viewers respond in different ways to how animals are depicted in stories, where we “draw the line in the sand” depends on individual values and cultural norms.
From empathy to action
Another challenge in using stories to promote conservation relates to whether empathy actually promotes action.
Empathy can cause distress if there’s no clear way to act in response to those feelings. So it’s worth reflecting on the lack of any obvious “call to action” in My Octopus Teacher — the film doesn’t explicitly ask us to donate money or change our behaviour such as what we eat.
We do learn from the epilogue that Craig Foster went on to establish The Sea Change Project to raise awareness of South Africa’s kelp forest. But the viewer is largely left to draw their own conclusions about how to respond to the empathy evoked.
Empathy can also lead to people backing the welfare of familiar species over less relatable — but still important — ones. For example, viewers may be less concerned for the welfare of the many pyjama sharks that hunt the octopus.
Some conservation scientists argue empathy should not be a moral code for conservation since it could undermine support for some actions that protect ecosystems, such as killing invasive, but charismatic, species like feral horses and cats.
This isn’t much of a risk in My Octopus Teacher, which actually says a lot about the importance of ocean ecosystems as a whole. The narrator talks about his re-found love for the ocean, its wildness, and the connections he observes between animals and plants.
Even so, these connections to the wider system may be outshone by the compelling story of one human and one octopus.
Stories for conservation
We conclude the emotive approach to storytelling used in My Octopus Teacher could be positive for wildlife conservation. There is certainly evidence that empathy can drive concern for wildlife as well as positive action.
The impact on conservation will, however, depend on how viewers respond to the emotive qualities of the story. Do they dismiss it as overly sentimental, feel empathy for just one octopus, or concern for the ocean ecosystem she inhabits? It will also depend on whether viewers can imagine positive ways to act on their feelings.
We think the world needs more stories like My Octopus Teacher. We encourage conservationists to communicate through stories, making sure these stories evoke empathy not only for individual animals and plants but for whole communities of living beings, and that they suggest multiple pathways for conservation action.
Philippine authorities should independently investigate the circumstances surrounding the killing of journalist Ronnie Villamor and hold those responsible to account, says the Committee to Protect Journalists.
In the afternoon of November 14, Philippine Army soldiers shot and killed Villamor, a contributor to the local independent Dos Kantos Balita weekly tabloid, outside a military checkpoint in Milagros, a town in Masbate province in the central Philippines.
He was on his way to cover a disputed land survey, according to press reports.
The troops, led by Second Lieutenant Maydim Jomadil, were investigating reports of armed men in the area, according to local broadcaster ABS-CBN.
Major Aldrin Rosales, the local police chief, alleged that the troops ordered Villamor to stop his motorcycle, and opened fire when the journalist drew a firearm, according to that report.
In a statement posted to Facebook, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines denied that version of events, saying that soldiers stopped Villamor and four surveyors he was accompanying despite the group having coordinated with police to be in the area.
When the five decided to call local police to assist them in passing through the army checkpoint, the soldiers opened fire and killed Villamor, the statement said.
‘Swift, independent investigation’ needed “Authorities must conduct a swift and independent investigation into the killing of journalist Ronnie Villamor, and ensure that any soldiers who acted unlawfully are brought to justice,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative.
“Soldiers cannot simply gun down a journalist without fear that their actions will be thoroughly investigated and any wrongdoing punished. Prosecution of the perpetrators is the only way the cycle of impunity will be broken in the Philippines.”
Local English-language outlet Butalat reported that the army and police claimed Villamor was a member of the New People’s Army (NPA), an anti-government armed insurgent group active in the region.
The Presidential Task Force on Media Security, a government body tasked with resolving journalist killings, did not reply to CPJ’s repeated emailed requests for its assessment of Villamor’s killing and information on the status of any investigations into the case.
Villamor covered land disputes and other political issues for Dos Kantos Balita, according to the NUJP. The tabloid covers many hard-hitting issues, including illegal logging, drug trafficking, and illegal fishing in the region, according to a CPJ review of the publication’s Facebook page.
The Philippine Army did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment on the circumstances surrounding Villamor’s killing.
In October, CPJ published its annual Global Impunity Index, a ranking of nations where journalists are slain and their killers go free – the Philippines ranked seventh, with at least 11 unsolved journalist killings.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennart van Maldegem, Postdoctoral Fellow, Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University
Sponges are the simplest of animals, and they may stand at the root of all complex animal life on Earth, including us humans. Scientists study the evolution of the earliest sponges, hundreds of millions of years ago, to learn about the conditions that led life to develop from single-celled amoeba-like creatures to the large, mobile and even intelligent animals that surround us today.
Exactly when and how animals emerged on our planet is a subject of fierce debate among scientists. While the most ancient sponge fossils ever found are around 540 million years old, some have argued that fossil molecules dating from 635 million years ago are evidence of earlier animal life.
However, we have now shown that these fossil molecules may actually have been produced by algae and later transformed by geological forces to resemble traces of animal fats. Our international team of scientists, from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, the University of Bremen, the Australian National University, the University of Strasbourg, CSIRO and Caltech, have outlined our discoveries in two complementary papers published in Nature Ecology and Evolution today.
Ancient fat in the limelight
The oldest fossil remnants of sponges that can be recognised in ancient rocks are around 540 million years old and date to the early Cambrian period. But there are yet older fossils of animals that belong to the biota of the Ediacara period.
Among the enigmatic Ediacaran creatures that lived up to 40 million years before the “Cambrian explosion” of complex life was an oval-shaped organism called Dickinsonia. It could exceed one meter in size and its segmented body is popularly depicted as something like a quilted air-mattress.
A recent study detected fossil cholesterol, 558 million years old, in Dickinsonia fossils. Cholesterol is a characteristic animal fat, so this suggests that Dickinsonia really was a genuine animal rather than a fungus or something else.
A cast of a fossil imprint left by the ancient creature Dickinsonia.Ilya Bobrovskiy, Author provided
But even older than these cholesterol traces found in body fossils are fossilised organic molecules found alone. In 2009, a team of scientists discovered molecules called sterols in 635 million-year-old sediments in Oman on the Arabian Peninsula that once was the bottom of an inland sea.
At the time the study was conducted, the only organisms that were known to produce similar sterols were specific sponges. Here was the long-sought earliest evidence for animals in the world.
What is more, the fossil “sponge sterols” were found in rocks of this age around the globe, suggesting that these animals were very abundant, possibly covering much of the ocean floor.
This exciting discovery suggested that the ancient fat recovered from rocks in Oman represented some of the first recognisable traces that animals left on our planet. But do ancient fat signatures alone really suffice to reconstruct early animal evolution?
Geological time takes its toll
Unfortunately, interpretation of fossil sterols from million-year-old rocks may not be as straightforward as comparing it to the sterols of living organisms. After an organism dies, its remains settle on the bottom of the ocean. They get buried deeper and deeper as sediment builds up, and as the temperature rises, the biological molecules begin to change.
To the disappointment of us scientists, most knowledge about organisms of the past gets erased by these changes. The most informative parts of the molecules are also the most fragile, and they disappear over time to leave behind a more generic, chemically rigid skeleton.
We wondered whether other changes might occur as well, potentially producing molecules that look like fossil sterols of modern sponges but actually have nothing to do with animals. Working in two groups, we approached this question from different ends.
Sponges are among the simplest and earliest animals to have evolved on Earth.Mareike Neumann, Author provided
Deceptive alterations
One study, headed by Lennart van Maldegem and Benjamin Nettersheim, focused on sterol molecules preserved in sediments up to 800 million years old. It was thought that these molecules might extend the geological record of animals even deeper into Earth’s history than the famous Oman signatures.
In these sediments, the study uncovered a significant connection between some of the sponge-associated molecules and compounds known to be generated through geological alterations, indicating that they shared the same origin.
To assess the molecular fossils in ancient environments sedimentary rock samples were collected from various Precambrian depositional basins, including the Grand Canyon, USA. Photo courtesy of Lennart van Maldegem.Lennart van Maldegem, Author provided
To verify this hypothesis, we then carried out laboratory experiments to simulate the effect of geological heating on particular molecules produced by algae. The resulting molecular signatures were surprisingly similar to those of the ancient rocks. So the fossil fat provides interesting insights into the molecular make-up of early algae, but unfortunately does not illuminate early animal evolution.
The second study, led by Ilya Bobrovskiy, focused on green algae themselves. Today they are mainly common in ponds, rivers and tidal pools, but between 500 million and 650 million years ago they dominated oceans all over the world.
By heating green algal molecules in the laboratory – similar to what happens to molecules in rocks – this study showed that some of the most common sterols of green algae can be easily altered into sponge-like molecules. This indicates that also the ancient Oman signature may represent sterols that were originally produced by primitive algae and subsequently altered by geological processes. It turns out that even ancient fat can be deceptive.
Oldest evidence of animals only 20 million years before the Cambrian Explosion
Together, our two studies demonstrate that sponge-associated molecules in ancient rocks are not a tell-tale sign of animals. Instead, they were most likely generated by the remains of common algae exposed to geological heating.
These results should now finally settle the long-lasting debate surrounding the oldest molecular traces of early animals. There currently is no evidence that sponge-like animals conquered the oceans before 540 million years ago, when the first unambiguous fossils of sponges and most other groups of animals start to appear in the geological record. The earliest evidence for animals on Earth is now the 558 million-years-old Dickinsonia and other Ediacaran animals.
US President Donald Trump’s time in the White House is coming to an end. But, as has become obvious over the past few weeks, he is unlikely to deliver a gracious concession speech.
Instead, the president has spent much of his time since the November 3 election plotting ways to undo what has turned out to be a rather clear victory for President-elect Joe Biden – all credible media outlets have given Biden 306 electoral college votes to the outgoing president’s 232. The successful candidate needs to amass 270 electoral college votes to win the presidency.
Time is simply running out for Trump. By December 8, all states are required to certify their results, with the electors in each state to cast their votes by December 14. The inauguration of the next president takes place on January 20 2021.
None of this should obscure the anti-democratic coup d’état Trump is attempting as he refuses to concede defeat. However, it is unlikely to succeed.
Trump’s efforts to undermine the legitimacy of the election are real. His attempt to influence Republican state legislators, in effect to persuade them to replace electors committed to voting for Biden with electors ready to vote for Trump, is profoundly undemocratic. Under a winner-takes-all system, Michigan’s 16 electoral college votes should be going to President-elect Biden, the clear winner of the state by almost three percentage points.
If Trump had succeeded in overturning the results, one could go as far as questioning America’s status as a liberal democracy. Not since Southern secessionists contested the legitimacy of Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860 has a single actor been so nefarious in their attempts to undermine an incoming president.
Look no further than Trump’s actions on the transition. With over 250,000 Americans dead from COVID-19, and case numbers exploding around the country, one would think an orderly transition in which the incoming president is given access to experts knowledgeable about the country’s readiness for mass distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine would be an urgent and unquestioned priority.
But not in Trump’s White House. The General Services Administration, run by a political appointee of the president, must certify Biden as the winner before the incoming administration is given access to top public health officials.
Such certification will eventually take place, as the president simply runs out of options. We suspect he will grudgingly acknowledge he will not be president for the next four years, repeating a never-ending series of fabrications about the legitimacy of the 2020 election. His arguments will resonate with his “base” and will have consequences beyond this election cycle.
Trump supporters continue to rally in protest against the election result.Jay Janner/AP/AAP
While a 59% majority of all voters say elections in the United States were run and administered well, just 21% of Trump supporters have a positive view of how elections were administered nationally. Among Biden supporters, 94% say the elections were run and administered well.
The magnitude of these differences is stark and suggests Biden will have much work to do in bringing the country together – if indeed that is possible. Biden himself is attempting to restore moral leadership to a country torn apart by pandemic, racial division and illiberal tendencies in the executive branch of government.
Rhetorically, Biden has hit many of the right notes, emphasising themes of unity and national healing. How this will play out in a policy sense will be seen once he takes office.
Despite Trump’s attempts to thwart him, Biden is going ahead with a calm and determined transition.Alex Brandon/AP/AAP
Of course, Trump will continue to make life difficult for the incoming Biden administration. Some reports suggest he is already considering running for office in 2024.
So, it should not be surprising if the outgoing president leaves a number of surprises for President-elect Biden. Some press reports in the US are stating that on Middle East policy, trade with China, securing oil drilling leases in Alaska, and the Iran nuclear deal – which Biden may wish to rejoin – the Trump team is doing its best to reduce the incoming administration’s policy options.
Political theorist David Runciman argues that in democracies molehills are often made out of mountains. Vote counting, constantly updating vote tallies, failed legal challenges, recounts, the wearing effects of days of politics dominating life, Biden’s non-spectacular calmness, certification and the meeting of the Electoral College will turn this post-election mountain into a molehill as Trump’s attempted coup will eventually fail.
However, Trump has regularly shown us that, in the internet age, mountains can also be made out of molehills. The president’s lies and tweets have turned his presidency into a kind of reality TV show that has in turns transfixed, energised or horrified much of the world. Nevertheless, the show is in its final season and has not been renewed.
We are reminded of an article Rebecca Solnit wrote during the earliest days of the Trump presidency. In it, she presciently captures the predicament in which Trump now finds himself. Although his base and a large number of Republicans still support him, Trump has always surrounded himself with loyal followers reluctant to question their leader’s judgment and authority. This produces a form of isolation that is of Trump’s own making, a consequence of the man’s temperament and unwillingness to tolerate uncomfortable truths.
Reflecting on Trump-like leaders, Solnit explained:
In the end there is no one else in their world, because when you are not willing to hear how others feel, what others need, when you do not care, you are not willing to acknowledge others’ existence. That’s how it’s lonely at the top. It is as if these petty tyrants live in a world without honest mirrors, without others, without gravity, and they are buffered from the consequences of their failures.
Of course, sooner or later Trump will realise the presidency must be vacated. He will have to face the one thing in his life he has always tried to avoid: defeat.
COVID-19 has changed the way we live, work and interact with one another. It has also changed the way we move, exercise, shop, prepare food, and eat.
During the pandemic, we’ve seen marked increases in reports of mental distress across the board. But Australian and international research suggests lockdown measures have presented unique challenges for people living with eating disorders.
Eating disorders are complex mental illnesses
Eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and other diagnoses. They centre around disordered eating (for example, fasting and dieting, binge eating, or purging behaviours), and often include problems with body image.
Eating disorders are frequently associated with high levels of depression and anxiety.
For some people with these conditions, rigid routines (around exercise, food preparation or eating habits), are a way of coping with symptoms and distress.
It’s no secret the pandemic has significantly disrupted our usual routines. For example, working from home may have led people to be more sedentary, or allowed more time for exercise. Social distancing has meant we’ve spent less time seeing others and sharing meals.
People of different ages, genders and backgrounds can develop eating disorders.Shutterstock
COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing measures, though imperative to reduce the spread of the virus, have resulted in a significant rise in psychological distress, especially for people experiencing social isolation, reduced or uncertain employment, financial strain, or health concerns.
We know people with existing mental health problems have been particularly vulnerable. However, people with eating disorders are vulnerable not only to these mental stressors; but also to the physical changes to everyday routines, and social conversations about eating and body weight which have popped up during lockdowns.
increased use of videoconferencing where people are exposed to their own image on camera
anxiety about contracting COVID-19 — the authors suggested this may lead people with eating disorders to engage in dieting for perceived immune system benefits.
Australian researchers conducted what was to our knowledge the first published study on disordered eating behaviours during COVID-19. Participants with eating disorders reported a worsening of symptoms — they were restricting their food consumption, binge eating and engaging in purging behaviours more often. They also reported doing more exercise, and high levels of depression, anxiety and stress.
Studies from around the world have since shown similar results. They’ve also found people with eating disorders have reported increased fears about not being able to find foods consistent with meal plans, while disruptions to routine have led to heightened psychological distress and worsening of eating disorder symptoms.
It comes as little surprise demand for eating disorder support has increased significantly. The Butterfly Foundation — Australia’s leading support organisation for people affected by eating disorders and body image issues — has reported a 57% increase in calls to its helpline over the course of the pandemic.
Similarly, inpatient and outpatient services around Australia — particularly in Victoria where residents experienced a prolonged second lockdown — have seen demand increase, resulting in longer wait lists for eating disorder services.
People with eating disorders are likely to need extra support beyond the pandemic.Shutterstock
Looking ahead
Although we still don’t know what the long-term psychological effects of COVID-19 will be, previous pandemics such as SARS have taught us these sorts of crises can result in long-term mental health impacts, and may trigger the onset of mental illness, including depression and anxiety.
We don’t know yet conclusively whether the pandemic has triggered the onset of eating disorder symptoms or increased the incidence of these conditions. It doesn’t make it any easier that our understanding of the prevalence of eating disorders in Australia was poor to begin with.
But it does seem highly likely that we will see such increases. The information we have so far suggests pandemic-related challenges can increase the risk for people with eating disorders, or those who may be vulnerable to developing them, in many and varied ways.
In addition, some research suggests food insecurity is associated with increases in eating disorders, and binge eating in particular.
So even if the pandemic is brought to an end with widespread vaccination, if the associated economic recession results in ongoing disruptions to food supply chains, or in impoverished households having limited or unreliable access to food, we may see further increases in eating disorders, well beyond the life of COVID-19.
It’s critical clinical services and support organisations provide extra support to these groups, not only during the pandemic, but for a significant amount of time after the crisis has resolved. This includes increased access to treatment, as well as online eating disorder supports like chatbots, and telephone hotlines.
If this article has raised concerns about body image or eating disorders, please contact the Butterfly Foundation national hotline on 1800 334 673, or visit their website.
As we come to the end of spring, look up from the footpath or at the park, and you may spot the fiery flowers of the silky oak, Grevillea robusta.
You may already be familiar with grevilleas – perhaps you have low- growing ground cover and shrub species in your garden.
Some people love the brilliant red, yellow, orange or white flowers of grevilleas. They’re also nesting and roosting havens for small native birds, and so people may plant them to attract wildlife.
Of all the grevillias, the silky oak is the one that catches my eye. It’s the largest and tallest of the species, reaching up to 30 metres. They’re now blooming along the east coast and in some inland places – like huge orange light bulbs dominating the skyline.
Silky oaks flowers are a magnet for birds and insects.Shutterstock
Strong like oak
Grevilleas have an ancestry older than dinosaurs. They originated on the super-continent Gondwana, and are closely related to banksias, waratahs and proteas.
Today, the 360 species of grevilleas occur in Indonesia and Australia and are a diverse group. Their colourful, distinctive flowers lack petals and instead consist of a long tube known as a “calyx”, which splits into four “lobes”.
Like most other grevillea, silky oak possesses proteoid or cluster roots, which are dense and fine. These roots greatly increase the absorbing surface area and allow plants to thrive in nutrient-deprived soils.
The word “robusta” refers to the fact that the timber is strong like real oak. The freshly split wood has a silky texture, and a pattern and light colour resembling English oak – hence the common name “silky oak”.
Grevillia robusta has a silky texture when split for timber.Shutterstock
Watch out for the cyanide
Grevilleas literally drip nectar, much to the delight of native birds and bees. Aboriginal people enjoyed the sweet nectar straight from the plant or mixed with water — the original lolly water.
But you have to know which species to taste as some, including the silky oak, contain hydrogen cyanide that could make you ill.
Like other grevilleas the silky oak also contains tridecyl resorcinol, which causes an allergic reaction leading to contact dermatitis. The chemical is similar to the toxicodendron in poison ivy.
So when working with silky oaks, you’d be wise to wear gloves, a face mask, protective eye wear (or face shield) and long sleeved clothing. Washing hands and showering at the end of the day is also recommended.
Wear gardening gloves when handling silky oak, just to be one the safe side.Shutterstock
A prized timber
Silky oak timber was widely used in colonial times. Then it was marketed as “lacewood”, and that name persists today among some who use it.
Silky oak veneer was used widely in colonial table tops and other furniture. Over the years, silky oak has also been used to make window frames because it is resistant to wood rot.
Overseas, silky oak timber is still widely grown, in timber plantations and as windbreaks.
But it’s not widely available in Australia, due to low market demand – the allergens and cyanide it contains means people are generally reluctant to work with it. However silky oak is still highly prized by those who make guitars, and wood turners who make bowls and cabinets.
Silky oak timber is rot-resistant and was often used in window frames.Shutterstock
In the garden
Although an evergreen tree, some specimens are almost semi-deciduous, losing most of their foliage just prior to flowering.
Some specimens of silky oak can be a bit scraggly in their canopy form. They can benefit enormously from a bit of formative pruning when they are young, and perhaps some structural pruning from a good arborist as they get older. A little attention at the right time will be amply rewarded with a safe and great looking tree that can live for 150 years or more.
Silky oak is drought-tolerant. In dry times they often flower a bit later than their usual October blooming, providing a big splash of colour in otherwise drab and difficult years.
The trees can be vulnerable to frost when young, but grow well once taller. This makes the silky oak a potential winner as climate change brings warmer, drier weather.
Silky oaks have been declared an environmental weed in parts of New South Wales and Victoria where it grows outside its native distribution range. They’re also considered an invasive or invader plant in Hawaii and South Africa. However Grevillea robustais declining in its natural rainforest/wet forest habitat.
In some cities in China, silky oaks have been planted along roadsides with great success. The tree has also gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit for its performance in growing under United Kingdom conditions. That just shows you how one person’s weed is another’s treasure.
The role children, and consequently schools, play in the COVID-19 pandemic has been hard to work out, but that puzzle is now finally starting to be solved.
While children are thankfully much less likely than adults to get seriously ill, the same isn’t true for the adults that care for them. Evidence suggests schools have been a driver of the second wave in Europe and elsewhere. This means the safety of schools needs an urgent rethink.
It’s hard to detect COVID-19 in children
Infections with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in children are generally much more mild than in adults and easy to overlook. A study from South Korea found the majority of children had symptoms mild enough to go unrecognised, and only 9% were diagnosed at the time of symptom onset.
Researchers used an antibody test (which can detect if a person had the virus previously and recovered) to screen a representative sample of nearly 12,000 children from the general population in Germany. They found the majority of cases in children had been missed. In itself, that’s not surprising, because many cases in adults are missed, too.
But what made this study important, was that it showed young and older children were similarly likely to have been infected.
Official testing in Germany had suggested young children were much less likely to be infected than teenagers, but this wasn’t true. Younger children with infections just weren’t getting tested. The study also found nearly half of infected children were asymptomatic. This is about twice what’s typically seen in adults.
But children do transmit the virus
We’ve known for a while that around the same amount of viral genetic material can be found in the nose and throat of both children and adults.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean children will transmit the same way adults do. Because children have a smaller lung capacity and are less likely to have symptoms, they might release less virus into the environment.
However, schools did contribute to community transmission to some extent. This was made clear by the Al-Taqwa College cluster, which was linked to outbreaks in Melbourne’s public housing towers.
When researchers analysed cases in Victorian schools that occurred between the start of the epidemic and the end of August 2020, they found infections in schools mirrored what was happening in the community overall. They also found 66% of all infections in schools were limited to a single person.
Most students in Victoria switched to remote learning at the peak of the second wave.Shutterstock
This might seem encouraging, but we have to remember this virus is characterised by superspreading events. We now know that about 10% of infected people are responsible for about 80% of secondary COVID-19 cases.
Two major studies from Hong Kong and India revealed about 70% of people didn’t transmit the virus to anyone. The problem, is the remainder can potentially infect a lot of people.
What happened in Victorian schools was entirely consistent with this.
The risk associated with schools rises with the level of community transmission. The picture internationally has made this clear.
What we know about outbreaks in schools, internationally
After schools reopened in Montreal, Canada, school clusters quickly outnumbered those in workplaces and health-care settings combined. President of the Quebec Association of Infectious Disease Microbiologists, Karl Weiss, said
Schools were the driver to start the second wave in Quebec, although the government did not recognise it.
A report by Israel’s Ministry of Health concluded school reopening played at least some role in accelerating the epidemic there, and that schools may contribute to the spread of the virus unless community transmission is low. In the Czech Republic, a rapid surge in cases following the reopening of schools prompted the mayor of Prague to describe schools as “COVID trading exchanges”.
The opposite pattern has been seen when schools have closed. England just witnessed a drop in new cases, followed by a return to growth, coinciding with the half-term school holidays. This was before any lockdown measures were introduced in the country.
These observations are consistent with a study examining the effect of imposing and lifting different restrictions in 131 countries. Researchers found school closures were associated with a reduction in R — the measure of how fast the virus is spreading — while reopening schools was associated with an increase.
The risk has been spelled out most clearly by the president of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s equivalent of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last week, he reported the virus is being carried into schools, and also back out into the community.
What we need to do
It won’t be possible to control the pandemic if we don’t fully address transmission by children. This means we need to take a proactive approach to schools.
At a minimum, precautionary measures should include the use of face masks by staff and students (including primary school students). Schools should also improve ventilation and indoor air quality, reduce class sizes, and ensure kids and staff practise hand hygiene.
School closures have a role to play as well. But they must be carefully considered because of the harms associated with them. But these harms are likely outweighed by the harms of an unmitigated epidemic.
In regions with high levels of community transmission, temporary school closures should be considered. While a lockdown without school closures can probably still reduce transmission, it is unlikely to be maximally effective.
The idea of moving to the country has gained momentum through the COVID-19 pandemic. Many workplaces have introduced new policies on working from home that give employees the flexibility needed to make the switch.
Lockdowns have shown many just how cramped and uncomfortable life can be when you cannot escape to the usual activities that get you out of the house. And if everything is closed, what is the point of being in the city and paying a higher rent or mortgage anyway? The Reserve Bank has noted rents have gone down and vacancy rates have gone up in major cities.
At the same time, some real estate agents have noticed an upturn in interest in renting or buying rural and regional properties. The demand in some regional areas has pushed up prices by as much as 30% in the year to October. It seems many are already making the switch to country living.
It sounds idyllic. Escape the rat race, have space to grow veggies and let the kids play outside. You won’t have to commute any more, and you might even be able to buy a house in the country at a time when city prices remain out of reach for many. You could be living the dream.
The surge of interest in living in coastal towns like Warrnambool in Victoria has already pushed up regional property prices.Greg Brave/Shutterstock
Find a place that matches your values
So how do you know if this is right for you, or a disaster waiting to happen?
In my research with people who moved to the country, I found successful moves came down to how closely aligned people’s values were with the attributes of the place they moved to. For example, some people value space and quiet more than bustle and activity. If they found these attributes in their new home, then they were able to craft a new life that was deeply satisfying.
When you look through the pages of a glossy magazine such as Country Style, you might find yourself yearning for the lifestyle it depicts – the grassy fields, the peaceful but quirky homes filled with flea-market finds, the home-grown abundance and the happy, contented people. These are long-held and highly regarded values that many hold dear.
The roots of these ideals are deep. Representations of the country as a rural idyll, a place to escape to, are centuries older than our current media.
Epicurus (340BC to 270BC) moved from the centre of Athens to the countryside just outside so he could grow vegetables and live simply. Virgil’s (70BC to 19BC) Eclogues emphasised a rural idyll, as did much later painters such as John Constable and Eugene von Guérard. Henry David Thoreau’s Walden (1845) is an oft-quoted classic about an urban dweller moving to a rural place to live a better life (albeit temporarily in his case).
Early Australian writers such as A.B. “Banjo” Paterson and Henry Lawson took up this nostalgic ideal in the fledgling colony. So did artists such as Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Charles Condor when they travelled to then-rural Heidelberg, now part of Melbourne, to paint the uniquely Australian countryside.
We know the media are a powerful factor in helping us develop and share our identity and personal narratives. We respond to television shows, books and magazines that we are interested in by becoming their audience. We might share values, goals, ideas or even similar stories with the media we watch. We then, consciously or unconsciously, learn from or adopt those ideas and values in a process of socialisation that shows us how we might live a better life.
Media are only a representation, however. A multitude of factors, not least of which are sales and advertising revenues, go into the process of decision-making as images and stories are crafted for the various outlets. There can be a tendency for media to adopt stereotypes as a shorthand form of communication, but these do not necessarily reflect the reality they purport to depict.
This might seem obvious, but it is all too easy to accept these images as truth when we are inclined towards that viewpoint anyway.
Do you value the things that make a rural place what it is, whether that is peacefulness, an absence of people, vistas of rolling hills, or the community of a small country town? If you do, there’s a good chance a move to the country will enable you to live more closely in line with your values and so be a successful one.
If, on the other hand, you value city-style living, which includes attractions, shops, events and being close to services, you might want to reassess whether a seachange or treechange is right for you.
In tax design as in many endeavours, it’s easy to work out how things should be; harder to work out how to get there.
In NSW, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet wants to replace the one-off stamp duty on real estate transactions with an annual land tax.
In the long run, this one single reform could produce the biggest possible gains of any tax reform, state or federal.
This graph from the federal treasury’s 2015 tax discussion paper makes the point.
It says the “marginal excess burden” (damage) done by real estate conveyancing taxes amounts to 70 cents for each dollar raised.
It means people and businesses change addresses less often than they should. Households live further away from their work than they would like to, are reluctant to move to where there is better work, and spend money extending houses instead of moving to better ones.
Businesses resist changing property location and type when changes in markets and costs suggest they should.
In contrast, the treasury found the marginal excess burden of land tax was negative. By that it means every dollar raised actually makes things better off by making land more likely to be used for its best purpose and making land less likely to be not used at all.
Swapping the worst tax the treasury modelled for the best tax it modelled ought to have a huge economic payoff for use of property, for productivity and for living standards.
It’d also be fairer.
The NSW Thodey Review of federal financial relations commissioned by Treasurer Perrottet notes that 26% of owner-occupiers have remained in the same property for at least 20 years.
Most of these long-term same property owners have benefited “not only from the services provided by the state over that time, but also from a once-in-a-generation land price windfall”.
In exchange for these gains, they have contributed very little towards essential services and critical infrastructure via property taxation. Others who have moved more often than the average to find a job, to be closer to schools, or to match housing size to changes in their family situation have picked up the tab.
Thodey also identifies other reasons for making the switch. Land tax revenue is more stable and predictable than revenue that soars and dives at times when people are buying or are not buying properties.
How you get there matters
The Australian Capital Territory is well on the way.
NSW is proposing a different approach. It is considering asking new buyers to “opt in” to an annual land tax in return for escaping stamp duty. Once a buyer has opted in, future buyers of that property won’t be able to opt out. They will pay land tax instead of stamp duty.
It’ll mean no property owner, new or old, need be a loser in the first instance.
But it will stretch out the transition and involve very large reductions in revenue for years to come, with smaller but still-substantial losses over decades.
As an illustration, assume that in year one, rather than paying $100 of stamp duty, the buyer chooses to pay a much smaller annual land tax.
NSW is going the long way
On average about 5% of properties change hands each year, meaning on average each is transferred once every 20 years. That means that to be revenue neutral in the long term the annual land tax should be set at 5% of the stamp duty.
If all the buyers in the first year switch over to land tax, the government will lose 95% of the money it would have got from stamp duty in that year.
With the passing of time and a larger share of owners paying land tax the shortfall will get smaller. But even after a decade, it might be as much as 50%.
Some buyers will never opt-in
And the voluntary opt in will give buyers who expect to hold a property for longer than average, for more than 20 years, an incentive to turn down the offer of land tax and pay (the lesser) stamp duty as before; while those who expect a short stay will opt for the (lesser) land tax.
This entirely rational behaviour will further reduce government revenue, aggravate the inequity of the system we’ve got, lock some owners into the properties they already own in order to avoid paying for government services, and postpone the benefits of moving to a system in which tax doesn’t distort the use of land.
It’s easy to see why Perrottet has gone for a voluntary switchover.
There are better ways to avoid double taxation
The ACT Labor government has just won it’s sixth consecutive election.LUKAS COCH/AAP
Without some sort of concession, recent buyers would find themselves taxed twice, once through stamp duty and then again through annual land taxes.
The ACT’s 20-year transition is one way to get around the problem.
A quicker way of realising the gains from switching while reducing double taxation would be to introduce land tax immediately and give recent buyers a partial credit for the stamp duty they’ve paid.
As an example, stamp duty paid in the past one, two, three, four and five years could receive a credit of 100%, 80%, 60%, 40% and 20%, respectively.
It would cost revenue over the transition period, but not as much as the opt in arrangement proposed by the NSW treasurer, and after that short period it would be revenue neutral. Importantly, it would reap the full efficiency benefits from day one, and ensure everyone paid the tax they should.
Raise your hand if you’ve ever travelled for weeks or months as a backpacker on a limited daily budget. Keep your hand up if you were made welcome in the places you visited on your OE, enjoyed chance encounters and experienced the generosity of strangers.
And did those experiences leave a lifelong affection for the places you visited and people you met? If the answer is yes, then we need to consider what might happen in New Zealand were Tourism Minister Stuart Nash’s latest ideas to become policy.
To recap, Nash told the Tourism Summit in Wellington last week the industry should move away from catering for low-spending backpackers and instead target the rich. This would solve two problems: the environmental damage allegedly caused by freedom campers (including using nature as their toilet), and the pressure of too many visitors in general.
Nash was right to say we cannot return to the pre-COVID normal when the border reopens and the tourism recovery begins. Overcapacity, strained infrastructure and environmental impacts meant growing community resistance was reaching a tipping point.
But do we really want to banish backpackers and position New Zealand as expensive and exclusive — the Switzerland of the South Pacific? There are five reasons this approach would be a mistake.
1. Big spenders are big polluters
Lower-budget travellers generally stay much longer than the average. They usually make a higher aggregate economic contribution than those whose daily spend is high but who pass through quickly.
Does New Zealand really want only the uber-rich to experience our natural wonders, when flying business class, travelling by cruise ship and hiring helicopters are the most environmentally damaging ways to do so?
If we were to consider the wider social, economic and environmental impacts of discrete tourism markets, we would be banishing the cruise industry first, not backpackers.
Not welcome? Backpackers unload their cheap camper van before leaving New Zealand.GettyImages
2. Backpackers bring many benefits
Because they stay longer, backpackers can bring wider benefits to our society, economy and environment. They tend to be more dispersed, bringing economic development and employment opportunities to regional communities.
Also, their travel behaviours tend to align more with the concept of regenerative tourism. Backpackers are more likely to be conscious of their carbon footprint, engage in beach cleanups, plant trees and involve themselves in conservation projects.
They are a seasonal labour force, too, as has been shown by critical labour shortages in rural and regional economies due to border closures.
3. The importance of diverse tourism
Backpackers and freedom campers support small regional tourism businesses, attractions and local services that would not survive without them. Backpacker hostels, home-stays, camping grounds and other low-budget accommodation subsectors would be at risk, as would many small and medium tourism businesses.
During crises it is important that tourism destinations have a broad portfolio of markets. This ensures resilience and mitigates potential economic impacts from periodic disruptions to global tourism. Furthermore, as the mayor of Queenstown has observed, today’s backpackers return in future as high-end visitors.
4. Tackling climate change and overconsumption
Social tourism refers to the principle that opportunities to engage occasionally in leisure and tourism are important for personal well-being and an inclusive society. It is a form of tourism based on an ethic of social inclusion, as opposed to exclusion based on wealth.
By contrast, the carbon-intense lifestyles and sense of entitlement of the super-wealthy are major barriers to climate action.
Our tourism policies should not celebrate and encourage over-consumption, which works against shifting attitudes towards less carbon-intensive and more sustainable travel.
5. Damage to our international reputation
Do we really want to be perceived as exclusionary and elitist? A colleague based at a university in the Netherlands, for example, reported a social media backlash:
Everyone is complaining about the news that Kiwis do not want to have us anymore and they are only interested in tourists who fly business class and hire a helicopter around Franz Josef.
Similarly, the policy can look petty. A story headlined “New Zealand vows crackdown on defecating backpackers” in the Times of India reported the New Zealand government’s promise “to take action against backpackers relieving themselves at natural beauty spots as part of post-coronavirus tourism plans”.
The Tiaki Promise is a charter for inclusive tourism based on host and visitor sharing mutual responsibility.
The post-COVID challenge
Should New Zealand’s post-coronavirus tourism rebuild really be perceived as revolving around the defecations of low-budget tourists? While there have been cases of disgusting behaviour, this problem can be actively managed.
Non-self-contained campervans could be required to park overnight in fully serviced camping grounds for a nominal fee. New Zealanders should not bear the costs of tourism, anyway. Local councils transfer the costs of freedom camping to ratepayers when they provide “free” overnight parking and toilet facilities — putting rate-paying local camping grounds out of business.
Above all, our tourism rebuild should be closely aligned with what makes New Zealand unique. First and foremost, it should be founded on the Māori principles of kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga — a mutual responsibility to care for the land and culture, as expressed in the Tiaki Promise charter.
This would honestly reflect the ideals of generations of Kiwis who have set off on their own OEs to experience the world. If we consider this a birthright, is it fair that we deny the same to others who want to visit us?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Giblin, ARC Future Fellow; Associate Professor; Director, Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia, University of Melbourne
Many culturally important books by Australian authors are out of print, hard to find as secondhand copies, and confined to the physical shelves of a limited number of libraries. Effectively, they have become inaccessible and invisible — even including some Miles Franklin award winners by authors such as Thea Astley and Rodney Hall.
By digitising out of print books and making them available for e-lending, the project will create a royalty stream for the authors involved, as well as income for the arts workers we are employing as proofreaders.
Commercial publishing lists, such as Text Classics and Allen & Unwin’s House of Books, do a great job of breathing new life into some of Australia’s lost books. But they often focus on literary fiction, to the exclusion of genre fiction, children’s books and non-fiction, which also need to be preserved.
Here are 10 of our favourites we’re excited to digitise so you can borrow from your local library straight to your e-device. We expect these and other books in the project to be available in the first half of 2021 – and you too can nominate a book for inclusion in the collection here.
Working Bullocks (1926) by Katharine Susannah Prichard
The novel describes the trials of Red Burke, a bullock driver in Western Australia, trying to make a living in a post-war Australia.
Just after the novel’s original publication, it was described by John Sleeman of The Bookman in the UK as “the high-water mark of Australian literary achievement in the novel so far”.
Metal Fatigue (1996) by Sean Williams
Sean Williams has written over 50 books, including co-authored titles with authors such as Shane Dix and Garth Nix which have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list.
Metal Fatigue was Williams’ debut. Set in a small American city 40 years after the end of a nuclear war, the residents must decide if they want to join the newly forming Re-United States of America.
Depicting a dystopic future of violence, shortages and a divided USA, it still feels remarkably current today.
I’m Not Racist, But… (2007) by Anita Heiss
This poetry collection from activist, writer and member of the Wiradjuri Nation, Professor Anita Heiss, skewers Australia’s racist underbelly.
I’m Not Racist, But… explores identity, pride and political correctness; proposes alternative words to the national anthem; and reveals how it is to grow up as an Indigenous woman in Australia.
This is a landmark work along Australia’s slow road to racial reckoning.
Space Demons (1986) by Gillian Rubinstein
The multi-award winning Space Demons was Gillian Rubinstein’s first book and began the much-loved trilogy of the same name.
It follows four ordinary kids drawn into a dangerous new computer game – instead of simply watching the game on the screen, they become part of it. And there is no way to know if they will escape.
With its gripping plot and local setting, Space Demons introduced many children to Australian science fiction – and led to many Australians first discovering their love of reading.
Noonkanbah: Whose Land, Whose Law (1989) by Steve Hawke, with photographs by Michael Gallagher
In 1979-80, the Yungngora people protested to stop the American company Amax drilling for oil on a sacred site on Noonkanbah Station, Western Australia.
This book is the detailed first-hand account of what became a high profile, ground-breaking land rights campaign, leading to the formation of the Kimberley Land Council. The Yungngora people wouldn’t have their native title rights recognised until 2007.
Alongside the reporting by Hawke, son of former PM Bob Hawke?, the book includes photographs taken by anthropologist Michael Gallagher.
This is an essential work of Australian history.
The Unlucky Australians (1968) by Frank Hardy
Frank Hardy was known for his political activism around labour rights, and as the author of 16 books. Almost his entire backlist is out of print, with the notable exception of Power Without Glory (1950).
In The Unlucky Australians, Hardy tells the story of the Gurindji people and the opening years of the strike they began in 1966.
Their protest against poor working and living conditions, seeking the return of their traditional lands, lasted nine years.
The Whitlam government returned some of those lands in 1975 with the historic transfer of “a handful of dirt” and the strike led to the passage of the historic Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act in 1976.
A vital piece towards understanding the shameful labour conditions inflicted upon Indigenous Australians, this book should never have gone out of print.
Inspired by three real life charismatic and dangerous individuals, these dark stories of abused trust and misplaced faith are transformed, taking on a gothic quality, with complex narratives, unlikely narrators and fairy-tale elements.
The White Garden is an ambitious novel following the misdeeds of the psychiatrist Dr Goddard (or Dr God, for short) in a hospital in the 1960s. Red Shoes takes us into the world of a religious cult. Cape Grimm looks at a religious order after its members are killed by their charismatic leader.
The Mindless Ferocity of Sharks (2003) by Brett D’Arcy
The Mindless Ferocity of Sharks is coming-of-age story about “Floaty Boy”, an 11-year-old with a love of body-surfing, his family, and what happens when his older brother disappears.
Described by the Australian Book Review as “Tim Winton on speed”, D’Arcy shines his own spotlight on Western Australia, exploring the duality of a life spent between the waves and the shore – and what happens when a family becomes torn apart by loss.
Untapped will launch with a free online celebration on November 24 at 6pm. Register for the launch here, nominate a book for inclusion at untapped.org.au – and let us know what you think we should digitise in the comments.
Australia’s actions should not be seen just through the lens of the strategic competition between China and the United States, Scott Morrison has said in a speech rejecting “binary choices”.
With China casting Australia as an extension of America, disrupting trade, and citing multiple grievances, Morrison reaffirmed the importance Australia put on wanting a positive bilateral relationship.
“Australia desires an open, transparent and mutually beneficial relationship with China as our largest trading partner, where there are strong people-to-people ties, complementary economies and a shared interest in regional development and wellbeing, especially in the emerging economies of Southeast Asia,” he said.
Equally, Australia was “absolutely committed” to its alliance with the United States, based on a shared world view, liberal democratic values and market-based economics.
“And at all times we must be true to our values and the protection of our own sovereignty.”
He acknowledged the global competition between China and the US “presents new challenges, especially for nation states in the Indo-Pacific”. Like other countries in the region “our preference is not to be forced into binary choices”.
Addressing the British Policy Exchange on Monday night, Morrison warned that “our present challenge in the Indo-Pacific is the foretaste for so many others around the world, including the United Kingdom and Europe.”
Australia’s pursuit of its interests in the midst of the China-US strategic competition was made more complex by the assumptions made about its actions, he said.
“Our actions are wrongly seen and interpreted by some only through the lens of the strategic competition between China and the United States.
“It’s as if Australia does not have its own unique interests or views as an independent sovereign state. This is false and needlessly deteriorates relationships.
“If we are to avoid a new era of polarisation, then in the decades ahead, there must be a more nuanced appreciation of individual states’ interests in how they deal with the major powers. Stark choices are in no-one’s interests.
“Greater latitude will be required from the world’s largest powers to accommodate the individual interests of their partners and allies. We all need a bit more room to move,” Morrison said.
He said international institutions also had an important role as circuit breakers. “To provide the space and frameworks for meaningful and positive interaction to be maintained, as a bulwark against any emerging divide.”
Morrison talked up the role the OECD had to play “in support of open trade and market-based principles”. The Australian government is currently running a strong campaign to try to have former finance minister Mathias Cormann elected secretary-general of the OECD.
Morrison also noted the importance of the World Trade Organisation in promoting shared interests, as well as the G7-plus, and the Five-Eyes arrangement, where co-operation had extended beyond traditional security to the economic realm.
He lamented that “two of the most important economies in the region – the United States and India” had decided not to joint the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the recently-concluded Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership respectively.
“Of course, we respect those decisions. But they both remain welcome to join. Our response is straightforward.
“Working with our partners, we plan to make the TPP such a powerful force for open trade and investment that the US and, in the future, India and others will join without reservation. And that includes the UK.
“Interestingly, [China’s] President Xi Jinping has also now expressed interest in possible participation in the TPP,” Morrison said.
“The critical thing about the TPP is that it developed WTO-plus disciplines in key areas of intellectual property, digital commerce and state-owned enterprises.
“These are some of the areas where the WTO has fallen short.”
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare insists his government will push on with the temporary suspension of Facebook while lawmakers explore ways to regulate social media.
In a statement in Parliament today, a fired-up Sogavare did not hide his government’s desire to suspend Facebook.
He said since that the announcement on social media of the suspension of Facebook, users had continue to use the social media platform “irresponsibly”.
Sogarave said he wanted laws in place to hold those responsible for violations to be held accountable.
“This goes to show that Facebook needs to be suspended so that relevant regulations can be brought to Parliament to regulate the use,” he said.
Sogavare told Parliament that his cabinet had agreed to suspend Facebook on November 12.
On the timing of the suspension, Sogavare said it would depend on the work.
Once “all arrangements are done before we move in to temporarily suspend it.” he said.
“Once we have regulations in place we will open it back.”
Robert Iroga is editor and publisher of Solomon Business Magazine. Articles are republished with permission.
The Victorian government plans a pilot scheme for up to five days sick and carer’s pay, at the national minimum wage, for casuals or insecure workers in priority industries.
Even though the initiative is at a very early stage, with $5 million in Tuesday’s state budget for consultation on the pilot’s design, the federal government immediately attacked the move.
Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter said it “raises a number of major issues”.
Once underway, the pilot would run two years in selected sectors with high casualisation. It could include cleaners, hospitality staff, security guards, supermarket workers and aged care workers.
“The pilot will roll out in two phases over two years with the occupations eligible for each phase to be finalised after a consultation process that will include workers, industry and unions,” a statement from Premier Daniel Andrews’ office said.
Casual and insecure workers in eligible sectors would be invited to pre-register for the scheme.
While the pilot would be government-funded, any future full scheme would involve a levy on business.
Andrews said: “When people have nothing to fall back on, they make a choice between the safety of their workmates and feeding their family.
“This isn’t going to solve the problem of insecure work overnight but someone has to put their hand up and say we’re going to take this out of the too hard basket and do something about it.”
But Porter said a fully-running scheme would put “a massive tax on Victorian businesses”, which would be paying both the extra loading casuals receive and the levy.
“After Victorian businesses have been through their hardest year in the last century, why on earth would you be starting a policy that promises to finish with another big tax on business at precisely the time they can least afford any more economic hits?”
Porter said it would be better to strengthen the ability of workers to choose to move from casual to permanent full or part-time employment if they wished.
He said this was what had been discussed in the recent federally-run industrial relations working group process involving government and employee and employer representatives.
“It must surely be a better approach to let people have greater choice between casual and permanent employment than forcing businesses to pay a tax so that someone can be both a casual employee and get more wages as compensation for not getting sick leave – but then also tax the business to pay for getting sick leave as well.”
Porter claimed the Victorian approach would be “a business and employment-killing” one.
In the pandemic the federal government has made available a special payment for workers who test COVID-positive or are forced to isolate and don’t have access to paid leave. The Victorian government has provided a payment for those waiting for the result of a COVID test.
The Morrison government will introduce an omnibus industrial relations reform bill before the end of the parliamentary ar, following its consultation process.
A central objective will be to streamline enterprise bargaining. Scott Morrison told the Business Council of Australia last week: “Agreement making is becoming bogged down in detailed, overly prescriptive procedural requirements that make the process just too difficult to undertake”.
He said various issues needed addressing. “The test for approval of agreements should focus on substance rather than technicalities. Agreements should be assessed on actual foreseeable circumstances, not far fetched hypotheticals.” Assessments by the Fair Work Commission should happen within set time frames where there was agreement from the parties.
Morrison said key protections such as the better off overall test would continue but “our goal is to ensure it will be applied in a practical and sensible way so that the approval process does not discourage bargaining, which is what is happening now”.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roberto Musotto, Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre Postdoctoral Fellow, Edith Cowan University
It’s no secret the trail of data we leave online can reveal intimate details about our lives. And there are myriad people whose job it is to collect and sift through this, often with a goal to engage in targeted advertising.
Another use for the field of “social network analysis” could eventually be to help prosecutors in criminal courts make sense of huge amounts of digital evidence, collected both online and from devices offline.
This would be particularly useful in trials with several defendants, saving courts precious time and money. Criminal networks can use online spaces such as dark web marketplaces to organise crime and reach more victims and clients.
Transaction patterns, messages and page visits are all clues that can help unpack such a network.
What it is and how does it work?
Social network analysis involves using advanced computer software to explore segments of patterns that recur in social interactions, online and offline. It offers scholars a broad perspective on the world of human relations.
This form of analysis doesn’t just look at who you’re friends with on Instagram – it looks at which decisions you make as an individual, which you make in a group and how these layers of choices influence your world.
In its simplest form, these social networks can be presented in graphs. There are “nodes” (which represent people) connected by lines or “edges”. An edge could represent a phone call, message or meeting.
Look at the graph of the real network of the Al-Qaeda terrorists involved in the September 11 attack. Can you figure out who the most “connected” terrorist is?
This graph represents the hijacker network responsible for the 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre.Valdis Krebs
The murky networks of crime syndicates
This information is often expressed in mathematical form, too. These numbers offer information about the dynamics of a group and the specific role of each individual within.
how the various members are connected with one another
how the members combine, or act alone, to carry out crime.
A judge in a preliminary hearing could consult a graph like the one above to help decide whether there is a case to be made against each member.
Mathematical metrics could further filter out individuals for which there is enough evidence to prosecute. This would also help judges reach fairer decisions on jail terms or acquittals.
Surfing through oceans of data
Due to time, money and human resource restrictions, often not all evidence from investigations is used in criminal court proceedings.
Social network analysis would greatly benefit prosecutors in criminal trials involving an excess of digital evidence, which continues to grow alongside general online data.
In Australia, any electronic device seized by authorities must be evaluated in court. Western Australia’s police force processes over 2.8 terabytes of data (2,800 GB) for every case it investigates.
In the 2008 trial of Bell Group v Westpac Banking Corporation, digital evidence extended the final judgement enormously to more than 2,000 pages.
Similarly, a 2016 civil case in Victoria, McConnell Dowell Constructors v Santam and Others, required counsel to go through 1.4 million documents in electronic format. This would have taken about 583 weeks.
The Supreme Court allowed (for the first time) a technology-assisted review to isolate the most “relevant” documents.
Moreover, large criminal investigations are often broken into multiple trials. While this is economical and maximises resources, it’s inherently risky because evidence can be evaluated differently depending on the court.
This is why the largest and most expensive Mafia trial in history, the 1986 Maxiprocesso trial, was heard by only one court and jury. The initial trial involved 349 hearings over almost two years.
The Maxi, or Maxiprocesso, trial was conducted against the Sicilian mafia in Palermo, Sicily. The trial started in February, 1986 and ended in January, 1992.Wikimedia Commons
In hindsight, discussions surrounding evidence in the trial could have been shortened had social network analysis been available at the time.
In any criminal investigation, there’s also potential for bias from investigating officers. This bias can introduce errors into the evidence pool, which may not be picked up during a trial, and subsequently distort any analysis conducted.
Technology: both a problem and a solution
Of course, social network analysis isn’t perfect. While it can tell us how an individual interacts with a syndicate, it can’t guide us as to whether that person should be considered separate to the main network or not. This remains the judge’s decision.
There are also limitations to how online networks can be investigated. Often, important data is stored outside police jurisdiction, or requires a search warrant from law enforcement before it can be accessed (such as with Facebook).
Other times, data that’s crucial for an investigation may be hosted on an encrypted service such as WhatsApp, or may be hard to trace if it was uploaded anonymously or under a fake persona.
Still, social network analyses could prove to be an invaluable support tool to help judges and jurors assess the value of evidence.
If both have a detailed and holistic understanding of the case, this will help ensure the right people are convicted — as quickly as possible and with the sentencing deserved.
Many of us might not be as fit as we were before the pandemic hit, and as community sport restarts and gyms reopen across the country amid eased coronavirus restrictions, some people might be at increased risk of injury.
If you do pull your hamstring in your first game back, or work from home life has left you with a sore neck and headaches, you might think about visiting a health-care professional to treat your complaint.
But your sister sees a physiotherapist, your mother a chiropractor, your friend an osteopath and your cousin a myotherapist. All of them come highly recommended, so who do you choose to help manage your aches and pains, and what are the differences between the four?
In Australia, physiotherapists, osteopaths and chiropractors have extensive university training and are registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Myotherapists have completed an advanced diploma or bachelors degree in myotherapy or “musculoskeletal therapy”, but aren’t registered with AHPRA. All four types of health professionals are primary contact practitioners. This means you don’t need a GP referral to seek treatment.
You will find all four in private health care, but you’re more likely to be treated by a physiotherapist in the public sector (for example, at public hospitals) compared to chiropractors, osteopaths and myotherapists.
A physiotherapist assesses your problem, provides a diagnosis and helps you understand what’s wrong while considering your general health, activities, and lifestyle. They treat your complaint with a variety of “active” therapies, such as exercise programs and hydrotherapy. They also use “passive” therapies, such as massage, joint manipulation, and mobilisation (a technique used to increase movement of a joint).
There are many different sub-disciplines within physiotherapy. For example, some specialise in treating problems that arise from neurological conditions, like multiple sclerosis or stroke. Some also focus on assisting patients with heart and lung conditions, for example emphysema or after lung infections like pneumonia (or COVID!).
A chiropractor works on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones and joints, and the effect on the nervous system. They have an emphasis on passive manual treatments, including joint and soft-tissue manipulation, and spinal adjustments. They may also prescribe exercises to help you rehabilitate from your condition as well as provide dietary advice.
Over the last decade, some forms of chiropractic care have come under media and scientific scrutiny, particularly in children and infants, and should therefore be approached with caution.
An osteopath focuses on the muscular and nervous systems, assessing the structure of the body to determine its impact on function. For example, the position of your spine and pelvis may impact on the way you reach over to weed your garden. Treatment involves a combination of active and passive therapies, including joint manipulation and mobilisation, massage, as well as postural advice and exercise programs.
A myotherapist works to assist your aches and pains by focusing on the muscles and joints. They offer a range of mostly “hands-on” treatments including dry needling, massage and joint mobilisation, but can also prescribe exercises.
The profession is not registered with AHPRA. Myotherapists are not formally recognised under the umbrella of allied health in some regions of Australia. As such, they were forced to delay reopening as coronavirus restrictions eased in Melbourne, as allied health including physiotherapists were allowed to reopen first.
There’s a lot of crossover in treatments offered between the four professions and not all services offered are supported by high-quality scientific research.
The discipline of chiropractic has come under intense scientific scrutiny and should be treated with caution.Shutterstock
So, what is the scientific evidence?
Understanding if your health-care professional applies evidence-based practice to their treatment will help you decide which therapist is right for you.
Evidence-based practice relates to how any health professional integrates their clinical knowledge with the best available research evidence, and your individual values and circumstances, to assess and manage your health-care complaint. Whether or not this is implemented into daily practice will vary on the individual therapist, and may not be consistent across the entire profession.
Scientific evidence supports the use of treatments where you, as the client, are actively involved in the management of your condition, including education and undertaking an exercise plan — what we call “exercise prescription”.
The breadth of scientific evidence for exercise prescription as a treatment for muscle, ligament, tendon, bone and joint complaints far outweighs the limited scientific support for the prolonged use of “passive” treatments like massage, manipulation, and adjustments. Research suggests these passive treatments should only be used as adjuncts to active treatments. This type of therapy may be appropriate in the early stages of your care, and let’s face it, most people love a massage.
However, in the long term, it doesn’t equip you with the skills required to manage your condition. It may even result in over-reliance on your health-care professional and cost you more in the long run. It’s important to find a health-care professional that empowers you to participate in appropriate exercise, develop skills to self-manage your aches and pains and maintain a healthy, active lifestyle.
The evidence suggests health care that empowers you to take control of your condition is more effective than passive therapies like massage, in the long run.Shutterstock
Anecdotally, we think that physiotherapists and osteopaths are well equipped to implement an active management plan for your aches and pains. However, as an individual, you should seek out a health-care professional that supports you to manage your own condition. You could do this by speaking to your doctor, reading the biography of your practitioner, or phoning the clinic to enquire about the type of care provided prior to booking an appointment. Your health professional should be someone that walks alongside you and guides you on your rehabilitation journey.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help decide if the health-care professional is the right fit for you:
will they consider my overall health status, social situation, and hobbies to create a treatment plan?
will they educate me on the importance of actively self-managing my aches and pains?
will they encourage me to undertake exercise and/or physical activity?
will they ask me about my goals and what I want the outcome to be?
will they help me determine what to do if my aches and pains flare up in the future?
Fiji’s rugby team is set to have another round of covid-19 testing today as they seek to salvage what is left of their Autumn Nations Cup tour of Europe.
Over the weekend it was announced the Flying Fijians would have their third consecutive test match cancelled due to a coronavirus outbreak in the squad.
The team’s match game against Scotland, originally set for November 29, has been cancelled like the other two other matches.
Fiji’s clash with Italy was supposed to be played last Saturday gone, but was called off after 29 members tested positive for covid-19 last week.
A test against France was cancelled the week before as it became evident the virus was present among the touring party.
Fiji Rugby CEO John O’Connor told RNZ Pacific there would be more coronavirus tests today.
The BBC reported organisers saying halting the Scotland match was “unavoidable” due to the 10-day isolation period for players.
There is still hope that Fiji would still be able to play their final scheduled match against the fourth-place Pool A side on December 5.
This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.
To the surprise of most pundits, substantial real estate price inflation has resumed, after a hiatus from 2017 to 2019. As to be expected, most of the usual tropes have been employed: a lack of supply, immigration (in this latest case returning New Zealanders), and low interest rates. The only missing trope this time is that of foreign buyers.
While none of these are wholly untrue, the real story is a ‘flow of money’ story, with the main issue being that money flows into certain places because it does not or cannot flow into other places. The second main issue is that financial bubbles have their own dynamic and momentum; so once started, bubbles can become quite difficult to stop.
We also should note that real estate bubbles – as monetary events – tend to coincide with sharemarket bubbles, and with exchange rate appreciations.
The central problem in 2020 is the inadequate flow of money into (and through) the government sector of the economy. In the absence of adequate lending into the government and real economy sectors, the money flows instead into the ‘bubble’ sector.
The 2003 to 2008 Bubble
From 2005 to 2007, the tradable section of the New Zealand economy was in recession; that’s the core section of the economy relating to businesses, such as primary industries and manufacturing, which compete internationally. Instead, in those years, an incipient bubble economy overtook the core economy. The Reserve Bank responded by tightening monetary policy, raising interest rates progressively towards a peak OCR (Official Cash Rate) of over eight percent early in 2008.
The underlying problem was the tradable-sector recession. It meant that money which would otherwise have been invested in the tradable-sector was diverted into the bubble sectors.
The actions of the Reserve Bank made the problem worse. By progressively raising interest rates, they kept pulling foreign money into New Zealand at a time when the core New Zealand economy was struggling, and no longer attractive to banks. This inflow of foreign money raised the New Zealand dollar exchange rate, further damaging the core tradable sector, and reinforcing the diversion of money into the bubble economy.
Many jobs were created in the growing bubble economy, and much tax was paid from the bubble economy. These were not the conditions which required the government sector to borrow money. So the New Zealand economy was awash with money, but neither the core economy nor the government were borrowing much of that money.
The money flowed into – that is, was lent into – the non-tradable economy of retail and real estate and financial (and related) services, despite high interest rates; indeed, because the high interest rates diminished the flow of money into the core economy, one can argue that, at that time, the house price and other bubbles persevered because of high interest rates. Further, if we go back to 2004 and 2005, it was probably higher interest rates that brought about the recession of the core economy that became New Zealand’s central economic problem of the years leading up to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).
The 2012 to 2017 Bubble
This bubble came in the wake of the GFC, and was created in the global economy by the premature ending of ‘fiscal stimulus’ measures, given names such as ‘fiscal consolidation’ and ‘austerity’.
To get out of an economic depression, governments need to take the lead by running very large financial deficits. If done properly, much of this money flows indirectly into the core economy; employment and tax revenues increase, and government-sector financial deficits naturally fall to normal levels. This should be done in a way so that a country’s exchange rate does not rise prematurely; thus interest rates need to stay low for quite a long time.
A classic case of this recovery and expansion being done correctly was the 1935 to 1938 first term of the First Labour Government.
In the years 2012 to 2017, most countries’ governments did this incorrectly. While interest rates did stay low, there was a big push worldwide for governments to cut back, substantially, on their borrowing. A result was that many important government-led programmes were stifled, and an opportunity to reverse income inequality was lost. In many countries, money that should have gone into government social spending and universal benefits went instead into the bubble economy. In countries like New Zealand, this was reinforced by large inflows of foreign money relative to the size of their economies.
Bubble dynamics reasserted themselves this post-GFC time, with much lower global interest rates than in previous times. While interest rates are significant to the core economy, they are largely irrelevant to the bubble sectors. If an ‘investor’ with $200,000 can borrow $800,000 to buy a million dollar property, and then sell the property for $1,100,000 one year later, that’s a 50 percent return on their money; a substantial personal gain whether the mortgage interest rate was four percent or ten percent.
Bubbles do come to a natural hiatus after about five years. From 2017 to 2019, the capital gains from property speculation diminished, less money was flowing out of China and other saver economies, and conditions in the core economic sectors in the world became more favourable for bank lending. Economies grew, with 2019 becoming a very successful year in the global economy; though with the proviso that substantial environmental problems, inequality issues and identity issues came to the fore of our concerns. (And Brexit completely dominated United Kingdom politics.) In New Zealand in 2017, a new Labour-led government created sufficient uncertainty to quieten a bubble economy that was already running out of puff; and legislation prohibiting foreign purchases of New Zealand houses had some direct impact on dwelling purchases as well as indirect impact through perceptions that capital gains would diminish.
In New Zealand, neither immigration nor housing supply were the main causes of real estate inflation. In an economy with a growing population and a housing shortage, the first symptom should be an increase in market rents. Rising house prices should then follow, as landlords’ yields increase. That’s not what happened. Rather house prices increased first; rents eventually followed, though many property ‘investors’ did not care so much about their rental income because increasingly their ‘wealth’ came from capital gains rather than from collecting rents.
The actual housing crisis in New Zealand had little to do with house prices; and much to do with inequality, a lack of social housing, and a broken private rental market. In the 2017 to 2020 period, social housing and the private rental markets have improved in many cities; in Auckland there are many newly constructed apartments, recently completed or still under construction, sited close to public transport nodes.
The 2020 Bubble
At a time of Covid-19 pandemic emergency, there were few expectations that a property bubble could happen. But the conditions for such a bubble soon emerged.
The first thing to note is that the Reserve Bank is not the problem. Not only is it following its mandate by expanding its balance sheet, it is seeing that the bigger picture requires such an expanded balance sheet in order to play its part in preventing a pandemic from becoming a great economic depression. Under current conditions, monetary policy will not be able to induce the inflation that it is mandated to achieve – indeed that mandate is a case of bad social science (a story to be addressed elsewhere). If substantial inflation does recur in the world – and it might sooner than most of us expect – it will be due to covid-induced supply-chain breakdowns in the coming few years; nothing to do with monetary policy.
We need to picture a (monetary) basin with three plugholes; yes we can use water flows as a good analogue for monetary flows (its called liquidity). When more money is required for the economy, the Reserve Bank supplies the basin with money by expanding its balance sheet. The first plughole leads to the ‘real economy’, which is households buying goods and services and businesses making and selling them. The second plughole leads to governments – the government sector including local governments – the ‘fiscal’ economy. The third plughole leads to financial markets; to an inherently speculative ‘bubble economy’ that includes the market for urban land. The draining of the (monetary) basin represents the injection of necessary money into the economy.
The three plugholes are:
real economy plughole (private sector)
fiscal plughole (public sector)
bubble economy plughole (speculative sector)
The Reserve Bank’s effective mandate is to ensure a sufficient flow of money into the real economy. But the commercial banks are the gatekeepers (plughole keepers!) which facilitate or inhibit the draining process.
The economy we inhabit can be likened to a human ecosystem below the plugholes, and the economy needs to be lubricated by sufficient quantities of money. Economic contraction (eg recession) occurs when the real economy is under-lubricated; inflation, on the other hand, may occur when the economy is over-lubricated. The bubble-economy is the part of the human ecosystem that is most susceptible to inflation; the real economy is usually able to slow down the circulation of money when it is over-lubricated, thus averting inflation.
The commercial banks manage these three plugholes, though unevenly. The extent of their gatekeeping relates to the different grades of ‘security’ that accompany different types of bank lending. Bank gatekeeping constrains the ‘real economy’ plughole, because ordinary business finance is the least secure form of lending. The fiscal plughole is subject to minimal bank gatekeeping, because governments’ legal powers to tax constitute a very high level of financial security. Bank gatekeeping is reflected in interest rates; ordinary businesses and consumers (eg via credit cards) pay the highest interest rates. Governments generally pay the lowest interest rates.
Typically, economic recessions follow financial crises. During financial crises, the ‘bubble economy’ plughole closes, precipitating the recession. This induces a loss of spending confidence, as people and businesses exposed to the bubble economy sharply retrench their spending. So the real economy plughole also closes; not fully, but substantially. This diminished monetary flow into the real economy is partly a result of less business and household desire to borrow, and partly a result of more stringent gatekeeping by the lending banks.
In such a recession, the ongoing success of the economy depends on the fiscal plughole. In 2009 we saw all governments open the fiscal plughole to save their economies – it was called ‘fiscal stimulus’. The New Zealand government response was comparatively muted; the New Zealand economy largely recovered as a result of new spending enabled by other countries’ governments’ stimuluses.
In 2020, the economic contraction had an unpredictable ‘exogenous’ cause rather than a predictable financial cause; namely, the Covid19 pandemic. In this case the bubble plughole never closed; that is the key point of difference this time. The private economy plughole, however, in 2020 closed to a similar extent to which it closed in late 2008 during the GFC. In response, the fiscal plughole briefly opened wide in New Zealand early in 2020, but then it closed again.
The result, by mid-2020, was a national economy with a basinful of new money, and only one substantially open plughole – the bubble plughole. So, guess what? The money drained through that plughole into the bubble economy. There was nowhere else for that money to go.
Who is to blame? Well, maybe the banks could gatekeep less re the real (private) economy plughole. But much of the private economy is in a balance sheet recession, so is not presently confident to borrow much, even if subject to reduced gatekeeping. Unsecured distress lending imposes high financial risks to the commercial banks.
The problem is the Government; in particular, the Minister of Finance. The fiscal plughole needs to be wide open, at least until the private economy plughole opens sufficiently as a result of increased governments’ contributions to the real economy. To discourage money from draining through the bubble plughole, and while awaiting the real economy plughole to reopen, the solution is one of fiscal policy. Opening the fiscal plughole is the solution.
The irony is that – by setting historically record low interest rates – the Reserve Bank is imploring both businesses and governments to borrow. The trouble is that businesses cannot borrow more (due to gatekeeping, and to their own balance sheets) and the government will not borrow more. The New Zealand government chooses to resist the strong price signals from a Reserve Bank which is implicitly begging the government sector to take the lead to defuse the now out-of-control bubble economy.
What the Government could do, this year
The newly-elected government is committed to passing legislation this year to reintroduce a 39 percent tax rate on high marginal incomes. While this tax increase may be an unnecessary expedient that complicates matters, we have to accept that this will happen.
So, as part of the same fiscal package, the government could and should also do the following, to be implemented on the same date as the new income tax bracket:
Replace the lower income tax brackets with a Basic Universal Income of $9,080 ($175 per week) per year to all economic citizens (resident citizens, resident permanent residents, and other people presently resident in New Zealand with working or student visas. For present beneficiaries, the first $175 per week of their benefit would become unconditional. (This provision would have no immediate financial impact on either beneficiaries or on persons earning more than $70,000 per week. By ‘lower tax brackets’, I mean the 10.5%, 17.5% and 30.0% brackets.)
Increase jobseeker and assisted living benefits by $25 per week, and accommodation supplements across the board by 10%. (This provision would mean that all such beneficiaries would be at least $25 per week better off.
Place a substantial ‘stamp duty’ tax on all second homes, all rented homes, and all homes owned by trusts.
Introduce a ‘good landlord’ voluntary warrant of fitness for rented houses, and exempt complying landlords and trusts from the new stamp duty.
The Basic Universal Income (BUI) and benefit increases, in an economy such at that in New Zealand at present, would soak up much of the money otherwise flowing into the bubble economy. The BUI would also free up labour supply – especially for young people presently constrained by the requirements of conditional benefits. And it will free up government agencies to help those people and families with more complex needs. The BUI will ensure that all adults in a household – including recently unemployed women with employed partners – will have unconditional access to a basic income.
The stamp duty will create a disincentive for speculative ‘investor’ money to flow into the real estate market. This money is pushing up prices in such a way that only people who already own houses – or whose parents already own houses – are themselves able to buy houses; and this money is treating houses as a form of financial wealth rather than as a place to call home.
The landlord warrant of fitness exemption becomes a ‘good landlord subsidy’, a way of using a monetary incentive to address the emerging problem of slum housing in New Zealand’s cities.
Summary
The present real estate price bubble is easily explained as the result of a lack of ‘rational’ fiscal policy. In economics, it is rational to respond to price signals; in this case the governments of New Zealand are not responding rationally to the lower interest rates made available to them, and are instead watching as much of the money they could and should be borrowing flows into the secondary housing market.
While there are many things the government could be spending money on – including higher wages in female intensive industries such as health and education – the Basic Universal Income and benefit increase cited above represent the best immediate uses of increased government borrowing.
The improved fiscal policy suggested is a case of win-win, immediately easing the stresses of daily life in today’s uncertain times, while also defusing the out-of-control real estate market.
I am not confident that the government will choose this or any other win-win option. Rather I believe they will choose a lose-lose option; continuance of unnecessary economic insecurity and escalating house prices.
The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been so profound, particularly for women, that it threatens to upend the progress on gender equality in recent years. During the lockdown, women were doing more of the unpaid labour – care and housework. They were also more exposed to the risks of coronavirus either as essential workers or working in industries, such as retail, hospitality and accommodation services, that were forced to close.
There is evidence also of significant impacts on men’s labour force participation. In some cases men’s job losses early in the pandemic have not been recovered.
The impacts of COVID-19 on women and men extend beyond work and home to education, particularly tertiary education enrolments.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ latest data, 112,000 fewer students were enrolled in tertiary education in May 2020 – at the height of the first wave – compared to a year earlier. This is the largest drop in enrolments in over 15 years.
Like other aspects of COVID-19, the impact was gendered with a far greater decline among women. There were 86,000 fewer women enrolled to study in May 2020 than in May 2019, compared with just over 21,000 fewer men.
Big fall was for women over 25
What do these data tell us about COVID-19, education, work and potentially the future?
These data tell us COVID-19 has not only severely disrupted the lives of women in the workplace and the home, but also in education.
The biggest decline in tertiary enrolments was among women over the age of 25: 60,000 fewer women over 25 were enrolled in university in May 2020 than in 2019.
This steep decline in enrolments is particularly surprising given Australia’s success in educating women and potentially puts the nation’s reputation at risk. Australia is ranked equal first in the world in terms of educational attainment for women, according the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Gender Gap Index. The country has been atop the list for well over a decade.
Juggling caring roles with study
These data remind us caring responsibilities not only affect careers or work-life balance, but also education. The sharp decline in female enrolments over the age of 25 suggests it was likely because of caring responsibilities.
Many of these women with caring responsibilities, for either young children or older family members, were likely forced to make a choice between caring and studying. And for those combining work and study on top of family commitments, many elected not to continue studying.
For many mature-aged students (those over 21), undertaking study is challenge, especially for those combining study with work and/or care. Previous research has shown a number of gendered expectations are put upon mature-aged students and their time.
For many of these mature-age women who are combining work and study, they increasingly do it flexibly or online and schedule it around other commitments. Others give up their leisure time for learning.
COVID-19 made that near-impossible. The loss of both family and formal childcare increased the burden of unpaid work for women at home. It was extended far into the workday and into the evenings where mature-aged women might ordinarily find time to study.
The data also highlight the gendered complexities of COVID-19 on education. Women’s enrolments were disproportionately affected, whereas the data showed significant increases in men over the age of 25 enrolling in university in May 2020 compared with 2019. Male enrolments in this age group increased by about 26,000.
This increase suggests men were either “forced” into tertiary education because of a lack of opportunities, or it was a deliberate strategy on their part to upskill so they could be more competitive for jobs once the economy recovers. In this way, older age groups of men have shown themselves to be similar to young people who tend to go into education during times of recession. This is perhaps in contrast to previous recessionary periods where the participation rate of older men declined considerably.
All of this has implications for the future, particularly for women. These data are worrisome because, even though the returns from education for women are poor, many women obtain a number of qualifications just to get on an even keel with men in the labour market.
These latest trends might make it harder for women in the long run. However, it is worth noting these data capture enrolments at a point in time – during the first wave of the pandemic. Things might have changed significantly since then.
In a new series, writers pay tribute to fictional detectives on page and on screen.
Trixie Belden, girl detective, does not rank in the world’s pantheon of cool sleuths. She’s unlikely to appear in a Coen brothers’ film (à la Marge Gunderson in Fargo (1996)), for example. Nor did she issue from the pen of hardboiled, mid-century crime writer Chester Himes.
Instead, she was the creation of Western Publishing — the American maker of Little Golden Books who wanted to market low-cost mysteries and adventures to children after the second world war — and Julie Campbell, a writer and literary agent who responded to their call.
Campbell wrote the first six books in the series from 1948 to 1958. The rest, some 30 or so, were composed by ghostwriters between 1961 and 1986 and published under the pseudonym, Kathryn Kenny.
As a child, I had no inkling of this origin story. So far as I knew, Trixie Belden was from Crabapple Farm, Sleepyside, in the Hudson River Valley. She had three brothers (two older, one younger) and her best friend was Honey Wheeler, met in the original book, The Secret of the Mansion (1948), which I read more than 30 years after it was first published.
Honey was rich and beautiful. So was Diana, who turned up a bit later in the series and was memorably said to have violet eyes. Trixie was neither of these things.
In the first book, at the age of 13, she found her detective vocation by uncovering the fortune of a deceased recluse. She also met its beneficiary. Jim Frayne, a runaway with a brutal stepfather, would become Honey’s adopted brother, Trixie’s blossoming love interest, and a member of the Bob-Whites, Trixie’s club of friends who formed the support cast for the Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency.
Whether searching for a lost weather vane or tracking down an arsonist, Trixie was at the centre of all the mysteries, which I avidly read and reread.
My attraction to Trixie was not a matter of projection or identification; my world was clearly unlike hers.
I did not anticipate that I would come across a rabid dog; rescue a pilot from a burning aeroplane; or have to suck blood from my brother’s toe to prevent his poisoning by a copperhead. (And that was all in only the first book of the series).
Trixie was obsessed with horses, I was more interested in her setter dog, Reddy. Trixie was terrible at maths, which had yet to cause me trouble.
The differences between us didn’t matter so much as our shared interest in “running all the information through [our] mental computer” (from 1977’s The Mystery of the Uninvited Guest). I wanted to figure things out, just like Trixie. She nonetheless had many amateur sleuth competitors on my primary school reading list.
The child-groups constituting the two former titles were like the Bob-Whites insofar as they also formed detective communities. Although to my mind they put inordinate value on passwords, badges and boarding school holidays.
Nancy Drew was undeniably admirable in her older sophistication but a little too polished for my still-developing taste. She was confident and self-contained, which is surely why Hollywood created movie versions of her and why the intrusion of the Hardy Boys franchise into her narrative made no sense to me. It wasn’t like she needed any help.
By contrast, Trixie Belden was more accommodating and needing of others. She sometimes said mean things, and would then regret them and apologise.
She knew she wasn’t as pretty as Honey or Diana and, while that worried her a little, she shrugged it off and had far more interesting existential doubts. In the 17th book, The Mystery of the Uninvited Guest, she speaks of feeling as if she were inside a glass box:
All the people of the world march past me … I know that when I can tell just one person who I am, the glass will melt and I can join the parade.
I’m sure at the age of eight or nine I had only a vague idea of what she meant, but it sounded a lot like what growing up was all about.
Sticky situations, mistaken identities and stolen jewels were always worked out, revealed or returned to their rightful owners in the end. And the motives behind these events weren’t always nefarious.
Goodreads
Reassurance was offered in the sympathetic knowledge that circumstances, rather than moral flaws, can bring about bad deeds, and that detection itself trod a fine ethical line.
Trixie’s conscience was pricked by her practices of eavesdropping, surveillance and occasional breaking-and-entering. At times she determined that the status quo, which her detective work ostensibly upheld, was not right.
Maths might have stumped her, but as Honey appreciatively recognised of her friend:
Trixie was a down-to-earth person, keenly aware of information gathered by all of her five senses — plus that extra sense called horse sense.
She might not be cool, today or then, but — well-surpassing her intended pulp-fiction status — Trixie Belden was smart and sensitive in the ways that mattered.
A Pacific Islands Forum-hosted webinar has called on the United Nations and Indonesia to be “more responsive” to the pleas of West Papuans and take action to resolve human rights issues in the Melanesian region.
The Secretary-General of the Forum, Dame Meg Taylor, the secretary-general of Pacific Council of Churches, Reverend James Bhagwan, diplomats and human rights activists made the call at the Suva-hosted online event on Friday.
“I do want and hope the UN will be responsive and the Indonesian government to also be responsive, so this matter moves forward and [we are] not continually having a conversation about it,” said Dame Meg.
She said that the UN high commissioner for human rights had been invited to visit West Papua, but this was not getting attention.
Dame Meg said that although her term would end next year, the issue of human rights in West Papua would go on as it was “ingrained very hard” for citizens of the region.
The webinar was part of the PIF’s Blue Pacific Talanoa series.
Rosa Moiwend, a West Papuan human rights activist, gave a stimulating message from a strong Melanesian and Pacific woman.
“The lives of West Papuans are a matter for all of us, so we need to take an action to save the lives of West Papuans no matter [what] your political backgrounds, or your standing. I think human lives is the most important thing,” Said Moiwend.
Covid no reason to delay action Reverend Bhagwan said the covid-19 pandemic should not be a reason to not act on the latest Pacific resolutions about West Papua.
He said the resolutions on West Papua to intervene have been long-standing and “we know that the invitation [to visit West Papua] and the discussions have happened well before covid came into the region”.
“The government of Indonesia [must] allow the fact-finding mission to visit West Papua and to respect the call of Pacific leaders in terms of the Human Rights Commission to send a team and respect those findings,” he said.
West Papuan activist Rosa Moiwend … “The lives of West Papuans are a matter for all of us.” Image: Laurens Ikinia/PMC screenshot
“We continue to urge the current chair and we acknowledge the work that their chair and secretary general had been doing and we look forward to discussions around the forum leaders meeting this year.”
“And we continue to call for the incoming chair of the forum to continue PIF leaders’ resolutions and report back to the forum leaders meeting in 2021.” “We need to open the story, we need access for information – this also includes access for foreign journalists to be able to come in and investigate.”
Indonesia ‘committed’ to human rights’ Indonesian representatives Dr Felix Wanggai and Nicholas Messet said that Indonesia was committed to promoting and protecting human rights.
“Indonesia is also facing its own [problems], but we are committed to promoting and protecting human rights and so alleged human right cases with principle of justice,” said Messet.
He said that human rights violations in West Papua never happened without law enforcement against the perpetrators.
“Not a single human rights issue goes with impunity,” he said.
Pacific Islands Forum webinar on West Papua … human rights top of the discussion. Image: Laurens Ikinia/PMC screenshot
“Indonesia believes that the PIF is not the forum to discuss the issue of territorial integrity of a sovereign countries, but on the other hand, PIF has a moral duty to see that human right issue must not happen to its members and dialogue partners countries, including Papua and West Papua which is part of Indonesia,” Messet said.
Dr Wanggai highlighted the commitment of the central government of Indonesia to human rights such as basic rights of access to health services, education, connectivity, water, housing for the West Papuan people.
“In the context of Papua, our government has defined the root causes in Papua, for example inequality, undeveloped area, lack of connectivity, and lack of the skill to manage their natural resources.”
Managing special autonomy framework Indonesia was continuing to manage the special autonomy framework for Papua and West Papua provinces.
“So, by the special autonomy framework, the government recognises Papuan identity in economic, culture, social and local politics,” said Dr Wanggai.
He also highlighted that the government recognised the importance of cultural affairs in solving human rights issues which he called Papuan cultural affairs, known as the Papuan People Assembly (Majelis Rakyat Papua).
However, Reverend Bhagwan said that he was concerned about the arrest of the members of the MRP and the breakup of public hearing meetings across West Papua.
“Here we receive information directly from our member churches and on the ground,” he said.
Last Tuesday, more than 50 people were arrested in Merauke at the meeting to discuss their concern over the special autonomy law,” said Reverend Bhagwan.
Moiwend said that the “invasion” by the Indonesia military in West Papua caused more human rights violations as it often became arrogant and oppressed the Papuans. It scared Papuans in the villages.
Human rights abuse still a problem She said that human rights abuse still continued.
“But I think one of the key aspects is the political aspect and we can’t deny that there is fighting between the Indonesian military and West Papua freedom fighters. I think when we look at this conflict, ordinary people have became a victim,” she said.
“We have thousands of internally displaced people now living in Wamena and another neighboring regency from Nduga.
“And we haven’t finished working on that issue and now we have Intan Jaya also with the same kind of background. The conflict is also related to the Wabu block which is related to the Freeport mining concession area.
“This needs to be addressed by the government of Indonesia. Two things, one is from the political aspect, and one is from the human rights aspect.
“The most urgent things right now is how the government deals with the human rights issue, especially the situation of women and children as internally displaced people in these two areas, but also in other parts like in Sorong,” Moiwend said.
Laurens Ikinia is a Papuan Masters in Communication Studies student at the Auckland University of Technology who has been studying journalism. He is on an internship with AUT’s Pacific Media Centre.
A young West Papuan musician, Kris Douw, who has written many powerful protest songs against Indonesia’s illegal military occupation in his homeland, has been beaten up by security forces, allege activists.
Douw was atacked about 8am on by Indonesian special forces at the Kodim Complex in Nabire, Papua, according to the Free West Papua Campaign website.
He suffered injuries to the face, including several broken teeth, and his body.
The website has circulated photographs of his injuries on social media, but did not give more details about the alleged attack.
“Shame on the Indonesian forces who carried out this cruel attack! This only goes to show the power that music holds,” the website said in a statement.
“A simple song of freedom is enough to make any Indonesian soldier tremble with fear at the idea of Papuans mobilising and becoming inspired after listening.
“This is why it is so important for musicians and songwritters worldwide to use their talents and privileges to expose what is really going on in Occupied West Papua.
“Because West Papuan musicians who do this are automatically at risk of being intimidated [such as the Vanuatu-based exiled group Black Brothers]. or tortured or even murdered [as in the case of Arnold Ap in 1984]…
“If they sing about what’s really going on in West Papua.”
A Kris Douw music track on YouTube.
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO ARTISTS WHO SING FREEDOM SONGS IN WEST PAPUA.
This is young West Papuan musician, Kris Douw. He…
In controlled laboratory situations, face masks appear to do a good job of reducing the spread of coronavirus (at least in hamsters) and other respiratory viruses. However, evidence shows mask-wearing policies seem to have had much less impact on the community spread of COVID-19.
Why this gap between the effectiveness in the lab and the effectiveness seen in the community? The real world is more complex than a controlled laboratory situation. The right people need to wear the right mask, in the right way, at the right times and places.
The real-world impact of face masks on the transmission of viruses depends not just on the behaviour of the virus but also on the behaviour of aerosol droplets in diverse settings, and on the behaviour of people themselves.
We carried out a comprehensive review of the evidence about how face masks and other physical interventions affect the spread of respiratory viruses. Based on the current evidence, we believe the community impact is modest and it may be better to focus on mask-wearing in high-risk situations.
Simply comparing infection rates in people who wear masks with those who don’t can be misleading. One problem is people who don’t wear masks are more likely go to crowded spaces, and less likely to socially distance. People who are more concerned often adhere to several protective behaviours — they are likely to avoid crowds and socially distance as well as wearing masks.
That correlation between mask wearing and other protective behaviours might explain why studies comparing mask-wearers with non-mask-wearers (known as “observational studies”) show larger effects than seen in trials. Part of the effect is due to those other behaviours.
The most rigorous, but difficult, way to evaluate the effectiveness of masks is to take a large group of people and ask some to wear masks and others not to, in a so-called controlled trial. We found nine such trials have been carried out for influenza-like illness. Surprisingly, when combined, these trials found only a 1% reduction in influenza-like illness among mask-wearers compared with non-mask-wearers, and a 9% reduction in laboratory-confirmed influenza. These small reductions are not statistically significant, and are most likely due to chance.
None of these trials studied COVID-19, so we can’t be sure how relevant they are to the pandemic. The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is a similar size to influenza, but has a different capacity to infect people, so it is possible masks might be more or less effective for COVID-19. A recently published trial in Denmark of 4,862 adults found infection with SARS-CoV-2 occurred in 42 participants randomised to masks (1.8%) compared to 53 control participants (2.1%), a (non-significant) reduction of 18%.
The most comprehensive between-country study of masks for COVID-19 infection is a comparison of policy changes, such as social distancing, travel restrictions, and mask wearing, across 41 countries. It found introducing a mask-wearing policy had little impact, but mask policies were mostly introduced after social distancing and other measures were already in place.
The Conversation, Author provided
What might diminish the effect of masks?
Why might masks not protect the person wearing them? There are several possibilities. Standard masks only protect your nose and mouth incompletely, for one thing. For another, masks don’t protect your eyes.
The importance of eye protection is illustrated by a study of community health workers in India. Despite protection by three-layer surgical masks, alcohol hand rub, gloves, and shoe covers, 12 of 60 workers developed COVID-19. The workers were then supplied with face shields (which provide eye protection) — in addition to the personal protective equipment (PPE) described above — and none of the 50 workers became infected despite higher case load.
Why masks might fail to clearly protect others is more complex. Good masks reduce the spread of droplets and aerosols, and so should protect others.
Things that might make masks less effective.Paul Glasziou, Author provided
However, in our systematic review we found three trials that assessed how well mask wearing protects others, but none of them found an obvious effect. The two trials in households where a person with influenza wore a mask to protect others in fact found a slight increase in flu infections; and the third trial, in college dormitories, found a non-significant 10% relative reduction.
We don’t know if the failure was the masks or participants’ adherence. In most studies adherence was poor. In the trials very few people wear them all day (an average of about four hours by self-report, and even less when directly observed). And this adherence declined with time.
But we also have little research on how long a single mask is effective. Most guidelines suggest around four hours, but studies on bacteria show masks provide good protection for the first hour and by two hours are doing little. Unfortunately, we could not identify similar research examining viruses.
Making masks mandatory only in crowded places, close-contact settings, and confined and enclosed spaces may be more effective.Dan Himbrechts / AAP
Is it better to focus masks on the 3 Cs: covered, crowded and close contact?
In addition to the completed Danish trial, another ongoing trial in Guinea-Bissau with 66,000 participants randomised as whole villages may shed more light as it tests the idea of source control. But given the millions of cases and billions of potential masks and mask wearers, more such trials are warranted.
We know masks are effective in laboratory studies, and we know they are effective as part of personal protective equipment for health care workers. But that effect appears diminished in community usage. So in addition to the trials, new research is urgently needed to unravel each of the reasons why laboratory effectiveness does not seem to have translated into community effectiveness. We must also develop ways to overcome the discrepancy.
Until we have the needed research, we should be wary about relying on masks as the mainstay for preventing community transmission. And if we want people to wear masks regularly, we might do better to target higher-risk circumstances for shorter periods. These are generally places described by “the three Cs”: crowded places, close-contact settings, and confined and enclosed spaces. These would include some workplaces and on public transport.
We are likely to be better off if we get high usage of fresh masks in the most risky settings, rather than moderate usage everywhere.
During the recent American elections, the most eye-catching graphics were were the individual county tallies.
These showed that even when states appeared to be overwhelmingly Republican red, some still “flipped” to the Democrats on the strength of a smaller number of blue squares.
The trick? These azure islands denoted population clusters in cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Phoenix.
The left-right chasm between urbanised Americans and the more sparsely distributed rural-regional ones was there to see in primary colours.
But the division itself was neither new, nor especially American.
Across England’s industrial north, British Labour’s Euro-centric cosmopolitanism cut little ice in the Brexit referendum of 2016, the same year once rusted-on working class Democrats first broke for Trump.
Labor struggling to reach ‘two Australias’
And of course in Australia, this trend is also well established.
Indeed, Coalition majorities have long been built on the need for niche-messaging. This sees Liberals garner the city vote, while mostly leaving the Nationals to reinterpret the conservative brand for bush sensibilities.
As a one-message-fits-all party, the ALP has struggled with this, and as the two Australias become more distinct and antagonistic, the strain is showing.
Labor’s primary vote nationally is stuck in the low-to-mid 30% range. In the resources states, it sits even lower. That’s too low to win a majority, prompting some in Labor to suggest a Liberal/National-style partnership with the Greens.
Labor needs to boost its primary vote if it is to win government on its own.Mick Tsikas/AAP
But it is far from clear how this would maximise the combined lower house seat haul, given they both court the same inner-city electors. What seems more obvious is that a joint Labor-Greens ticket would actually accelerate the drift of industrially-centred regional seats towards the Coalition.
Fitzgibbon and the coal dilemma
This is already happening.
According to Joel Fitzgibbon, who resigned last week from the shadow frontbench, Labor’s ambitious 45% by 2030 emissions cut at the last election proved this. After being pushed to preferences in 2019 on the back of a 14% primary vote slump, Fitzgibbon believes that “crazy” policy was kryptonite in his coal-dominated seat, and in regional communities up and down the eastern seaboard.
The Hunter Valley-based MP, and others in Labor’s right faction, argue such communities feel abandoned by a party beholden to inner-city progressives. There’s no doubt Labor MPs are increasingly pessimistic over their electoral prospects.
Some on the right insist the party is doomed unless it actively reconnects with its industrial roots, and that means dropping the climate change focus.
As Fitzgibbon told reporters when announcing his frontbench resignation,
We have to speak to, and be a voice for, all those who we seek to represent, whether they be in Surry Hills or Rockhampton. And that’s a difficult balance.
For Labor leader Anthony Albanese, this presents a near unsolvable puzzle. He needs to outflank the Greens on his capacity to form a government and deliver, and out-perform the Coalition on commitment. Now, he must also manage a rebellion inside his caucus from those who want to dump the party’s climate policy.
Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon is pressuring the party to adopt a less ambitious emissions plan.Lukas Coch/AAP
Right-aligned MPs, buttressed by powerful unions, argue steering closer to the Coalition than the Greens is the only way to secure government.
But Labor’s paid-up membership and a majority of its MPs favour a clear acknowledgement of the scientific evidence — evidence that unambiguously calls for the phasing out of fossil fuels in the next decade or two.
In a sign of things to come, the blaze of publicity surrounding Fitzgibbon’s resignation completely derailed Labor’s attempt to highlight how the new Democratic White House had left the Morrison government exposed as the only serious economy explicitly not committed to a net-zero time-line.
But Fitzgibbon, who claims to have substantial caucus support, wants Labor to simply tuck in behind the Morrison government and allow it to take any political heat for emissions targets not met and voters left frustrated.
Yet this too would be politically calamitous.
There could be an election next year
With an election possible within 12 months, time to reconcile these oil-and-water imperatives is fast running out.
It is a perfect storm. On the one hand, there is rising pessimism over Labor’s ability to compete with the Morrison government – especially during a pandemic. On the other, rising community impatience for decisive climate action.
That the opposition has not yet named interim emissions targets for 2030 and 2035 despite a clear commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050, speaks to its nervousness. Its rhetoric stresses urgency and purpose, but its detail reveals hesitation.
Insiders know any repeat of its 2019 each-way bet on the Adani coal-mine will be a gift to the Greens.
As the policy show-down looms, so too does the ever-present danger to Albanese of it morphing into a leadership stoush. The left’s Tanya Plibersek and the right’s Jim Chalmers are regarded as the most credible alternatives.
Leadership speculation has bubbled up again, as Labor struggles with its climate stance.Samantha Manchee/AAP
While only a climate capitulation would satisfy right-wing malcontents, another school of thought favours a doubling down, based on the simple arithmetic that there are a dozen-plus Coalition seats held by margins of under 5% — more than enough to compensate for the loss of regional electorates.
Bold transition fund needed
Perhaps Labor’s only hope of keeping both sides in the tent is to propose a bold, generously funded transition fund.
This would not just talk about green jobs and retraining, but directly pay those workers who are displaced. It would include everything from the loss of income and retraining, to compensating for the loss of businesses, house values, and full family relocation costs.
Taking advantage of the low cost of borrowing, this multibillion brown-to-green transition fund could guarantee workers in phased-out sectors would not be left to carry the costs of what is a “national” responsibility and “national” economic reconfiguration.
This could this be Labor’s winning formula: representation, leading to reparation, enabling reform.
Last summer, many Australians were shocked to see fires sweep through the wet tropical rainforests of Queensland, where large and severe fires are almost unheard of. This is just one example of how human activities are changing fire patterns around the world, with huge consequences for wildlife.
In a major new paper published in Science, we reveal how changes in fire activity threaten more than 4,400 species across the globe with extinction. This includes 19% of birds, 16% of mammals, 17% of dragonflies and 19% of legumes that are classified as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable.
But, we also highlight the emerging ways we can help promote biodiversity and stop extinctions in this new era of fire. It starts with understanding what’s causing these changes and what we can do to promote the “right” kind of fire.
Exceptionally large and severe fires have also been observed in areas with a long history of fire. For example, the 12.6 million hectares that burnt in eastern Australia during last summer’s devastating bushfires was unprecedented in scale.
The post-fire landscape in Flinders Chase National Park, Kangaroo Island, three months after an extremely large and severe bushfire last summer.Luke Kelly
But fire activity isn’t increasing everywhere. Grasslands in countries such as Brazil, Tanzania, and the United States have had fire activity reduced.
Extinction risk in a fiery world
Fire enables many plants to complete their life cycles, creates habitats for a wide range of animals and maintains a diversity of ecosystems. Many species are adapted to particular patterns of fire, such as banksias — plants that release seeds into the resource-rich ash covering the ground after fire.
But changing how often fires occur and in what seasons can harm populations of species like these, and transform the ecosystems they rely on.
Most are categorised as threatened by an increase in fire frequency or intensity.
For example, the endangered mallee emu-wren in semi-arid Australia is confined to isolated patches of habitat, which makes them vulnerable to large bushfires that can destroy entire local populations.
Likewise, the Kangaroo Island dunnart was listed as critically endangered before it lost 95% of its habitat in the devastating 2019-2020 bushfires.
Large bushfires threaten many birds, such as the mallee emu-wren.Ron Knight/Wikimedia, CC BY
However, some species and ecosystems are threatened when fire doesn’t occur. Frequent fires are an important part of African savanna ecosystems and less fire activity can lead to shrub encroachment. This can displace wild herbivores such as wildebeest that prefer open areas.
How humans change fire regimes
There are three main ways humans are transforming fire activity: global climate change, land-use and the introduction of pest species.
Global climate change modifies fire regimes by changing fuels such as dry vegetation, ignitions such as lightning, and creating more extreme fire weather.
What’s more, climate-induced fires can occur before the dominant tree species are old enough to produce seed, and this is reshaping forests in Australia, Canada and the United States.
Humans also alter fire regimes through farming, forestry, urbanisation and by intentionally starting or suppressing fires.
Introduced species can also change fire activity and ecosystems. For example, in savanna landscapes of Northern Australia, invasive gamba grass increases flammability and fire frequency. And invasive animals, such as red foxes and feral cats, prey on native animals exposed in recently burnt areas.
Importantly, cultural, social and economic changes underpin these drivers. In Australia, the displacement of Indigenous peoples and their nuanced and purposeful use of fire has been linked with extinctions of mammals and is transforming vegetation.
We need bolder conservation strategies
A suite of emerging actions — some established but receiving increasing attention, others new — could help us navigate this new fire era and save species from extinction. They include:
In Africa, reintroducing grazing animals such as rhinoceros create patchy fire regimes.Sally Archibald, Author provided
Where to from here?
The input of scientists will be valuable in helping navigate big decisions about new and changing ecosystems.
Empirical data and models can monitor and forecast changes in biodiversity. For example, new modelling has allowed University of Melbourne researchers to identify alternative strategies for introducing planned or prescribed burning that reduces the risk of large bushfires to koalas.
At the local and regional scale, Indigenous-led fire stewardship is an important approach for fostering relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations and communities around the world.
Frank Lake, a co-author on our new paper, works with Yurok and Karuk fire practitioners, shown here burning under oaks.Frank Lake, U.S Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station.
And international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming are crucial to reduce the risk of extreme fire events. With more extreme fire events ahead of us, learning to understand and adapt to changes in fire regimes has never been more important.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Bliemel, Associate Dean of Research; Course Director, Diploma in Innovation, University of Technology Sydney
This essay is based on the Impact at UTS podcast series. The audio series examines how a diverse range of researchers embed knowledge exchange and impact in their research strategy.
Universities are facing great financial challenges and a swathe of redundancy programs is under way. Many senior academics are retiring early. Those that remain are picking up more teaching load. Research and teaching programs are both at risk of being seriously compromised.
Beyond the individual loss for people who have built careers exploring important research challenges, what may be less apparent is our collective loss as a society if academics are deprived of the time to explore tough questions that we need answers for.
It might be hard to look beyond the immediate crisis in higher education, but universities will remain crucial social institutions. Now is the right time to continue the conversation about what they are and who they serve. And what are their impacts?
As part of our Impact at UTS podcast series, we spoke to researchers about how they navigate collaboration, engagement – with communities, industry and government – and impact. The breadth and depth of these impact stories reveal many inter-related insights, which we present later in this article. (You can listen to a full podcast episode at the end.)
Why does university research impact matter?
Universities are uniquely placed to explore complex problems that our collective future depends on. They can do so in a rigorous, ethical, collaborative and enduring way. Peer review regulates subjectivity and biases.
Investing the time to confront complex problems is often beyond the appetite and patience of a corporate agenda driven by other imperatives, including short-term survival. Nationally, Australia continues to lag in OECD rankings for research and development. This is obviously not desirable, and it’s a symptom of bigger problems in the university sector.
The sector has rightly begun to question inward-looking measures of success and KPIs, which are largely based on quantifying research grants in and publications out. Only other researchers care about such things.
Here, we ask why is the research worth doing in the first place? What does it contribute beyond the esteem of academic colleagues?
The COVID-19 crisis has intensified the need to revisit the relationship universities have with society. Every academic needs to grapple with questions of why or when research should be prioritised over teaching and upskilling job seekers and job keepers.
While a shift away from crude input-output metrics towards research impact sounds appealing, assessing impact is much harder to do at scale.
And, perhaps more importantly, many academics are highly specialised. Some are amazing curriculum designers, teachers, grant writers, researchers, report writers, administrators, team managers, stakeholder engagers (if that’s a real word) etc. So, among academics, it’s only natural that some will focus on impact more than others.
Academics create value in myriad ways, and rarely do you find a “purple squirrel” – someone who excels at the full spectrum of work to be done. But, if impact is increasingly relevant to all academics, then a shift towards impact opens questions about performing as a team or individually.
There is also understandable scepticism and change resistance to the “impact agenda” among academics. They are already time-poor and highly scrutinised. Any additional reporting and accountability requirements, such as the Australian Research Council’s engagement and impact assessment, feel like the last straw for academics, especially those who are busy chasing yesterday’s KPIs.
The research engagement and impact agenda needs to be worked through with great care. For a start, measurement of anything indelibly changes it, and new KPIs can introduce perverse responses and behaviours.
Focusing on engagement and impact also reinvigorates important value questions. There is always a risk that fundamental research is viewed as having no foreseeable impact. Yet it has given us so many unexpected and significant societal benefits.
A classic example is radio-astronomy research by CSIRO and Macquarie University leading to wi-fi, which is an enabling technology for further innovations. Similarly, there was no guarantee of success at the start of decades of experimenting involved in innovations like HPV vaccines, cochlear implants and solar panels. Each innovation has directly and indirectly improved millions of lives.
Binary thinking about research versus impact, or applied versus fundamental research, is misguided, as societal benefits rely upon both sides of those coins. The tension of research versus teaching is similarly unproductive.
Learning from researchers with impact
We can look to outliers or “purple squirrels” to learn about research excellence with impact. Robert Langer is an outstanding example. One of his ventures, Moderna, is a leader in developing a COVID-19 vaccine.
Langer’s lab at MIT has generated thousands of articles and patents, raising billions of dollars to spin out over 40 companies. This work includes treating multiple forms of cancer, endometriosis, eczema, vocal cord damage and more, and has affected the lives of billions. His papers with industry collaborators are also discussed more widely than papers published by academics only.
Research by Robert Langer and his colleagues is estimated to have affected the lives of 2 billion people.
Global outliers like Langer are certainly inspiring, but can feel inaccessible for the average researcher.
For our Impact at UTS podcast series, we spoke to highly acclaimed but more accessible researchers about how they navigate collaboration, engagement and impact. We cast a wide net. Their work spans a variety of disciplines and issues, including rebuilding reefs, Indigenous rights and self-determination, beach safety, solving crime through trace detection, access to clean water, autonomous vehicles, and more.
What did these researchers tell us?
These impact stories consistently reveal many inter-related insights, including:
researchers’ desires to effect positive change align with the shift towards valuing benefits
researchers can be faithful to standards of academic rigour, ethics and independence while having material impact
engagement starts before a research project is formalised, and continues during and after it — gone are the days of throwing mono-disciplinary publications behind a paywall in the hope someone will discover it, make sense of the jargon and bridge the research-policy gap
engagement is based on shared values, which become shared language and shared understandings
formal agreements are important, but impactful collaboration is far from being transactional or contractual
it’s a team effort — there might be one chief investigator, but it’s often a team of researchers and several non-university stakeholders.
Fulfilling universities’ public purpose
These insights reveal a more holistic and integrated picture of research engagement with communities, industry and government. By engaging with research end-users early, researchers get a real understanding of the problem. This helps inform their research, leading to greater impact and adoption.
The lessons learned should resonate with academics from any discipline or stage of career. They are also useful to non-academics as they select which academic or university to reach out to.
Despite the COVID-19 chaos, what endures is that universities are institutions with a public purpose. In Australia, publicly funded agencies employ a significant proportion of the research workforce. University research thus plays a critical role in addressing complex problems and national needs.
A focus on the benefits that accrue from university research provides an opportunity for universities to enhance public trust and confidence in the value of their research. An engaged and supportive public may just be the most effective pathway towards creating the political will to adopt coherent, evidence-based policy.
For researchers, greater impact contributes to a virtuous research life cycle, including more sustainable funding. Last, but certainly not least, being able to draw on excellent research with impact in the classroom creates cutting-edge education and lifelong learning experiences in a way that more authentically includes the voices of the people impacted by the research.
Impact at UTS was made by Impact Studios at the University of Technology Sydney – an audio production house that combines academic research with audio storytelling for real-world impact.
More than one-third of young women in a nationwide survey said they missed at least one class, either at school or university, in the past three months due to menstrual symptoms, including pain and fatigue.
More than three quarters of young women said they had problems concentrating due to their period. Around half said they didn’t feel like they had performed as well on a test or assignment due to their symptoms.
We used a nationwide online survey to collect information from 4,202 teenagers and young women in Australia, aged 13 to 25, who were either at school or at tertiary education like university or TAFE.
More than half (60%) of the women in our survey said they wouldn’t feel comfortable speaking to a teacher or lecturer about how their period was affecting them.
How period pain affects education
Many young women experience menstrual symptoms. Almost three quarters report regular period pain, around half report fatigue, and more than one third report emotional changes such as mood swings. Studies show these menstrual symptoms can cause women to miss work or school and some previous studies in teenagers show it may potentially impact academic performance.
We wanted to understand how menstrual symptoms might be affecting young women in Australia with regard to their education, and how they manage these.
We asked young women about how often they got period pain and other menstrual symptoms, how it impacted their attendance or classroom performance, and explored how useful they found the sexual and reproductive education they had previously received.
In our survey, nine out of ten young women reported having had period pain in the past three months, and half reported pain every month. This is similar to previous findings in teenagers in Australia.
Their pain scores, which tended to be moderate to severe for most, didn’t change as they got older.
More than one-third of young women said they missed at least one class in the past three months due to their menstrual symptoms. This was almost identical no matter if they were at school or at university.
The negative impacts of periods also included missing sport and social activities. But more than half (60%) of young women said they wouldn’t feel comfortable speaking to a teacher or lecturer about how their period was affecting them.
Pain was the biggest factor in predicting how much their education would be affected, with higher pain scores having a much greater negative impact. This is a concern as it often occurs at a crucial time in their academic lives during their final schooling years. Absenteeism at this time can have long-term consequences due to exams and assignments in the senior years often determining which courses can be studied at tertiary education.
Many accepted pain as ‘normal’
Most of the young women in our study didn’t seek medical advice for their pain, even when it was severe. This is similar to what has been found in the past.
As their pain got worse they were more likely to think it was abnormal but weren’t any more likely to seek medical attention. This is probably due, at least in part, to the fact most young women think pain is normal and they just need to put up with it.
Unfortunately, this belief can often be reinforced when they speak to a medicalprofessional.
Only about half of young women at school had heard of endometriosis — a chronic condition in which cells similar to those that line the uterus grow in other parts of the body. It can cause significant pain, fatigue and reproductive issues.
Only about half of young women said they would seek medical advice if they had pelvic pain when they didn’t have their period. This is despite over half (55%) reporting they did experience pelvic pain (pain similar to their period but when not menstruating) at least once a month.
Many young women think period pain is normal and they should just bear it.Shutterstock
Severe period and pelvic pain when not menstruating are very common early signs of chronic pelvic pain (such as endometriosis), and delays in diagnosis may worsen outcomes for young women.
Education on menstrual health is incorporated into the Australian Foundation to Year 10 Health and Physical Education (HPE) curriculum. This positions health and physical education teachers as critical in providing students with evidence-based information in a relevant, timely and age-appropriate manner.
The young women we surveyed highlighted their schools’ shortcomings in educating them on how to manage period pain. One 16-year-old Victorian student said:
There was no practical information such as relieving symptoms and the use of sanitary items, only the biological effect on the body such as how hormones come into play. Personally that was not useful and I can’t remember much about it.
The young women saw a lack of support for period pain during their education and the negative impacts this may have. An 18-year-old student from Western Australia said:
In particular, no advice was given on dealing with pain (mine ended up being extreme) or what the process (if any) was at school for having menstrual pain taken seriously and treated as a consideration in test writing or sport class.
Teachers need to be more aware of potential impacts of period pain on education outcomes. And the curriculum must be expanded to focus on mitigation strategies for period pain.
There are some promisingmenstrualeducation programs, both in person and online, that have been developed to tackle these shortcomings, including some that also include parents and boys. Currently these programs are often ad-hoc, and need to be adopted as a consistent part of the school curriculum.
It is critical menstruation and period pain transcend being a girl’s or women’s issue alone and include all genders, as well as parents and caregivers, who are often called on to support and inform young people.
Governments want strong economies, diverse job opportunities and growing populations in regional cities. The Commonwealth’s City Deals and Smart Cities Plan have recently renewed focus on these priorities.
The main policy problem for regional cities has been creating enough employment opportunities to attract residents from capital cities. Unexpectedly, the COVID-driven trend towards remote working may have delivered a solution.
Suddenly, the potential of digital technology for working remotely is being embraced. Many people could live in regional cities while working remotely for employers elsewhere. If this trend continues, regionalism could well become the newest phase of Australian urbanism.
The east coast capitals developed first. Other capitals followed, along with industrial cities like Newcastle and Geelong. Regional cities grew at different speeds; some have longer histories than others.
The nationwide shift to suburbia started in the early 20th century and has accelerated since. The “Australian Dream” of owning a free-standing family home in the suburbs remains dominant. It drives the relentless expansion of outer suburbs, especially around the large capitals.
Decades of constant suburbanisation and expansion of capital cities fuelled the rise of metropolitan Australia. Here, expanding outer suburbs extend into surrounding hinterlands before eventually connecting with neighbouring cities and towns. Metropolitan Melbourne, Greater Sydney and South-east Queensland are examples.
A bird’s eye view of metropolitan Australia.Leon Brooks, Pixnio
Urban consolidation, focused on increasing the density of urban cores and inner suburbs, is another recent phase of Australian urbanism. It is promoted as an efficient way to improve the availability and mix of urban housing, while slowing unsustainable sprawl. The broad uptake of urban consolidation across Australia is one of the main reasons inner-urban living became desirable in recent times.
The Gasworks is an urban consolidation project in Newstead, Brisbane.Kgbo, Wikipedia
A common thread through the phases of Australian urbanism is that the overwhelming concentration of people and jobs in capital cities has been difficult to reverse. Until now, migrating to a regional city and bringing your job with you was a distant dream for most workers and policymakers.
Things may be about to change for regional cities. A new trend of people relocating from capital cities to regional areas appears to be gaining momentum.
This new internal migration creates a unique opportunity for governments to grow regional cities and stimulate economies.
Regional cities will benefit from expanding populations. More people will generate new cultural attractions, more social opportunities and greater vibrancy.
City revenues will rise as more taxes and rates start to flow through. Policymakers can then deliver much-needed liveability improvements.
Policy innovations for regional cities should focus on quickly delivering quality housing and social infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. Care must be taken to ensure rapidly rising rents and gentrification don’t displace existing residents. Displacement of regional city residents was a big problem during the mining boom.
Regionalism also presents opportunities and challenges for the capital cities. Growing vacancy rates for residential, commercial and retail space could become permanent. Falling populations and fewer workers will hurt some sectors. Sunk investment in infrastructure, including public transport, might be unrecoverable if projected user numbers don’t materialise.
Even if some residents leave capital cities, others will still arrive. There will probably be distinct demographic differences between the two groups. Most of those leaving will be established professionals with occupations they can continue remotely. Most arrivals will likely be interstate and overseas migrants, as well as graduates looking for entry-level professional roles.
For the next few years at least, the option to work regionally for a capital city employer is likely to be negotiated and earned, rather than automatic.
Regional future demands adaptable planning
The coming years will definitely not be business as usual for Australian cities. The rise in remote working will bring transformative changes.
It will not be enough to just plan for growth in regional cities. It is imperative to plan well, plan strategically and plan for the long term.
The move towards regionalism will have financial, social and environmental impacts. Established urban patterns may no longer hold. Policy responses will have to be innovative, flexible and dynamic.
Gold Coast, once a regional holiday destination, is now Australia’s sixth-largest city.Vape Fuse, Flickr
Governments may need to activate special regulatory and legal arrangements to effectively manage trends towards regionalism. The innovative frameworks for regional development in recent City Deals are illustrative of new policy approaches to shaping regionalism.
We see a shift in the distribution of some planning and development powers between tiers of government to prioritise certain projects. Changes will have to be justified by economic, environmental or social objectives. Even if necessary, it might cause controversy, upheaval and legal challenges.
Governments will need to be strategic, diplomatic and brave to maximise future opportunities for regional and capital cities. Recognising that regionalism looks like the newest phase of Australian urbanism is a good start.
The government’s Retirement Incomes Review paints an encouraging picture of the finances of retired Australians.
Most are at least as well off in retirement as they were while working, and most are more financially satisfied and less financially-stressed than Australians of working age.
But not all. The huge exception is retirees who do not own their own homes.
Whereas very few retired home owners are in poverty, most retired renters are.
Income poverty rates of retirees
Note: Data relates to 2017-18 financial year. Elevated poverty rate defined as 5 percentage points above retiree average.Retirees are where household reference person is aged 65 and over. There is overlap between some categories, for example, early retired and renter categories. Early retired means aged 55-64 and not in the labour force. Housing costs includes the value of both principal and interest components of mortgage repayments.Source: Analysis of ABS Survey of Income and Housing Confidentialised Unit Record File, 2017-18
So bad is the divide, the review found that even a 40% increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance (the payment for pensioners) would reduce financial stress among renters by only 1%.
This is because rent assistance is low, covering only about 13% of the cost of renting.
Retirees who own their own homes don’t have to pay rent (and can still get the pension should their wealth be tied up in their home), and have a source of wealth that usually eclipses both their own superannuation and the wealth of renters.
Equivalised household wealth by asset type, for retirees
Note: Retirees are defined as households where the reference person is aged 65 or older and is no longer in the labour force. Household wealth has been equivalised using the OECD equivalence scale in order to take account of differences in a household’s size and composition. Values in 2017-18 dollars.ABS, Retirement Incomes Review
Most people do not regard their home as a retirement asset, a view compounded by rules that exempt it from taxes and the pension assets test.
They are also reluctant to borrow against the value of their home using facilities such as the Pension Loans Scheme, for the same reasons they are reluctant to touch any of the wealth they retire with.
Data provided to the review by a large super fund shows its members typically die with 90% of what they had at retirement.
Most retirees don’t use what they’ve got
Another study finds age pensioners die with about 90% of what they had on retirement.
Partly the reasons are psychological. The review says words such as “investments”, “savings” and “nest eggs” imply the assets aren’t for living on.
Before compulsory super, employer-sponsored schemes usually paid “defined” benefits that could be measured in terms of income per year.
In the new system, designed to break the connection between workers and specific employers, benefits were “accumulated” in funds that could most easily be measured by the amount in them.
It is difficult for most people to see how a lump sum converts into income stream, and even more difficult when it depends on the interaction with the pension.
Another reason retirees hang on to what they had on retirement might be a genuine (if misplaced) concern about the unexpected.
In fact, health and aged care costs are heavily subsidised. Most people’s spending on them doesn’t increase significantly throughout retirement, yet many people seem unaware of how little of their own funds they will need.
Partly this is because of the complexity of the aged care and health care systems and how poorly they are explained.
It’s created two systems
Providing help to retirees who actually need it (mainly renters, many of them single women) and getting people with assets in the form of superannuation, savings and housing to actually use them rather than pass them on in bequests are the two key challenges identified in the report.
They are problems that boosting the rate of compulsory super contributions (as pushed for by the funds and presently leglislated) won’t help with.
They are set to become worse.
Although home ownership rates remain high for people over the age of 65, a growing number of Australians are not entering the housing market.
Over 15 years, the number of Australians over 65 who do not own their home outright is expected to double.
As the amount in super funds grows (boosted by the legislated increase in compulsory contributions, should it take place), Australians with super are going to have even more relative to what they need and even less need to make use of it.
The report makes no recommendations, and doesn’t suggest that the solutions are easy.
Widening the pension asset test to include the home would leave many homeowners worse off and could generate distrust and destabilise the system.
Getting more Australians into home ownership has proved difficult and could never be a solution for all Australians, in any case.
We already have in place rules that require retirees to draw down their super, but often they withdraw the minimum amount permitted and then reinvest much of it in another savings vehicle outside of super.
We’ve created a system where most have enough or more than enough to retire on and others get nothing like enough.
In a new series, writers pay tribute to fictional detectives on page and on screen.
As a detective’s apprentice for over 60 years now, I’ve had work-experience stretches in the offices of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, Wilkie Collins’s Walter Hartright and Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe.
I count Lee Child’s Jack Reacher as a detective-investigator, though he would show little patience for an apprentice such as me. Peter Temple’s Jack Irish, Stieg Larrson’s Mikael Blomkvist, Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch, Tana French’s Antoinette Conway, Dervla McTiernan’s Cormac Reilly, and others have guided me along the way.
I can’t say I’ve learned much about how to solve crimes, or even how to face death, but I can say I’ve become addicted to a world where disasters abound and answers eventually arrive.
There has been one detective I’ve stuck with, and perhaps in some ways become more than his apprentice. I might have become his shadow for nearly a decade. Kurt Wallander, working out of the imagination of Henning Mankell. I think I stuck with Kurt, and felt for him because the novels were as much interested in the humdrum details of his life as the crimes he encountered.
Last week I finished re-reading the series of prequel novellas that introduced Kurt Wallander to readers: The Pyramid (first published in 1999).
It was in these stories Wallander’s father suddenly bought a house in the countryside and moved there to live alone and paint the same painting over and over again. Then he suddenly decided to travel to Egypt where he was arrested for trying to climb up the side of a pyramid (steeper than he thought it would be, he didn’t get far up it).
The shape of the triangular pyramid made some kind of murky, intuitive sense to Wallander as he grappled with a series of at first seemingly unrelated crimes and deaths. And this might be another reason I like the man: he is not particularly bright, though he is particularly persistent.
Of course I have watched and very much enjoyed the television incarnations of Kurt Wallander, including some of the latest Young Wallander episodes. But as a reader (admittedly of English translations) I have a certain textual man in mind so surely that I’m wary of television versions pushing him out.
‘I’m not cut out for this.’ New series Young Wallander shows the young Kurt wondering if he’s meant for the job.
I like it that he calls himself a police officer, not a detective, even in the final novel (2009’s The Troubled Man) after he has solved a lifetime’s worth of crimes and finds himself in his 60s doing exactly as his father did — buying a country house on impulse that sits listing among empty fields like a shipwreck.
In that final novel, what I like most of all is the relaxed build-up to crimes that will encompass the book. It takes us about 50 pages to get there as we follow Wallander through the buying of the country house, acquiring a dog, trying to train it, learning of his daughter’s pregnancy, becoming a grandfather, struggling to respect her new lover who is the father of her child, and finally coming to face his own fast-approaching decline into dementia.
It is not that he seems to be more “real” than other detectives, for any detective worth their salt has personal problems that round out the depiction of a flawed character they must deal with alongside the task of solving crimes. It’s a necessary convention. Wallander, though, did get under my skin.
The timing was right. Wallander is just that bit ahead of me in years — far enough ahead to allow my imagination room to be with him but not inside him. He has aged before my time, failed at all sorts of challenges with me (though he did his best), misunderstood himself, as most of us do, while managing to keep what was important to him going in his life.
His was no one’s envied life, but it was vividly a life lived with the kind of purpose we might question but could never treat with cynicism.
Swedish actor Krister Henriksson played the crusty Kurt from 2005 to 2013.IMDB
Wallander remained that convincing and slightly exotic stranger — the Swedish one who listened to opera in his car, sometimes drank too much alone, ate junk food, and let his temper get the better of him too often, while managing to face death and bring justice to his corner of the world repeatedly.
In truth, Wallander is probably too morose, too solitary and grumpy for me to ever truly like. But isn’t that the hallmark of any interesting friend in literature: someone you can be up close to in a book but not have to find a taxi for at the end of the night?
Over a lifetime of reading, detective fiction becomes a tribute to the real police all over the world who chase murderers down. We rely on them, and can mostly only imagine what damage this work does to their souls. I am not surprised that one time, after writing 100 pages of a Wallander novel about child abuse, Henning Mankell took his manuscript outside and burned it. There have to be limits to the stories and mysteries that see us through.
An Indonesian university student, Frans Josua Napitu, who reported his institution’s rector (vice-chancellor) to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), has challenged the campus administration to an academic debate over accusations that he is involved with the Free Papua Movement (OPM).
“This accusation against me is baseless. What I did before was express solidarity with cases racism suffered by our sister and brother Papuans,” said the Semarang State University (Unnes) student, reports CNN Indonesia.
“That’s being a human. I myself follow the Gusdurian [philosophy of former president Abdurrahman ‘Gus Dur’ Wahid] of treating human beings as human beings. So, how could I possibly join a radical or separatist group.
“Come on dean, or Unnes officials, we’ll argue it in an open debate, an academic debate to argue the case”, said Napitu in Semarang, Central Java, this week.
Napitu took the opportunity to say that he also suspected the accusations against him by the Unnes authorities were an attempt to cover up an alleged case of corruption which he had reported to the KPK.
“This is not unrelated to what I did, reporting suspected corruption by the Unnes rector to the KPK. This is them panicking,” said Napitu.
Earlier, Napitu, a faculty of law student, reported the Unnes rector, Fathur Rokhman, to the KPK. On November 13 the receipt of the report was confirmed by acting KPK spokesperson Ali Fikri.
Later, Napitu was sanctioned by the Unnes campus authorities by being sent home to his parents for “moral character guidance”. Unnes faculty of law dean Rodiyah said that with this decision, the campus had also postponed all of Napitu’s obligations as an Unnes student for the next six months.
Unnes rectorate special staff member for legal affairs, Muhamad Azil Maskur, denied that the sanctions against Napitu were related to the KPK report. He said that Napitu had already written a letter declaring that he would not repeat his actions, the most fatal of which was Napitu’s involvement in an OPM sympathisers movement.
Baseless and anti-democratic Meanwhile, in response to the sanctions and accusations against Napitu by the campus authorities, the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) and the all-Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) network have criticised the move by the Unnes campus as baseless and anti-democratic.
“We and our YLBHI colleagues, there are around 17 LBH in Indonesia, condemn the attitude taken by Unnes in suspending [Napitu] as anti-democratic. Never mind the accusations of FN’s involvement in the OPM, which is fabricated and baseless. Unnes should instead protect and safeguard its students,” said Cornel Ghea from LBH Semarang.
In an official statement by the YLBHI and the LBH offices across Indonesia which was received Wednesday, they stated that Napitu’s suspension was a form of shallow thinking which endangers campus democracy.
“The actions of Unnes dean FH are very dangerous for students’ independent thinking. Unnes as an academic institution should protect students’ independent thought not instead use their power to intimidate independent thinking, suspending students, even very possibly dropping student out on fabricated grounds”, read the statement by the pro-bono legal aid network.
“Unnes as an academic institution should protect students’ independent thinking instead of using their power to intimidate independent thinking”, the statement said.
They are therefore asking the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) and the KPK to take responsibility for providing legal protection to Napitu as mandated under article 15 of Law Number 19/2019 on the KPK.
Asking for response on actions The article reads, “The Corruption Eradication Commission is obliged to provide protection to witnesses or reporters who submit reports or provide information on corruption crimes that have taken place in accordance with legislation”.
In addition to this they are also asking the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) to supervise and take respond to the actions by the Unnes faculty of law dean who has violated the right to freedom of opinion and access to education.
“Through this statement, the YLBHI along with LBH offices support FN’s struggle, we also invite all civil society groups to stand in solidarity [with him], to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to provide support in fighting shallow thinking and the anti-critical stand shown against FN”, read the statement.
Media freedom defenders from Commonwealth countries have criticised many governments across the world that threaten and censor the work of journalists.
Three speakers condemned Chinese pressure “behind the scenes” on Pacific media and in Southeast Asia, the “backsliding” of media freedom in Australia, and raised the West Papua “self-determination” issue in the opening panel of the day-long webinar.
The speakers, UNESCO professor of journalism at the University of Queensland, Peter Greste, who was jailed in 2013 by the Egyptian regime while he was a foreign correspondent covering the Arab Spring for Al Jazeera English; Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie and editor of Pacific Journalism Review; and Reporters Without Borders East Asian bureau chief Cédric Alviani, who has lived in Asia since 1999, gave robust criticisms.
Media freedom has been taken up as a serious issue in Commonwealth nations, such as in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries.
Conference facilitator Professor Philip Murphy, who is also director of the institute, said people from across the world were “using technology to bring in speakers from right across the Commonwealth – it is a fantastic opportunity”.
Panel chair Sue Onslow said a key objective of the institution had been exploring how serious the Commonwealth cared about media freedom.
Open dialogue on ‘free flow’ “The Commonwealth charter signed in 2013 affirmed the members’ commitments to a peaceful and open dialogue on the free flow of information, including free and responsible media,” said Murphy.
The opening speaker, Professor David Robie, who is also convenor of the Pacific Media Watch freedom project at Auckland University of Technology, said Pacific governments were becoming increasingly “authoritarian” in dealing with the media, making it difficult for journalists to work independently and securely.
He condemned the Solomon Islands government’s decision this week to ban Facebook because of “abusive language” and “character assassination” against politicians, saying that little thought had begin given to implementing such a draconian gag.
The Commonwealth media freedom webinar hosted in London this week … critical issues of “weaponised” law, safety of journalists, fake news and censorship. Image: Laurens Ikinia screenshot
Dr Robie said Facebook and social media were vital for communication in the region and for many small media organisations that had integrated social media strategies into their news operations.
The Solomon Islands government itself was using Facebook for communicating with the public.
Dr Robie also criticised China for its media policies in the region, saying there had been “a trend in clamping down on Facebook in a number of countries in the Pacific” emulating a mainland Chinese lead.
He cited the Facebook threatening moves in Papua New Guinea and Samoa and the ban in Nauru as examples of Chinese influence.
China ‘undermining’ media norms “China is undermining the long-established independent media freedom norms,” he said.
There was speculation behind the scenes about the influence from China over governments because of extraction industries, such as logging, in an attempt to force silence.
“So, there is a worry and I think an increasing worry in the region about this,” said Dr Robie.
He also criticised the lack of coverage in Commonwealth countries such as Australia and New Zealand about issues concerning Pacific nations such as the decolonisation issue for French Polynesia, New Caledonia – “and especially West Papua”.
“These issues are becoming increasingly critical issues for the Pacific media with a particularly strong proactive line on this around the Pacific about West Papua, a cause célèbre if you like.
“Of course, it’s difficult because it is regarded as part of Indonesia and sometimes the statistics around media freedom issues in West Papua are hidden across statistics in Indonesia as a whole,” Dr Robie said.
He said that despite the lack of coverage from mainstream media in the region, West Papua was increasingly an issue for the independent Pacific media.
West Papua will be ‘big issue’ “This will become a very big issue in the next few years,” he said.
“Globally, you get international news organisations like Al Jazeera covering West Papua while much of the mainstream media in Australia and New Zealand don’t. Pacific nations news media are taking it up it as a critical issue for them.”
Professor Peter Greste , who is also spokeperson for the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom, said that the practice of journalism was now being “weaponised” with anti-terrorism laws such as introduced by the Australian government.
Commonwealth Institute of Studies director Professor Philip Murphy … “using technology to bring in speakers from right across the Commonwealth”. Image: Laurens Ikinia screenshot
He recalled his experience while working in Egypt before he was jailed for 400 days over alleged “terrorism” and then deported.
Governments were increasingly taking national security legislation as an anti-terrorism law and using it to “come after the journalists”. Two of his Al Jazeera colleagues were still in jail in Cairo.
“I started to realise what was happening in Egypt was one of the greatest examples of the kind of things that were taking place all over the world. Not just in an authoritarian regime like Egypt or Turkey or China where journalists were being locked up with great impunity, but equally in liberal Western democracies, including here in Australia.”
However, Professor Greste said some progress had been made about reforming such laws.
Law reform progress in Australia “We are seeing some progress here in Australia to change the law, at least getting some legislative reform. In Australia, there is an opportunity to move.”
Reporters Without Borders’ Cédric Alviani said that citizens had a fundamental right to information, it was not just an issue about media freedom for media owners.
“We have to insist that press freedom is the freedom of the people to receive quality information, and somehow it should be called Freedom of Information – or maybe under another name – but somehow it would be less confusing as it’s a right of the citizens. It is enshrined in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” he said.
“I believe we should start from the public spaces. Politicians or decision takers will only do this if it suits their interests, so I would say the public has to push for this. This is a right, and we have to push for our rights because every other person basically has an interest to remove this right.”
Alviani said that it was important for journalists to be accountable for their work as otherwise they would amplify disinformation and lead to a negative impact.
“Disinformation can boost the national security threat and only journalists can debunk fake news before it has become viral,” he said.
“If the journalists don’t do their job properly, they are going to amplify fake news, instead of debunking it.”
The seminar included panels on South Asia, Africa, Europe and Canada, the Caribbean with more than 16 journalists and media freedom defenders taking part, and with a large audience.
The sharply rising number of deaths from the covid-19 coronavirus in Mā’ohi Nui (“French” Polynesia) has triggered a corrosive war of words with a pro-independence party lawmaker, Élaine Tevahitua, accusing President Édouard Fritch of mismanagement of the crisis.
All the archipelagos of the Polynesian territory have now been hit by the out of control covid-19 – even the most isolated, Mangareva – since the borders were opened four months ago.
Another new death from covid-19 coronavirus has been condemned at Tahiti’s only hospital, Ta’aone, taking the total to 62, with 225 new infections in the past 24 hours.
This takes the number of people carrying the virus to 12,587 since it was first detected on March 13.
Eighty-five patients are in hospital, including 24 in intensive care unit whose stay at the hospital usually last around three weeks.
This long stay puts pressure on the number of beds available as the increase in covid-19 continues.
If this rate persists, it is likely there will be more than 100 deaths by the end of the year.
Open letter to Tahiti’s president Last week, the independence party, Tavini Huiraatira, wrote an open letter to the president, presenting statistics about “good management of covid-19”.
The letter cited examples to follow such as Fiji, Maldives, New Caledonia, and Samoa ranging from a small number of deaths to no cases at all, challenging the “abysmal death rate” under President Fritch’s governance.
New covid-19 cases in Ma’ohi Nui on 18 November 2020 … alarming statistics with a population of 278,000.
A tit-for-tat exchange on statistics followed with the president talking about a “one-sided story” from the opposition and criticising that no figures were given on the impact of covid-19 on the economy from those island nations.
Fritch also had a crack at the New Zealand and Australian governments which he called “the absent big brothers” for not readily helping their “free-association islands”. The president praised the French authorities for “helping” his government.
Calls by the opposition party for free tests on the entire population to have a better visibility of the virus spread and a return to a 14-day quarantine for tourists, seem to have fallen on deaf ears with the government, which described these moves as too costly.
Tahiti’s Ta’aone Hospital …. the lack of testing alarming and “dangerous” in the face of the big increase in Tahitian cases of covid-19 infection. Image: Infos-Tahiti
Epidemiologist Dr Pierre-Henri Mallet described the lack of testing alarming and “dangerous” in the face of the big increase in cases, saying “it is possible that 30,000 people have already been affected by this virus and one underestimates the number of cases”.
The French authorities and the local territorial government opened the border on July 15 to tourists – mainly from the USA and France – to save the local economy with tourism representing 20,000 jobs.
The first death was on September 10.
France fighting covid-19 and impacts on Ma’ohi Nui In France, the decisions taken by French President Emmanuel Macron in mid-October to impose curfews and a 15-day lockdown in many French cities since the beginning of November, seemed to contradict a policy that temporarily allowed French people to visit French Polynesia under the so-called priority “economic lifeline”. This was quickly abandoned.
President Édouard Fritch … the Tahitian local economy comes before people’s health and safety. Image: RNZ
The Fritch government says that another lockdown would be a catastrophe for the local economy, and these are some of the measures that have been taken instead:
Strictly limiting gatherings of people, especially in public places, and the prohibition of festivals or family events;
Closing of night clubs and “fun boats”;
Limiting the number of customers in restaurants;
Limiting the number of churchgoers of all faiths in places of worship; and
Ordering mandatory mask-wearing in the city centre and in public buildings.
For Tahiti and Moorea, a curfew was put in place from 9 pm to 4 am.
For the rest of the Society archipelago, no curfew, but many shops and bars, entertainment places, and sport centres were forced to close.
French High Commissioner Dominique Sorain oversees the country’s defence and home security, with the approval of the local government.
Once again, the economy trumped the local population’s health and safety according to the independence party.
While France is striving to save both the economy and the population, President Fritch seems bound on saving the economy first in Tahiti.
Is this another déjà-vu? It certainly looks like another case of déjà-vu, one such as the independence party reminds people about the lure of a better economy and a place in the history books promised by General Charles de Gaulle in 1964. That promise tempted the then Permanent Commission of the Territorial Assembly to offer the two atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa for nuclear testing.
There is a certain irony that covid-19 and the nuclear experimentation in French Polynesia are strikingly similar in terms of the lack of information and lack of transparency by the local government and the French authorities.
On September 15, all information about covid-19 was put on the back burner and press conferences reduced from three to one weekly in order to focus more on the late senatorial elections, silencing the effects of covid-19 on the population.
Social media users are complaining about the non-existent official numbers of the rate of patients “cured” who come out of a covid-19 hospitalisation with debilitating effects.
It has also been noted that patients who have not been in intense care unit, do display persisting health problems when coming out of hospital.
The secrecy shrouding these two problems for the Mā’ohi Nui population is therefore nothing new and history has often revealed the truth.
The Pacific diaspora lens in unmasking the secrecy As a member of the Mā’ohi Nui diaspora living in New Zealand, it is incumbent upon us to report what we see as outsides-insiders so that our communities back in our respective archipelagos are actively informed.
To speak specifically about Mangareva, one of the concerns that might be important in terms of the death rate, are the pre-existing condition factors.
What does that mean?
Diabetes, heart conditions, obesity are some of the diseases that covid-19 festers on but, as one of the heaviest islands hit by nuclear fallout, it might be important to ascertain how many of the casualties of the coronavirus were diagnosed with radiation exposure.
Also to evaluate how such pre-existing conditions have worsened the devastation of covid-19.
As it stands, in Mangareva only three people presented symptoms and were isolated on the neighbouring islands and hopefully no casualties will come out of this.
Medical reports on the number of casualties speak predominantly of Polynesian people and it seems fair to point out that so far French metropolitans are following the health and safety measures imposed by the government.
It could also mean that being financially better off than the local Ma’ohi, the French can afford a lifestyle that poor Mā’ohi people cannot.
By disseminating the information from New Zealand, my friends from other Pacific communities are actively concerned about this issue of covid-19 devastating the local population in Mā’ohi Nui.
We are ready to support through solidarity. It is therefore very important for us to inform on these issues that are far from being resolved, but for which we can show the solidary of our Pacific people and those back home in Mā’ohi Nui.
Ena Manuireva is an Auckland University of Technology academic and PhD candidate who is from Mangareva in the Gambier Islands, a remote southern archipelago in “French” Polynesia. He is a contributor to the Pacific Media Centre’s Asia Pacific Report.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica C Lai, Associate Professor in Commercial Law, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
New Zealand is in an economic recession and the government is trying to spend its way through it with direct investment to boost the economy and jobs.
At the same time, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RNBZ) plans to lend retail banks money at low interest rates in the hope they are — as the reserve bank governor, Adrian Orr, put it — “courageous” in their lending choices.
But as the money does not need to be used for any particular type of venture, there are concerns it will inflame the already overheated property market.
Part of the problem is New Zealanders do not have many investment options. There is little to be “courageous” about.
This lack of investment options is partly due to the average New Zealander’s model of successful innovation.
Most of the big successful New Zealand innovation stories we see in the media are about people who sold their innovation to an overseas – typically American – company. This success allows the innovator to buy their “three Bs”: the Beamer, the boat and the bach.
But is this a true measure of successful innovation? Or could we do better to create more investment options and allow for more “courageous” investment?
Investment in local industry
Innovation involves creating and capturing value from new things – whether products, services or processes.
The New Zealand model of successful innovation is narrowly about creation, perhaps setting up and then selling a start-up. This model is shaped by skill shortages, funding issues and risk aversion, which limit innovative growth.
Big ideas struggle to grow in New Zealand. The model is about innovators capturing short-term value for their creations.
What might be truly beneficial to New Zealand is if innovations stayed here and more risks were taken locally.
If more investment was directed at commercialisation of local innovations they could be used to create and grow local industries. The resulting products or services could then be exported or licensed internationally to bring more wealth into New Zealand.
This would create more investment opportunities, as well as jobs and local know-how. In turn, wealth could be created and distributed across communities for a sustained period.
It’s worth pointing out that innovation is self-perpetuating. Once an innovative industry is developed in an area, this can generate further innovation in that area, because of skill development and the localisation of these skills. Silicon Valley exemplifies this.
Learn from the Māori perspective
We need not look far to find an alternative model of successful innovation.
During community consultation to develop Te Matarau a Māui – a regional Māori economic development strategy for the greater Wellington region – we were told time and again that the common strategic goal of “play to win” was too narrow.
A Māori perspective on innovation doesn’t focus on winners and losers, but on a vibrant blossoming innovation ecosystem. Innovation from this perspective is tied up with cultural knowledge and community identity.
This kind of innovation model leads to better distributed and long-term wealth creation, since value is embedded within and spread throughout the community.
Yet the tools, such as the Business Model Canvas, that we use to explore business ideas are based on hyper-individualistic, win-at-all-costs businesses.
New Zealand needs entrepreneurship and innovation tools that embed a richer perspective on success, more in line with the aspirations of the wellbeing economy and the Māori communities that developed Te Matarau a Māui.
A look to the future
We are not saying individual innovators should not be rewarded for their innovations. They should be. Nor are we saying that there aren’t success stories that involve local commercialisation. There are.
Moreover, we are not suggesting New Zealanders do not look outwards. They absolutely should.
But perhaps New Zealanders could shift their understanding of a success story for innovation, because we could have more innovation stories that involve further growth and benefit the well-being of communities.
Such a shift cannot happen until there is money to undertake the necessary risk to produce Kiwi innovations locally. International intellectual property portfolios should be developed in important markets, but we should invest in local capabilities to maintain operations in New Zealand. This would feed the New Zealand economy.
More provocatively, keeping innovations local would create more business opportunities that New Zealanders could invest in, aside from real estate. Perhaps this could help to cool down the property market.
So in light of RBNZ’s role to “promote the prosperity and well-being of New Zealanders”, contribute to a “sustainable and productive economy” and support “maximum sustainable employment”, perhaps it should think about tying its lending scheme to making sure local innovation stays local. Otherwise, we might be letting a good crisis go to waste.
