Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Graeme Orr, Professor of Law, The University of Queensland

The Liberal National Party has referred some of its own fundraising activities to the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ).

As the ABC reported on Tuesday, this implicates its own parliamentary leader, Deb Frecklington.

Why would a party administration raise concerns with the electoral authorities? The timing of these revelations — in the midst of a tight election campaign — is a problem in itself.

To understand the law behind this, we need to think about two things. The first is the strict rules against electoral donations by property developers. The second is the investigatory power and processes that can be brought to bear.

Yet in many ways, the politics behind all this are at least as curious as any legal implications.

What is the story?

The ABC reported the LNP leader attended private events earlier this year, where property developers were also present.

Frecklington, for her part, denies any wrongdoing. And an LNP spokesperson said

the ABC’s allegation that the LNP has referred Deb Frecklington to the ECQ is false. It has not. The LNP regularly communicates with the ECQ to ensure that we comply with the act.

Inquiries, to date, have not exposed evidence of forbidden developer money in the mix, just of developers attending small gatherings at which Frecklington was a guest and which were treated by others as political fundraisers.

There is also an allegation that, behind the scenes, people may have considered trying to give money indirectly.

What is the ban on property developers?

Why would this be a problem?

Property developers are “prohibited donors” in Queensland. There is a ban on registered political parties, candidates and electoral groups receiving donations (whether gifts of money, or unpaid-for-resources) from any company that makes property development applications, their directors or close associates.

Read more: Remember Quexit? 5 reasons you should not take your eyes off the Queensland election

Property industry organisations are also prohibited donors.

A developer who makes such a donation — directly or through a conduit — commits an offence, punishable by up to two years in jail. So too do party agents, if they solicit such donations. The party must disgorge twice the amount of the donation if they know the donor is prohibited.

Above all, if people connive to try to get around the ban on developer donations, each may be guilty of a serious crime, punishable by up to ten years in jail.

Why is there a ban?

In 2018, the Palaszczuk government introduced the ban on property developer donations. So these offences are not long established in Queensland. Nor did they originate in the state.

NSW has had such a ban on property developers donating since 2010. In 2014, an anti-corruption commission inquiry “Operation Spicer” brought down numerous state MPs over donations from developers.

The High Court has upheld such bans twice. It reasons the bans are compatible with freedom of political communication. It also argues they are a rational anti-corruption measure and developers are still free to join parties and to campaign in their own name.

Above all, liberty needs to be tempered by an idea of fairness, which the High Court calls the “equality of opportunity to participate politically”.

Wealth buys a lot of things, but it’s not meant to buy political influence, let alone power.

What happens if property developers donate anyway?

Political finance affairs often involve an intricate money trail and take many months to plumb.

Read more: How big money influenced the 2019 federal election – and what we can do to fix the system

The Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission does not have a broad remit over electoral law. It may only lawfully investigate a matter if there is a suspicion of wrongdoing affecting public officials.

For its coercive powers, or public hearings, to be brought to bear, there has to be more than electoral donations at stake.

The Electoral Commission of Queensland, however, has wide new powers. These include entering premises with a warrant and the ability to demand records and to obtain statements. That said, it cannot require someone to give a statement incriminating themselves.

What’s the politics?

Beyond the law, what is the politics behind all this?

The macro politics is simple. The LNP strongly opposes bans on developer donations. They see them as illiberal and unfairly aimed at an industry that happens to be tight with the party and its ideology.

Read more: Queensland’s unpredictable election begins. Expect a close campaign focused on 3 questions

Queensland Labor and the Greens support the law, pointing to a 2017 Crime and Corruption Commission report recommending such a ban for local government politics.

The Palaszczuk government extended that recommendation to all of state politics. Its rationale was development projects and Crown land use are often matters of state policy, just as zoning issues and particular development applications are matters for local government.

Internal politics also at play

What of the micro, or internal party, politics? Why would the administrative wing of a party refer its own messy linen to an electoral commission?

One explanation is due diligence. The LNP says the laws are complex and it relies on the commission for advice. Another aspect is parties have two sides to them, which generate different ethical pressures.

Current politicians want to build networks of support and to win the next election. Party machines have a longer-term view and concern for their own reputation.

In this case, the ABC reports the LNP’s administrative wing advised its MPs and leaders to avoid property developers including at “private” events. Frecklington either missed the memo, or didn’t care for that advice.

Shadowing all this is a history of tension between the LNP’s parliamentary leadership and its machine. Earlier this year, this erupted through public fissures, burning the administrative wing.

The conflict has been massaged and suppressed, in the lead up to the election. But as we have seen this week, it has not been fully resolved.

– ref. Fundraising questions have interrupted the Queensland LNP’s election campaign. What does the law say? – https://theconversation.com/fundraising-questions-have-interrupted-the-queensland-lnps-election-campaign-what-does-the-law-say-147992

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shelley Marshall, Associate Professor and Director of the RMIT Business and Human Rights Centre, RMIT University

From the United States to Brazil, Britain, Germany and Australia, meat-processing plants have played a peculiar role in spreading COVID-19.

In Brazil, union officials allege one-fifth of the industry’s employees – about 100,000 meat plant workers – have been infected. In the US, meat-processing facilities have been linked to more than 38,500 cases and at least 180 deaths. Meat works made up almost half of US COVID-19 hotspots in May. They were also the major initial source of infections in Australia’s June “second wave” outbreak in the state of Victoria.

One reason for these transmissions is that meat processing takes place in confined refrigerated spaces. But the fact the industry has not been linked with large viral outbreaks in all countries and regions suggests other, controllable factors have also been instrumental.

The fundamental lesson from these outbreaks is that unhealthy working conditions and precarious work need to be addressed to stop the meat industry acting as an incubator of COVID-19.

Unhealthy work conditions

Past studies have shown influenza and other coronaviruses (SARS and MERS) are more stable and therefore spread more easily in lower temperatures. Though lower temperatures have not yet been conclusively proven to increase COVID-19 transmissions, Australian researchers have identified an association with lower humidity.

This alone increases the risk to meat-processing workers, who perform strenuous manual labour on a production line in relatively close proximity to others. But that risk is compounded by other factors – particularly poor air quality contributing to respiratory illness, which makes any COVID-19 infection more severe.

As noted by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, among the “many serious safety and health hazards” long associated with meat-processing work are “biological hazards associated with handling live animals or exposures to faeces and blood which can increase their risk for many diseases”.

A 2017 study found respiratory disorders such as coughing, breathlessness and wheezing three to four times more prevalent among slaughterhouse workers than office workers. Among poultry workers, a 2013 study found more than 40% had asthmatic symptoms (compared with about 10% of all adults). This was attributed to “poultry dust”, a biologically active combination of chicken residue, feathers and moulds.

Insufficient ventilation makes the spread of the coronavirus 20 times more likely, according to a report published by the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions in June.

That report lists other factors too, such as inadequate social distancing and a dearth of appropriate personal protective equipment. But ultimately, poor air-quality is symptomatic of the lack of a healthy and safe workplace for many meat-processing workers.

It is also pertinent to the rest of us. The American Society for Heating, Refrigeration, and Air‐Conditioning Engineers, for example, has recommended ventilation air intake in all buildings should now be three air changes an hour. That’s three to five times higher than the minimum standard for offices.

What this all comes down to is a critical need to improve health and safety standards in abattoirs and meat processing facilities across the board.

Read more: The death of the open-plan office? Not quite, but a revolution is in the air

Increase job security and sick leave entitlements

The other main lesson to be drawn from the meat-processing industry is the risk posed by “precarious work”, where workers lack the rights and protections of being an employee.

It is no coincidence, as the European Federation Union report argues, that the vast majority of meat workers testing positive in Europe have been migrant workers, hired through subcontractors, with few employment rights and often living in overcrowded accommodation.

An estimated 80% of meat workers in the Netherlands, for example, are from central and eastern Europe, employed through temporary agencies.

Workers are typically employed as casuals, or “daily hires” (meaning their jobs technically terminate at the end of every shift) or through subcontracting arrangements that deem them “self-employed”. As the report notes:

Employment conditions for many meat workers are extremely precarious. Moreover, the level of sick pay allowances can be very low. This may have determined the fact that in case of experiencing COVID-19 symptoms some workers have not reported the status of their health conditions for fear of losing their job or for not being able to afford a decent living with sick pay allowances.

These things can be fixed

Evidence from a number of countries shows these things can be fixed.

Denmark is the poster-child for the automation of meat processing and decent pay, allowing for social distancing within factories and thus low COVID-19 outbreaks.

In Spain, a collective agreement that guarantees subcontracted workers the same conditions as other employees has been credited with controlling COVID-19 transmissions.

In Germany, transmissions linked to meat processing slowed after abattoirs were banned from hiring temporary workers in May.

In Victoria, Australia, ensuring all workers have access to paid pandemic leave (along with other measures including the government mandating strict physical distancing and safety protocols in plants) appears to have proven successful.

But many of these responses are only temporary emergency responses. The global pandemic has brought global attention to the longer-term need for systemic reform to eliminate the dangers of unhealthy workplaces and disempowered workers, and ensure that workers can afford to stay home when they are sick.

In a sense we are all complicit in a system that has seen working conditions worsen over the last decade. We’ve accepted the rise of complex subcontracting and fake “phoenix” companies designed to strip workers of employee status, and supermarket and fast-food chains pushing cost pressures down supply chains, simply because we like cheap meat.

Read more: Workplace transmissions: a predictable result of the class divide in worker rights

There are moves in Europe to address this lack of accountability through extending legal liability throughout the whole subcontracting chain. Other countries would do well to learn from these examples.

One way or the other, our love of cheap prices shouldn’t see workers getting treated like meat.

– ref. Treating workers like meat: what we’ve learnt from COVID-19 outbreaks in abattoirs – https://theconversation.com/treating-workers-like-meat-what-weve-learnt-from-covid-19-outbreaks-in-abattoirs-145444

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Associate Dean of Arts, Associate Professor Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University

There are certain film roles that can define an actor’s career. Ralph Macchio has starred in over 25 films, yet he is most identifiable as the teenage Danny Larouso in The Karate Kid (1984). Similarly, Alex Winter has had a long career as a director and actor, but is best known as high school student Bill S. Preston, Esquire in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989).

The recent popularity and role reprisals by these actors: Winter in Bill and Ted Face the Music (2020) and Macchio in Cobra Kai (2018–), combined with celebrities reading aloud the scripts of old teen film classics via Zoom suggests nostalgia. It is also an opportunity to revisit and consider the nuances of characters and gender roles with greater maturity and a wiser perspective.

Read more: Bill & Ted Face the Music review: party on, dudes – this film is as sweet and daggy as its predecessors

Dads today

Generation X, born 1965–1980, were in their adolescence when these two films premiered. Both movies present a version of teenage masculinity that was in remarkable contrast to male adult roles in action films of that time. In the 1980s, tough muscular bodies were pictured on screen in films such as Rambo (1982, 1985, 1988), Conan the Barbarian (1982), Bloodsport (1988), and Die Hard (1988).

While the young male protagonists in The Karate Kid and Bill and Ted possess purposeful strength, they display a vulnerability, a gentle resilience, a sense of humour with suburban heroism. (Indeed nerd teen archetypes meet tough jocks in detention in 1985’s The Breakfast Club.)

Their hero’s journey is relatable yet undeniably epic. The films depict the story of the underdog, of young males who don’t quite fit into the mould and, significantly, are fine with this.

There is a desire to learn, whether from history, as in Bill and Ted, or from older characters sharing their wisdom, as in The Karate Kid. Accordingly, the phrase “wax on, wax off” became popular shorthand for a stern lesson in patience and skill development.

Now, as the characters return to our screens older and in the 21st century, there are still lessons to be learnt.

Rather than entering a mid-life crisis — popularly depicted with older males seeking renewed vigour in the embrace of young mistresses or new sports cars — these middle-aged characters convey the opportunity to relive, redo and revisit past triumphs.

The role reprise is also an opportunity to transform the tribulations of the past. Indeed, Cobra Kai is more focussed on Macchio’s onscreen karate opponent, Johnny Lawrence, played by William Zabka. Now a “deadbeat dad”, Johnny reboots the Cobra Kai dojo and his sense of purpose.

As adult characters, now husbands and fathers, the midlife narrative can navigate an updated definition of masculinity. They may be comeback dudes, but they are also dads. In both the new Bill and Ted movie and the Cobra Kai series, the characters’ children have the opportunity to actualise the dreams of their fathers.

Read more: Why do we find it so hard to move on from the 80s?

‘Be excellent’ but it’s also complicated

The 1980s films challenge toxic masculinity. The teen protagonists are undeniably nice, likeable guys who try to do the right thing. Bill and Ted are guided by a moral imperative to “be excellent to each other”.

The famous quote summarises a positive life mantra and shows how good and bad are clearly defined in the original films. The middle aged comeback vehicles show a more mature understanding of the moral complexities of life.

In reprising their roles, the notion that Macchio, Zabka and Winters have aged does not act as a hindrance but a point of identification for Generation X audiences. There is a strong connection to viewers’ own past lives. Seeing the actors again on screen is akin to seeing long lost friends at a high school reunion.

Macchio and Zabka remind us of the high school tensions that are painfully never quite resolved. Seeing Winter with Keanu Reaves’ Ted provides a joyous reminder of the strong bonds of same-sex friendships of our youth. And like a high school reunion there is a lot of reminiscing about the way things were compared to what life is like now.

Read more: The new Seachange is a sad case of Zombie TV: when your favourite programs come back from the dead

What about the comeback mothers?

Significantly, there are fewer female role revivals to remind us of the character growth related to womanhood.

Iconic teenage female actors seem more likely to have comebacks in supporting roles as mothers, rather than as the protagonists.

Examples here are Molly Ringwald in The Secret Life of an American Teenager (2008-2013), Holly Marie Combs in Pretty Little Liars (2010-2017) and Winona Ryder in Stranger Things (2016-).

Perhaps the current success of Bill and Ted, and Cobra Kai, could see Molly Ringwald’s iconic role in Sixteen Candles (1984) remade as Fifty-two Candles? Similarly, is time for an update of Legally Blonde (2001) to Legally Grey?

– ref. Cobra Kai, Bill & Ted: comebacks redefine middle-aged masculinity, but where are the women? – https://theconversation.com/cobra-kai-bill-and-ted-comebacks-redefine-middle-aged-masculinity-but-where-are-the-women-147257

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dora Marinova, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University

Making eco-conscious choices at the shops can be tricky when we’re presented with so many options, especially when it comes to milk. Should we buy plant-based milk, or dairy? We’ve looked at the evidence to help you choose.

Read more: Soy, oat, almond, rice, coconut, dairy: which ‘milk’ is best for our health?

Dairy has the biggest environmental footprint, by far

Any plant-based milk, be it made from beans, nuts or seeds, has a lighter impact than dairy when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the use of water and land. All available studies, including systematic reviews, categorically point this out.

A 2018 study estimates dairy to be around three times more greenhouse gas emission-intensive than plant-based milks.

In the case of cow’s milk, its global warming potential — measured as kilogram of carbon dioxide equivalent per litre of milk — varies between 1.14 in Australia and New Zealand to 2.50 in Africa. Compare this to the global warming potential of plant-based milks, which, on average, is just 0.42 for almond and coconut milk and 0.75 for soy milk.

What’s more, dairy generally requires nine times more land than any of the plant-based alternatives. Every litre of cow’s milk uses 8.9 square metres per year, compared to 0.8 for oat, 0.7 for soy, 0.5 for almond and 0.3 for rice milk.

Water use is similarly higher for cow’s milk: 628 litres of water for every litre of dairy, compared to 371 for almond, 270 for rice, 48 for oat and 28 for soy milk.

Milks from nuts

Milk can be made from almost any nuts, but almond, hazelnut and coconut are proving popular. Not only do nut milks generally require smaller land areas, the trees they grow on absorb carbon and, at the end of their life, produce useful woody biomass.

Still, there are vast differences in the geographical conditions where various nut trees are grown.

Almond

California is the largest producer of almond milk in the world, followed by Australia.

Compared to other plant-based milk options, its water use is much higher and largely depends on freshwater irrigation. One kernel of California almond requires 12 litres of water, which raises questions about the industrial production of these nuts in water-scarce areas.

Read more: Almonds don’t lactate, but that’s no reason to start calling almond milk juice

However the biggest environmental concern with almond production in the US is the high mortality of bees, used for tree cross-pollination. This might be because the bees are exposed to pesticides, including glyphosate, and the intensive industrial agriculture which drastically transforms nature’s fragile ecosystems.

In Australia, where almond orchards are smaller-scale and less industrialised, beekeepers do not experience such problems. Still, millions of bees are needed, and fires, drought, floods, smoke and heat damage can threaten their health.

Coconut

Generally, the environmental performance of coconut milk is good – coconut trees use small amounts of water and absorb carbon dioxide.

Yet as coconuts are grown only in tropical areas, the industrial production of this milk can destroy wildlife habitat. Increasing global demand for coconut milk is likely to put further pressure on the environment and wildlife, and deepen these conflicts.

Hazelnut

Hazelnut is a better option for the environment as the trees are cross-pollinated by wind which carries airborne dry pollen between neighbouring plants, not bees.

Hazelnuts also grow in areas with higher rainfall around the Black Sea, Southern Europe and in North America, demanding much less water than almond trees.

Hazelnut milk is already commercially available and although its demand and production are rising, the cultivation of the bush trees is not yet subjected to intensive large-scale operations.

Milks from legumes

Soy milk has been used for millennia in China and has already an established presence in the West, but the hemp alternative is relatively new.

All legumes are nitrogen fixing. This means the bacteria in plant tissue produce nitrogen, which improves soil fertility and reduces the need for fertilisers. Legumes are also water-efficient, particularly when compared with almonds and dairy.

Soy

Soy milk has a very good environmental performance in terms of water, global warming potential and land-use.

The US and Brazil are the biggest suppliers of soybeans, and the plant is very versatile when it comes to its commercial uses, with a large share of the beans used as livestock feed.

Read more: Soy versus dairy: what’s the footprint of milk?

However, a major environmental concern is the need to clear and convert large swathes of native vegetation to grow soybeans. An overall reduction in the demand for meat and animal-based foods could potentially decrease the need to produce large amounts of soybeans for animal feed, but we’re yet to witness such changes.

Hemp

The environmental benefits of hemp milk make it a game-changer.

Its seeds are processed for oil and milk, but the plant itself is very versatile — all its parts can be used as construction material, textile fibres, pulp and paper or hemp-based plastics.

Its roots grow deep, which improves the soil structure and reduces the presence of fungi. It’s also resistant to diseases, and it produces a lot of shade, which supresses the growth of weeds. This, in turn, cuts down the need for herbicides and pesticides.

Hemp requires more water than soy, but less than almond and dairy. Despite being one of the oldest crops used, particularly in Europe, hemp is produced in very low quantities.

Milks from grains

We can produce plant-based milk from almost any grains, but rice and oat are proving popular. However, they require more land compared with nut milks.

Rice

Rice milk has a big water footprint. More notably, it’s associated with higher greenhouse gas emissions compared to the other plant-based options because methane-producing bacteria develop in the rice paddies.

In some cases, rice milk may contain unacceptable levels of arsenic. And applying fertilisers to boost yields can pollute nearby waterways.

Read more: Are we eating too much arsenic? We need better tests to know

Oat

Oat milk has been becoming increasingly popular around the world because of its overall environmental benefits.

But similar to soy, the bulk of oat production is used for livestock feed and any reduction in the demand for animal-based foods would decrease the pressure on this plant.

Currently grown in Canada and the US, most oat operations are large-scale monoculture, which means it’s the only type of crop grown in a large area. This practice depletes the soil’s fertility, limits the diversity of insects and increases the risk of diseases and pest infection.

Oats are also typically grown with glyphosate-based pesticides, which tarnishes its environmental credentials because it can cause glyphosate-resistant plant, animal and insect pathogens to proliferate.

The final message: diversify your choices

Organic versions of all these plant-based milks are better for the environment because they use, for example, fewer chemical fertilisers, they’re free from pesticides and herbicides, and they put less pressure on the soils. Any additives, be it fortifiers, such as calcium or vitamins, flavours or additional ingredients, such as sugar, coffee or chocolate, should be taken into account separately.

Packaging is also very important to consider. Packaging contributes 45% of the global warming potential of California’s almond milk. And it’s worth keeping in mind that wasting milk has a much bigger environmental footprint, and questions the ethics of how humans exploit the animal world.

Read more: Recycling is not enough. Zero-packaging stores show we can kick our plastic addiction

If, as a consumer you are trying to reduce the environmental footprint of the milk you drink, the first message is you should avoid dairy and replace it with plant-based options.

The second message is it’s better to diversify the plant-based milks we use. Shifting to only one option, even if it’s the most environmentally friendly one for the time being, means the market demand may potentially become overexploited.

– ref. Which ‘milk’ is best for the environment? We compared dairy, nut, soy, hemp and grain milks – https://theconversation.com/which-milk-is-best-for-the-environment-we-compared-dairy-nut-soy-hemp-and-grain-milks-147660

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Critchlow, Science Outreach Fellow at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge

Social media algorithms, artificial intelligence, and our own genetics are among the factors influencing us beyond our awareness. This raises an ancient question: do we have control over our own lives? This article is part of The Conversation’s series on the science of free will.

Many of us believe we are masters of own destiny, but new research is revealing the extent to which our behaviour is influenced by our genes.

It’s now possible to decipher our individual genetic code, the sequence of 3.2 billion DNA “letters” unique to each of us, that forms a blueprint for our brains and bodies.

This sequence reveals how much of our behaviour has a hefty biological predisposition, meaning we might be skewed towards developing a particular attribute or characteristic. Research has shown genes may predispose not only our height, eye colour or weight, but also our vulnerability to mental ill-health, longevity, intelligence and impulsivity. Such traits are, to varying degrees, written into our genes — sometimes thousands of genes working in concert.

Most of these genes instruct how our brain circuitry is laid down in the womb, and how it functions. We can now view a baby’s brain as it is built, even 20 weeks before birth. Circuitry changes exist in their brains that strongly correlate with genes that predispose for autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They even predispose for conditions that might not emerge for decades: bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia.

Read more: Genes shown to influence how well children do throughout their time at school

Increasingly we are faced with the prospect that predispositions to more complex behaviours are similarly wired into our brains. These include which religion we choose, how we form our political ideologies, and even how we create our friendship groups.

Nature and nurture are intertwined

There are also other ways our life stories can be passed down through generations, besides being inscribed in our DNA.

“Epigenetics” is a relatively new area of science that can reveal how intertwined nature and nurture can be. It looks not at changes to genes themselves, but instead at the “tags” that are put on genes from life experience, which alter how our genes are expressed.

One 2014 study looked at epigenetic changes in mice. Mice love the sweet smell of cherries, so when a waft reaches their nose, a pleasure zone in the brain lights up, motivating them to scurry around and hunt out the treat. The researchers decided to pair this smell with a mild electric shock, and the mice quickly learned to freeze in anticipation.

Read more: Epigenetics: what impact does it have on our psychology?

The study found this new memory was transmitted across the generations. The mice’s grandchildren were fearful of cherries, despite not having experienced the electric shocks themselves. The grandfather’s sperm DNA changed its shape, leaving a blueprint of the experience entwined in the genes.

This is ongoing research and novel science, so questions remain about how these mechanisms might apply to humans. But preliminary results indicate epigenetic changes can influence descendants of extremely traumatic events.

One study showed the sons of US Civil War prisoners had an 11% higher death rate by their mid-40s. Another small study showed survivors of the Holocaust, and their children, carried epigenetic changes in a gene that was linked to their levels of cortisol, a hormone involved in the stress response. It’s a complicated picture, but the results suggest descendants have a higher net cortisol level and are therefore more susceptible to anxiety disorders.

Read more: Extreme stress in childhood is toxic to your DNA

Do we have any scope for free will?

Of course, it’s not simply the case that our lives are set in stone by the brain we’re born with, the DNA given to us by our parents, and the memories passed down from our grandparents.

There is, thankfully, still scope for change. As we learn, new connections form between nerve cells. As the new skill is practised, or the learning relived, the connections strengthen and the learning is consolidated into a memory. If the memory is repeatedly visited, it will become the default route for electrical signals in the brain, meaning learned behaviour becomes habit.

Take riding a bike, for example. We don’t know how to ride one when we are born, but through trial and error, and a few small crashes along the way, we can learn to do it.

Read more: What is brain plasticity and why is it so important?

Similar principles create the basis for both perception and navigation. We make and strengthen neural connections as we move around our environment and conjure our perception of the space that surrounds us.

But there’s a catch: sometimes our past learnings blind us to future truths. Watch the video below — we’re all biased towards seeing faces in our environment. This preference causes us to ignore the shadow cues telling us it is the back end of a mask. Instead, we rely on tried and tested routes within our brains, generating the image of another face.

This illusion illustrates how difficult it can be to change our minds. Our identity and expectations are based on past experiences. It can take too much cognitive energy to break down the frameworks in our minds.

Elegant machinery

As I explore in my latest book published last year, The Science of Fate, this research touches on one of life’s biggest mysteries: our individual capacity for choice.

For me, there’s something beautiful about viewing ourselves as elegant machinery. Input from the world is processed in our unique brains to produce the output that is our behaviour.

However, many of us may not wish to relinquish the idea of being free agents. Biological determinism, the idea that human behaviour is entirely innate, rightly makes people nervous. It’s abhorrent to think that appalling acts in our history were perpetrated by people who were powerless to stop them, because that raises the spectre that they might happen again.

Perhaps instead, we could think of ourselves as not being restricted by our genes. Acknowledging the biology that influences our individuality may then empower us to better pool our strengths and harness our collective cognitive capacity to shape the world for the better.

– ref. How much do our genes restrict free will? – https://theconversation.com/how-much-do-our-genes-restrict-free-will-134330

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wendy Walls, Lecturer in Landscape Architecture, University of Melbourne

The recent opening of a golf course to the public in the inner north of Melbourne caused a flurry of excitement. Since then, thousands of visitors have explored the expanse of manicured rolling greens, fairways and rough. Under COVID restrictions that require Melbournians to stay within 5km of their homes, access to a very large and beautiful open space has provided welcome relief from the well-worn tracks up and down local creeks and around local ovals.

But beyond just exploring somewhere new, the meticulously crafted landscape of the Northcote public golf course offers a rare experience in Melbourne’s ever more densely developed inner suburbs.

Read more: 340,000 Melburnians have little or no parkland within 5km of their home

The past six months of lockdowns have sparked many discussions about our cities and lifestyles. And the importance of local parks has come to the fore. There are issues of equity in access to parks, walkability, housing, and the measured health and well-being effects of being outdoors.

These target-driven discussions fit with the dominant planning methods of Australian cities. From walking times to tree cover targets, function has long dominated quality when defining urban open space. But this planning approach to open space significantly limits how parks are conceived.

Why the pressure on golf courses?

Now, as people swarm to urban parks and gardens in record numbers, we need to give open space the same status as other valued urban assets such as roads and rail. And we need to work out what government, the private sector, design professionals and the community can contribute to create better public open space over the next decade.

Read more: Twitter posts show that people are profoundly sad – and are visiting parks to cheer up

Returning to the Northcote golf course, a community group is lobbying for ongoing community access. It’s part of a wider discussion about the future of urban golf courses across Australia. In Sydney, the Inner West Council recently voted down a hotly debated plan to give over half the Marrickville golf course to public green space. In Brisbane, the Victoria Park Golf Course is being converted to public parkland.

Urban golf courses are in the spotlight because of their rarity as large green open spaces with mature plantings. The golfing community is under pressure to justify why so much precious city space is being reserved for their sport.

This discussion masks the underlying issue of inadequate urban planning. Successive governments have failed to set aside enough open space to cater for population growth.

For decades, the planning of our cities has occurred through growth models that give priority to economic development. Missing are significant large parks – the modern equivalents of the much-loved colonial layers of the Domains in Sydney and Melbourne, Hyde Park, Royal Park or Kings Park – to offset this growth.

The issue of open space quality becomes even more pressing when we turn to the outer suburbs. Lacking access to bays and beaches, the outer suburbs no longer have the “Australian dream” of the quarter-acre block as a counterbalance. Houses are constructed gutter to gutter, cars crowd the front yards, and the local park is often a footy oval with a playground.

Read more: Vanishing Australian backyards leave us vulnerable to the stresses of city life

Time to make open space a priority

COVID and the slowing economy provide an important opportunity to rethink our models for open space.

Read more: Reclaiming the streets? We all can have a say in the ‘new normal’ after coronavirus

We need to challenge the binaries of competing values – public versus private, environment versus community – that structure our cities. Our parks should not emerge through a debate over the best use of limited green space: biodiversity, community gardens, bike paths, wetlands, sport facilities, playgrounds and dog walking. None of these agendas are wrong, but there is a limit to how much space can be shared.

There are, of course, many examples of councils wanting to add more open green space. But it is important to have larger-scale and longer-term perspectives that can operate independently of local and state politics.

Global examples of open-space governance reveal shifts towards alternative funding models and public-private relationships for delivering quality, not just quantity. For example, in New York, the NGO Design Trust for Public Space works across government, community groups and the private sector to guide public space development. In Australia, the appointment of a minister for public spaces in Sydney and the Living Melbourne strategy both acknowledge the importance of overarching spatial governance.

Read more: New minister for public spaces is welcome – now here are ten priorities for action

The private sector is responsible too. Enabling large and high-quality open space across our cities means reviewing our expectations of funding and exploring new models led by the private sector. This includes not just funding construction but finding cash for ongoing park maintenance.

COVID has highlighted why the scale of open space is important. It’s needed for maintaining distance between users but also for providing a sense of escape from increasing urban density, compounded by the many hours spent indoors.

Read more: A radical nature-based agenda would help society overcome the psychological effects of coronavirus

It is widely recognised that an experience of nature is valuable for health and well-being. It’s now time to link this directly to a diversity of high-quality park experiences.

All parks have not been created equally. Let’s use this moment to determine a more ambitious future for our urban open spaces.

– ref. Our cities are full of parks, so why are we looking to golf courses for more open space? – https://theconversation.com/our-cities-are-full-of-parks-so-why-are-we-looking-to-golf-courses-for-more-open-space-147559

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leonora Risse, Lecturer in Economics, RMIT University

“Just be more confident, be more ambitious, be more like a man.”

These are the words of advice given over and over to women in a bid to close the career and earnings gaps between women and men.

From self-help books to confidence coaching, the message to “lean in” and show confidence in the workplace is pervasive, propelled by Facebook Executive Sheryl Sandberg through her worldwide Lean In movement:

Women are hindered by barriers that exist within ourselves. We hold ourselves back in ways both big and small, by lacking self-confidence, by not raising our hands, and by pulling back when we should be leaning in

The efforts are well intended, because women are persistently underrepresented in senior and leadership positions.

But where is the proof they work?

Repeated advice needn’t be right

As a labour economist, and a recipient of such advice throughout my own career, I wanted to find out.

So I used Australian survey data to investigate the link between confidence and job promotion for both men and women. The results have just been published in the Australian Journal of Labour Economics.

The nationally-representative Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey includes a measure of a person’s confidence to take on a challenge.

The measure is called achievement motivation.

Read more: ‘Walking into a headwind’ – what it feels like for women building science careers

It is made up of hope for success which we measure by asking people how much they agree with statements such as

• when confronted by a difficult problem, I prefer to start on it straight away

• I like situations where I can find out how capable I am

• I am attracted to tasks that allow me to test my abilities

And it is made up of fear of failure which is measured by a person’s agreement with statements such as

• I start feeling anxious if I do not understand a problem immediately

• In difficult situations where a lot depends on me, I am afraid of failing

• I feel uneasy about undertaking a task if I am unsure of succeeding

More than 7,500 workers provided answers to these questions in the 2013 HILDA survey.

Confidence matters, with a catch

Using a statistical technique called Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition I investigated the link between their answers and whether or not they experienced a promotion in the following year.

After controlling for a range of factors, including the job opportunities on offer, I discovered higher hope for success was clearly linked to a higher likelihood of promotion.

But there was a catch: the link was only clear for men.

Read more: Gender differences at work: relishing competence or seeking a challenge?

For women, there was no clear evidence stronger confidence enhanced job promotion prospects.

Put differently, “leaning in” provides no guarantee of a payoff for women.

Promotion rate for men and women by hope for success

Personality traits reveal further gender patterns.

Men who display boldness and charisma, reflected by high extraversion, also experience a stronger likelihood of promotion. As do men who display the attitude that whatever happens to them in life is a result of their own choices and efforts, a trait we call “locus of control”.

But again there is no link between any of these traits and the promotion prospects for women.

Collectively these findings point to a disturbing template for career success: be confident, be ambitious… and be male.

Be male and unafraid

This template for promotion also prescribes: don’t show fear of failure. Among managers, though not among workers as a whole, fear of failure is linked to weaker job promotion prospects — but more profoundly for men than women.

This echoes the way society penalises male leaders for revealing emotional weakness. Both men and women are hindered by gender norms.

So what’s the harm in confidence training?

For women, it could do more harm than good. In a culture that does not value such attributes among women, contravening expected patterns carries risks.

‘Fixing’ women is itself a problem

Imploring women to adopt behaviours that characterise successful men creates a culture that paints women as “deficient” and devalues diverse working styles.

A fixation on fixing women — without proof it pays off — steers resources away from anti-discrimination initiatives that could actually make a difference.

In any case there is very little evidence confidence makes good workers. Overconfident workers can be liabilities.

Read more: Gap or trap? Confidence backlash is the real problem for women

Workplaces would be served better by basing their hiring and promotion decisions on competency and capability rather than confidence and charisma.

My study is one of a steadily growing number suggesting gender equity shouldn’t be about changing women, it should be about changing workplaces.

– ref. That advice to women to ‘lean in’, be more confident… it doesn’t help, and data show it – https://theconversation.com/that-advice-to-women-to-lean-in-be-more-confident-it-doesnt-help-and-data-show-it-146998

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan, PhD candidate and author, Deakin University

“History isn’t kind to people who play God,” quips James Bond to supervillain Safin in the trailer for No Time to Die. The film’s release has been delayed yet again, to April 2021. It will mark Daniel Craig’s swansong as 007 and speculation continues as to who will be the next Bond. Will it be Idris Elba, Tom Hardy or perhaps a woman?

Bond has long been criticised for his sexist attitudes, with even Judi Dench’s M in GoldenEye (1995) dubbing him a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur” . But what if we view him through the prism of Greek mythology? Is Bond, in fact, a contemporary incarnation of Dionysus, the god of wine, pleasure and fertility?

In Greek mythology, the gods punish mortals for the sin of hubris. In our pop-culture pantheon, Bond is a deity.

Dionysus travelled throughout the ancient world, sometimes by boat in the Aegean islands, sometimes in a winged chariot. Bond also circumnavigates the globe, equally at home on yachts or in helicopters. But his chariot of choice is an Aston Martin.

Its logo? A pair of wings.

Read more: A black, female 007? As a lifelong James Bond fan, I say bring it on

Secrets of wine – and martinis

Wherever Dionysus went he initiated his followers in the secrets of wine-making. Wherever Bond goes he initiates the mixologist in the secrets of making the perfect Vesper martini.

In Ian Fleming’s Diamonds are Forever (1956), Bond tells the bartender to combine three measures of Gordon’s gin, one of vodka and half a measure of Kina Lillet with a thick slice of lemon peel and poured into a deep champagne goblet. In Casino Royale (2006), he adds the martini must be shaken “until it’s ice cold.”

Unlike mortals, Bond’s prodigious consumption of alcohol does him no harm, indeed he is hailed as “the best shot in the Secret Service.”

In a study of the novels published in the British Medical Journal in 2013, researchers estimated Bond consumed an average of 92 units of alcohol per week with a maximum daily intake peaking at 49.8 units.

There were days when Bond abstained — 12.5 out of a total 87.5 days — but mostly because he was being held prisoner.

Read more: Cap your alcohol at 10 drinks a week: new draft guidelines

Weapons of disguise

Dionysus carries a thyrsus: a sacred pinecone-tipped staff wreathed in vines. The thyrus is a phallic symbol, sometimes displayed with a kantharos wine cup, denoting female sexuality.

The union of the two created a powerful representation of fertility and rebirth. Dionysus also turned his thyrsus into a dangerous weapon by secreting an iron tip in its point.

As a secret agent, Bond conceals his Walther PPK pistol in a hidden holster, but one of his most lethal weapons is disguised as a cigarette – a potent symbol of sexual union in cinema, where smoking a cigarette signifies the completion of copulation.

In You Only Live Twice (1967) the villain makes the fatal mistake of allowing Bond “one last fag.” It turns out to be tipped with a rocket-propelled bullet, proving that cigarettes aren’t just lethal for smokers.

Gods of possession

Dionysus was deeply attractive to his female followers, Maenads, who would drink themselves into a frenzy to be possessed by the god. Likewise, Bond is pursued by a bevy of beautiful women — Pussy Galore, Plenty O’Toole and Honey Rider — panting to be possessed.

As with the Maenads, devotion to Bond comes with its perils. In Live and Let Die (1973), Bond girl, Solitaire loses her psychic powers after a close encounter of the passionate kind with Bond and becomes a target for heroin baron, Dr Kananga.

In Goldfinger (1964), Jill Masterton is punished by the eponymous villain for betraying him to Bond, dying of skin suffocation when he covers her in gold paint.

This puts a new spin on the Midas myth in which Dionysus granted the king’s wish to be blessed with the golden touch, only to discover that it is a curse making it impossible to eat or even embrace his daughter without turning her into metal.

Ecstasy and death

In ancient Greece, the number seven was sacred and composed of the number three (the heavenly male) and the number four (the heavenly female). Bond’s number in the secret service — Agent 007 — is thus the perfect number to represent a modern-day fertility god.

Like Dionysus who is depicted in a number of forms which range from an older, bearded god to a long-haired youth, Bond has appeared in a variety of guises from the debonair David Niven to the strapping Daniel Craig.

Yet regardless of his age and physique, Bond’s dual Dionysian nature brings either divine ecstasy in bed, or brutal death to his foes.

Dionysus almost dies before he is born but his father Zeus saves him. Later he returns from the dead after he is dismembered by the Titans.

Bond says, “You only live twice: once when you are born and once when you look death in the face.”

Like Dionysus, Bond is resurrected in Skyfall (2012) after he is accidentally shot by Moneypenny. The bullet penetrates his body causing him to fall off a train and into a waterfall where he sinks to the bottom. But Bond is immortal. He returns to save another day.

When it finally reaches cinemas, No Time to Die will be the last hurrah for Craig, but gods do not die. Bond will live on.

– ref. James Bond is more than a (sexist) secret agent. He is a fertility god, a Dionysus of the modern era – https://theconversation.com/james-bond-is-more-than-a-sexist-secret-agent-he-is-a-fertility-god-a-dionysus-of-the-modern-era-131040

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Shaw, Professor of Politics, Massey University

Three years ago everything felt so different. Our borders were open, no one knew what PPE stood for, and social distancing was something people did when they felt awkward at parties.

Jacinda Ardern had not long taken over leadership of the New Zealand Labour Party. Amid breathless talk of “stardust”, “Jacindamania” and “transformation”, she was busy hauling the party out of the polling doldrums towards 36.9% of the vote at the 2017 election — and the prime ministership.

Then a lot of things happened. A white supremacist murdered 51 of our people at two Christchurch mosques. Whakaari/White Island erupted, killing 21 and injuring more. And a global pandemic spread, leading to two extended periods of lockdown in New Zealand and a decision by Ardern to postpone the election from September 19 to October 17.

These three crises have defined Ardern’s first term in office. At least for now, a great many people are withholding judgement on her administration’s modest (at best) performance on reducing child poverty, replenishing the stock of public housing and shifting the dial on income and wealth inequality.

Instead, it is Ardern’s poise under pressure, calmness and ability not to rise to anything faintly resembling bait that has deeply resonated. As much as anything else, in times of crisis it has been her way with words that has registered: “They are us”, “The team of five million” and “Go hard and go early” are now part of the vernacular. Ardern’s language is one that New Zealanders intuitively understand.

Some of this may stem from Ardern’s understated background in what is colloquially described as the “real” New Zealand. It’s a misleading term, of course, because it implies there are parts of the country that are somehow not real.

But people know what it means: a modest upbringing in a small town, a bit of religion, some part-time work while at school. They hear these things in Ardern’s accent, and see them in her green Facebook sweatshirt. It makes her approachable — the nerdy kid you know would give you a hand with your homework if you needed it.

From transformation to recovery

This sense of authenticity goes at least some way to explaining why the prime minister and her party have polling figures to die for as they head into the final days of the election campaign.

Notwithstanding a second spell in lockdown, public confidence in the government’s handling of the COVID crisis remains high. As preferred prime minister, Ardern is streets ahead of her major rival, National’s Judith Collins. Despite some tightening in recent weeks, on present polling Labour is still within range of governing alone, something that has never happened under the country’s MMP electoral system.

Read more: NZ election 2020: as the ultimate political survivor, Judith Collins prepares for her ultimate test

Labour’s polling is just one thing setting this year’s election apart from the last one. The emotional climate is also strikingly different. Labour’s campaign slogan — Let’s Keep Moving — is just this side of beige. There are no big-ticket policy items to match 2017’s proposed capital gains tax, KiwiBuild or plans for light rail in Auckland. The rhetoric of transformation has been replaced by the language of recovery.

Yet transformation is not far off the mark, especially where Ardern herself is concerned. Three years ago she was the newly minted leader of her party and something of a political curiosity. Many doubted she had the ability to save her party from an electoral thrashing, let alone become prime minister.

Since then, she has become a mother, led the country through a series of crises, and made more hard calls and tough decisions than any New Zealand prime minister in recent memory. She has become a seasoned leader — and one of the most popular prime ministers in the nation’s history.

Pragmatism over ideology

Ardern’s personal trajectory mirrors — and to some degree has driven — a shift in the tone of New Zealand politics. Transformation is probably too strong a word for it, but something is happening and it is reflected in Ardern’s approach to leadership.

The prime minister appeals less to conviction than to disposition. Her approach resonates with people for whom politics is fundamentally relational rather than ideological.

Ardern is no ideologue. She gives people who don’t agree with her party’s policies permission to vote for her. It’s the kind of leadership that can change what counts as political common sense, and it appeals to a lot of people in times of stress and uncertainty.

Read more: Analysis shows how the Greens have changed the language of economic debate in New Zealand

Ardern’s pragmatism has led to accusations from the left that she has been insufficiently adventurous, that she has morphed from transformational candidate into conservative leader.

Exhibits A and B for the prosecution are Labour’s small-t tax policy and the response to the gendered employment effects of COVID: a disproportionate number of women have lost their jobs this year, but the bulk of the “shovel-ready” projects supported by the government as part of the COVID response are in industries in which women remain under-represented.

On the other hand, Ardern’s modus operandi is reassuring to those moderate, small-c conservatives who don’t do conviction politics but who do decide election outcomes in New Zealand. “Let’s keep moving” may not be all that uplifting, but it speaks to a pragmatism that lies deep in New Zealand’s sense of itself.

From Jacindamania to Aunty Jacinda

There’s a reason why Ardern has framed it as the COVID election — it legitimates a focus on leadership. One of the two major party leaders has led her party for just three months. The other has led the country through a series of crucibles. The polls indicate people know which one is which.

A focus on leadership also allows Ardern to dominate field position and play to her strengths. To the intense frustration of the opposition, the prime minister’s image is ubiquitous and her skills as a communicator on regular display.

And New Zealanders love a good underdog, especially if it’s us. We look out at the world and see more populous, powerful nations struggling, and take considerable pride in having kept the virus largely at bay. The prime minister and her administration are being given credit for allowing us to be the little country that could.

For all that the election may appear to be a foregone conclusion, there remains a lot to play for — much of it hinging on whether Labour will be in a position to govern alone once votes have been counted.

Read more: The rise of ACT in 2020 highlights tensions between the party’s libertarian and populist traditions

A second term, this one in command of a parliamentary majority, could well give full expression to Ardern’s centrist political instincts. But if Labour is forced (or chooses) to govern with the Greens (and/or even the Māori Party, assuming it wins at least one of the seven Māori electorates), the likelihood of a shunt to the left increases. There would be pressure on Ardern to move back towards the socialism of her youth.

Either way, it was inevitable that the “stardust” of Ardern’s meteoric rise would dissipate. But it may have been replaced by something more powerful.

Here in Aotearoa New Zealand the term “Aunty” is often used to denote a woman of influence, standing and authority. Adopted from Māori practice, it is a term of respect as much as one of kinship, and a means of expressing affection and affinity. On social media and out on the campaign trail, it’s “Aunty Jacinda” they’re talking about now.

– ref. NZ election 2020: Jacinda Ardern promised transformation — instead, the times transformed her – https://theconversation.com/nz-election-2020-jacinda-ardern-promised-transformation-instead-the-times-transformed-her-142900

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

Scott Morrison has thrown his weight behind the embattled Gladys Berejiklian, ahead of Wednesday’s evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption from disgraced former MP Daryl Maguire, with whom she had a “close personal relationship” for five years.

Morrison said Berejiklian, who had been “a tremendous premier”, had his “absolute support”.

Maguire, former Liberal member for Wagga Wagga, is due to give evidence over two days.

Berejiklian was grilled for several hours on Monday at ICAC, which is investigating whether Maguire misused his parliamentary position for financial gain. Tapped phone conversations were played in which he talked to her about his efforts to broker deals for property developers, notably a sale of land owned by Louise Waterhouse near Badgerys Creek, from which he hoped to get a huge commission.

Berejiklian, who says she did nothing wrong and is not being investigated, told a news conference after her ICAC appearance that she had “stuffed up” her personal life.

She only severed her secret relationship with Maguire recently, despite his resignation from state parliament in 2018, after his property activities came to light in an earlier ICAC inquiry.

Morrison said Berejiklian had shown “a lot of courage” on Monday.

“But I also thought she showed a lot of humility, which is the Gladys I know.

“We’re all human. And particularly in those areas of our lives, and Gladys is an extremely private person, and a person of tremendous integrity. She’s a great friend. And I know she’s been getting many messages of support from her friends and colleagues and including from me … and Jenny.”

Morrison thanked state ministers “Dom Perrottet and Brad Hazzard and the whole team down there in the New South Wales government” for “getting in behind her.”

The last thing Morrison would want at the moment would be the removal of Berejiklian – he has repeatedly praised her government’s performance as the “gold standard” in handling the pandemic and highlighted NSW’s economic progress. So far there has been no sign of a move against her by colleagues and she has indicated her determination to tough out the scandal.

At ICAC on Tuesday Maggie Wang, a former business associate of Maguire, related what he had told her after his appearance at the earlier ICAC investigation. He had said words to the effect, “There’s been an unfortunate accident where my phones and iPad have been run over by a tractor”.

– ref. Scott Morrison pledges ‘absolute support’ for Gladys Berejiklian – https://theconversation.com/scott-morrison-pledges-absolute-support-for-gladys-berejiklian-148024

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Sonnemann, Acting Program Director, Grattan Institute

Victorian Education Minister, James Merlino, announced A$250 million on Wednesday for 4,100 tutors to be deployed across Victorian schools from the first term in 2021.

The vast majority of Victorian students spent much of terms two and three learning remotely — this is about half the school year. The government expects this money will support more than 200,000 students across the state who have been left behind during the remote learning period.

In announcing the package, the minister said about one in five students will need extra support. Our report (from the Grattan Institute) in June found a large cohort of disadvantaged students — especially those from the poorest families, with learning difficulties, or where languages other than English are spoken at home — will have fallen much further behind than their classmates during the school closures.

Our analysis shows disadvantaged students in Victoria are likely to have lost somewhere between two and six months of learning over the remote schooling period. The equity gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students grows at triple the rate during remote schooling.

These learning losses compound an existing equity problem in schools, and increase the risk of students disengaging.

The Victorian government’s funding is critical. Without it, schools would not have the resources needed to help students catch up. But the government needs to take several extra steps, including ensuring the quality of tutors, so this funding has its desired effect.

Read more: Victoria’s Year 12 students are learning remotely. But they won’t necessarily fall behind

What’s in the package?

James Merlino’s promise to parents is: “If your child has fallen behind, we will bring them back up to speed”.

To bring these students up to speed, the package includes:

• A$209.6 million for every government school (primary, secondary and specialist) to attract and employ 3,500 tutors across the 2021 school year, to deliver small group learning to students who need it

• tutoring for small groups from one to five students

• $30 million towards employing 600 tutors at non-government schools

• $8.6 million towards schools working with families to lift student outcomes and re-engage students with learning.

The package not only benefits students, but also provides employment for young people and women who have been most impacted financially by the pandemic. The government estimates 80% of tutor roles will be filled by women.

Is it enough?

Tutoring is expensive, but can provide big benefits in quick time. Tutoring programs overseas have consistently proven beneficial, with some students gaining an additional three to five months of learning over just one to two terms of schooling.

Read more: Disadvantaged students may have lost 1 month of learning during COVID-19 shutdown. But the government can fix it

If implemented well, this package would be enough to stem much of the predicted learning losses for disadvantaged students. But the Victorian government should take five extra steps to ensure it gets its money’s worth:

1. the initiative relies on teachers to correctly identify students who are struggling, and why. The government should ensure some of the money is spent on extra training for teachers who need it

2. successful tutoring depends on selecting high-quality, well-trained tutors. Schools can’t be expected to screen the quality of tutor recruits by themselves. The government should set the quality standards, and could commission a third party to ensure only the best tutors are hired

3. The government should give schools guidance on effective literacy and numeracy programs that involve small-group or one-on-one tuition. There are existing programs that, on evaluation, show they can have large impacts in specific areas such as maths, oral language skills or certain aspects of reading

4. the government should evaluate the impact of the catch-up tutoring to give insight on what works for a COVID response, but also to close the much larger existing equity gap for disadvantaged students long-term. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that must not be missed

5. the government should require accountability from schools on how the extra funds are spent. For example, schools should be expected to invest in tutoring where it is relevant, or to explain the nature of investments in other initiatives which the school believes are needed.

Victoria’s plan to find high-quality tutors from existing retired, casual, or student teachers is a good start. But if it proves difficult to find enough quality candidates from this pool, other options should be considered. University graduates from all disciplines and teaching assistants can have large benefits, as well as large tutoring providers.

The UK’s new national tutoring scheme has a lot of quality assurance built into it. For example, schools can either choose to employ a tutor directly who has been trained and screened, or use a tutor from a “quality assured” tutoring provider. Financial incentives encourage schools to choose tutoring providers that have demonstrated high evaluation standards.

What about other states?

Although remote schooling did not last as long in the other states and the territories, disadvantaged students would still benefit from a similar package — just a smaller one to Victoria’s.

Extra support should be available so students across Australia don’t slip through the cracks. Victoria’s tutoring announcement this week should become a model for all Australian states and territories.

– ref. Victoria’s money for tutors is necessary, but there are 5 things it needs to do to ensure they’re successful – https://theconversation.com/victorias-money-for-tutors-is-necessary-but-there-are-5-things-it-needs-to-do-to-ensure-theyre-successful-147990

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Rolfe, Honorary associate, School of Social Sciences, UNSW

“Blindsided” is a word originally derived from American football and means to be hit from a totally unexpected quarter by shocking information. Unsurprisingly, it’s a word used often with the flashy US president, Donald Trump.

Until this week, it was not a word the people of New South Wales associated with the modest, determined and workaholic Gladys Berejiklian. This is the premier who has enjoyed a public approval rating of between 59% and 70% for her handling of coronavirus.

‘Close personal relationship’

In an appearance before the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Monday, Berejiklian admitted to a “close personal relationship” with Daryl Maguire, the former Liberal member for Wagga Wagga who resigned from NSW Parliament in 2018.

Two years ago, he was targeted by ICAC for allegations he was using his public office for personal gain through commissions for Sydney property projects. Since then, we have found out he may have been involved in a “cash for visas” scheme.

Read more: Gladys Berejiklian determined to tough out scandal of secret relationship with disgraced former MP

This was the person the premier had a “close personal relationship” with for five years until recently. Former Labor leader Bill Shorten said what many were thinking when he told Channel Nine:

She’s a smart lady who I think has been punching below her weight with perhaps a much more average guy.

A lightening strike

So, what transpired on Monday was like a lightning strike from a clear blue sky. This jolted people to hurried conclusions, including calls from NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay for the premier’s resignation to predictions her political future was doomed.

Unless something more eventuates from the ICAC hearings — which will continue this week — we haven’t heard evidence of Berejiklian using her public position for some private gain.

At this stage, she is guilty of bad political judgement and bad personal judgement, the latter of which she shares with the rest of us on occasions.

Brand Gladys

The damage at this point is to her hitherto squeaky clean reputation. Berejiklian’s story had always been about hard work, as well as her immigrant family history.

We got some indication of her drive from a 2019 interview, when she spoke of her twin sister, who didn’t survive birth:

It was just luck that I came out first. Imagine if you had a twin; you came out first, they didn’t make it, I feel like I’ve got to justify my existence by sacrificing. So I don’t care if I’m not happy all the time. I feel like I’ve got to work hard.

Until this week, the premier has always been an intensely private person who even talked in media interviews of her dedication to a political career that came at the expense of a personal life and marriage. All fair enough.

Quick verdicts

However, the sudden revelations have catapulted many to quick verdicts about Berejiklian’s career prospects, while bringing out the armchair psychologist in us all.

We wonder about the secret life of this 50-year-old woman, who retains the air of the captain that she was at high school in North Ryde. She told no one about this relationship, not even her own, very close family.

So, this can’t help but make us ask: what other information is she not sharing?

Support from colleagues

At the moment, Berejiklian is being supported by her colleagues. As a member of the moderate faction, she is possibly under threat from the right of the party, but importantly, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet was by her side on Monday.

This conservative faction leader backed the premier continuing in her job and with good reason. Any undermining of her leadership would threaten the current factional peace, publicly confirm there was something amiss with Berejiklian, and give the public the impression that the bad old days are back with revolving door premiers.

And all in the middle of a pandemic.

Read more: NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian avoids a spill but remains in troubled waters

On Tuesday, Berejiklian apologised to the party room. So far, the public criticism is limited to MPs such as conservative backbencher, Matthew Mason-Cox, who has form as a rogue operator.

But Berjiklian’s image will not be same again

So, it gets back to Brand Gladys.

Until ICAC finds something more about her, she should survive this episode with the backing of her party, unless another surprise eventuates in the future.

But her rather perfect public image will never be the same.

– ref. Brand Gladys: how ICAC revelations hurt Berejiklian’s ‘school captain’ image – https://theconversation.com/brand-gladys-how-icac-revelations-hurt-berejiklians-school-captain-image-147986

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

Victoria’s contact tracing system has faced criticism in the past for being inefficient, with officials flying to NSW in September to learn from that state.

Comparisons are difficult in a pandemic because each outbreak has its own unique characteristics. That said, there are some key features that underpin the differing responses of NSW and Victoria when it comes to contact tracing.

Fundamentally, NSW’s system of decentralised local area health districts meant when the second wave hit, that state was able to draw on teams embedded in their local communities to manage contact tracing. These teams worked independently but also in concert under the mothership of NSW Health.

In Victoria, a legacy of cuts left the Department of Health and Human Services under-resourced and highly centralised, meaning there was a smaller base upon which to build the surge contact tracing capacity (with some contact tracers coming from interstate).

This was further challenged with the rapid rise in daily new cases, from 65 to 288 in one week alone in July. Systems had to be developed quickly to manage large quantities of data and feed it back to a central hub. The state had to “build the aeroplane while flying”.

Much has changed since then, and for the better. Some hard lessons have been learned along the way but the contact tracing system in Victoria is now very comprehensive and increasingly robust.

Read more: A 14-day rolling average of 5 new daily cases is the wrong trigger for easing Melbourne lockdown. Let’s look at ‘under investigation’ cases instead

Community engagement, local knowledge

Community engagement and local knowledge might seem like buzzwords but in a pandemic, they’re vital to ring-fencing a cluster.

NSW’s system of devolved public health units and teams meant when local outbreaks occurred, locally embedded health workers were at an advantage. They’re already linked with local area health providers for testing, they already have relationships with community members and community leaders, and they know the physical layout of the area.

If you’re doing a contact tracing interview with someone and they’re talking about a key landmark at a certain time of day, you can visualise it and understand what it means in terms of risk.

What’s crucial is a nuanced understanding of local, social, and cultural factors that may facilitate spread or affect how people understand self-isolation and what’s being asked of them. It can also make a critical difference in encouraging people to come forward for testing.

It’s not just about making sure you have materials printed in the right language. It’s about understanding how people view the health system from their context. If you have people who come from a part of the world with a health system that operates differently to ours, they will bring that understanding with them.

If local health workers and contact tracers are already part of a community, they can bring that expert knowledge into the mix; they can make sure public health messaging is meaningful for local communities.

When NSW’s second wave came with the cases at the Crossroads Hotel, they were on high alert, with a system ready to jump on it and chase down every lead.

Victoria had to build its contact tracing capacity on the hop. That local knowledge had to be developed and integrated as they went, often when dealing with large and complex local clusters.

Read more: Victoria’s coronavirus contact tracing is about to get faster. Let’s make it the first step in a larger digital boost

Evolution is underway

Since August, the Australian Department of Health has published the Common Operating Picture, which provides a weekly traffic light report of the coronavirus situation across Australia.

In the earlier part of the second wave, you can see Victoria gets an amber or red light for some elements relating to case notifications and outstanding case interviews — in other words, its system was under stress. That’s understandable; when an outbreak gets to a certain size, strain is inevitable.

It has been impressive to see Victoria’s more recent progression to green, meaning the system is coping well.

In fact, the contact tracing system in Victoria is now so comprehensive that in Kilmore the department trialled a system of tracing “close contacts of close contacts”. When a confirmed case is identified, the contact tracers track down that person’s close contacts (people with whom they’ve spent 15 minutes or more). They then also track down the close contacts of each of those close contacts.

It’s incredibly resource- and labour-intensive, but it’s also a game-changer that will allow outbreaks to be contained quickly. Hopefully, this will be the standard approach state-wide where the circumstances permit and, combined with good cooperation from the public in getting tested early, it’s likely to be very effective.

Victoria has also got better over time at naming exposure sites clearly (in earlier days it could be quite vague).

You can see the evolution of the system happening. What’s admirable in Victoria is they did set about rebuilding their response, including creating regional hubs, while case numbers were high.

Public co-operation matters

I have faith in the design of Victoria’s contact tracing system now, and Kilmore is showing us how it can be rolled out to good effect. Half the latest batch of contact tests results came back on Tuesday, all negative.

There will always be room for improvement and we will learn as we go.

Key to the system working is people cooperating with masks, hygiene and personal distancing, along with broader critical rules limiting home visits and not leaving home if unwell.

Most important is getting tested early, whether you have symptoms or have been at a known exposure site, do it and do it fast. This is how we limit the risk of spread, and reduce the risk families and immediate close contacts will even need to be isolated, much less deal with being infected.

People on the frontline are working incredibly hard within a system being rebuilt around them. They are engaging with people in the community who are frustrated and getting mixed messages.

It pays for all of us to remember the effectiveness of our public health system and Victoria’s public health response is down to the sum of people’s contributions. We all have a role to play.

Read more: Vital Signs: batch testing and contact tracing are the two keys to stop the lockdown yo-yo

– ref. Where did Victoria go so wrong with contact tracing and have they fixed it? – https://theconversation.com/where-did-victoria-go-so-wrong-with-contact-tracing-and-have-they-fixed-it-147993

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rosalie Gillett, Research Associate in Digital Platform Regulation, Queensland University of Technology

An ABC investigation has highlighted the shocking threats of sexual assault women in Australia face when “matching” with people on Tinder.

A notable case is that of rapist Glenn Hartland. One victim who met him through the app, Paula, took her own life. Her parents are now calling on Tinder to take a stand to prevent similar future cases.

The ABC spoke to Tinder users who tried to report abuse to the company and received no response, or received an unhelpful one. Despite the immense harm dating apps can facilitate, Tinder has done little to improve user safety.

Way too slow to respond

While we don’t have much data for Australia, one US–based study found 57% of female online dating users had received a sexually explicit image or image they didn’t ask for.

It also showed women under 35 were twice as likely than male counterparts to be called an offensive name, or physically threatened, by someone they met on a dating app or website.

Tinder’s Community Guidelines state:

your offline behaviour can lead to termination of your Tinder account.

As several reports over the years have indicated, the reality seems to be perpetrators of abuse face little challenge from Tinder (with few exceptions).

Earlier this year, the platform unveiled a suite of new safety features in a bid to protect users online and offline. These include photo verification and a “panic button” which alerts law enforcement when a user is in need of emergency assistance.

Read more: Tinder’s new safety features won’t prevent all types of abuse

However, most of these features are still only available in the US — while Tinder operates in more than 190 countries. This isn’t good enough.

Also, it seems while Tinder happily takes responsibility for successful relationships formed through the service, it distances itself from users’ bad behaviour.

No simple fix

Currently in Australia, there are no substantial policy efforts to curb the prevalence of technology-facilitated abuse against women. The government recently closed consultations for a new Online Safety Act, but only future updates will reveal how beneficial this will be.

Historically, platforms like Tinder have avoided legal responsibility for the harms their systems facilitate. Criminal and civil laws generally focus on individual perpetrators. Platforms usually aren’t required to actively prevent offline harm.

Nonetheless, some lawyers are bringing cases to extend legal liability to dating apps and other platforms.

The UK is looking at introducing a more general duty of care that might require platforms to do more to prevent harm. But such laws are controversial and still under development.

The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women has also drawn attention to harms facilitated through digital tech, urging platforms to take a stronger stance in addressing harms they’re involved with. While such rules aren’t legally binding, they do point to mounting pressures.

However, it’s not always clear what we should expect platforms to do when they receive complaints.

Should a dating app immediately cancel someone’s account if they receive a complaint? Should they display a “warning” about that person to other users? Or should they act silently, down-ranking and refusing to match potentially violent users with other dates?

It’s hard to say whether such measures would be effective, or if they would comply with Australian defamation law, anti-discrimination law, or international human rights standards.

Ineffective design impacts people’s lives

Tinder’s app design directly influences how easily users can abuse and harass others. There are changes it (and many other platforms) should have made long ago to make their services safer, and make it clear abuse isn’t tolerated.

Some design challenges relate to user privacy. While Tinder itself doesn’t, many location-aware apps such as Happn, Snapchat and Instagram have settings that make it easy for users to stalk other users.

Some Tinder features are poorly thought out, too. For example, the ability to completely block someone is good for privacy and safety, but also deletes the entire conversation history — removing any trace (and proof) of abusive behaviour.

We’ve also seen cases where the very systems designed to reduce harm are used against the people they’re meant to protect. Abusive actors on Tinder and similar platforms can exploit “flagging” and “reporting” features to silence minorities.

In the past, content moderation policies have been applied in ways that discriminate against women and LGBTQI+ communities. One example is users flagging certain LGBTQ+ content as “adult” and to be removed, when similar heterosexual content isn’t.

Read more: Looking for love on a dating app? You might be falling for a ghost

Tackling the normalisation of abuse

Women frequently report unwanted sexual advances, unsolicited “dick pics”, threats and other types of abuse across all major digital platforms.

One of the most worrying aspects of toxic/abusive online interactions is that many women may — even though they may feel uncomfortable, uneasy, or unsafe — ultimately dismiss them. For the most part, poor behaviour is now a “cliche” posted on popular social media pages as entertainment.

It could be such dismissals happen because the threat doesn’t seem imminently “serious”, or the woman doesn’t want to be viewed as “overreacting”. However, this ultimately trivialises and downplays the abuse.

Messages such as unwanted penis photos are not a laughing matter. Accepting ordinary acts of abuse and harassment reinforces a culture that supports violence against women more broadly.

Thus, Tinder isn’t alone in failing to protect women — our attitudes matter a lot as well.

All the major digital platforms have their work cut out to address the online harassment of women that has now become commonplace. Where they fail, we should all work to keep the pressure on them.

If you or someone you know needs help, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

– ref. Tinder fails to protect women from abuse. But when we brush off ‘dick pics’ as a laugh, so do we – https://theconversation.com/tinder-fails-to-protect-women-from-abuse-but-when-we-brush-off-dick-pics-as-a-laugh-so-do-we-147909

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanna Mendelssohn, Principal Fellow (Hon), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, University of Melbourne

Review: Lindy Lee: Moon in a Dew Drop, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.

At a time when the rapidly heating earth seems to put the very future of humanity at risk, in an age when the world appears to be largely governed by clowns, criminals or those who are a combination of both, Lindy Lee’s art soothes the soul, restoring harmony.

Moon in a Dew Drop, curated by Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, does not show easy patterns or sweet sentiment. Rather it is an expression of tranquillity obtained as the result of hard struggle and rigorous self-examination.

Lee could be described as a typical Australian. She is the child of immigrant refugee parents. Her father came to Australia alone in 1947, before the Communist victory, but her mother was not allowed to follow for some years as our racist immigration policies strictly limited the number of Chinese people allowed to settle here.

Lee became an artist at a time when it was widely assumed that all art was made by men but by an accident of timing her professional career placed her in the vanguard of successful Australian artists who were neither ethnically European or male.

In a catalogue essay translated by Fiona He, the Chinese writer Shen Qilan notes that Lee’s art is a continual exploration of “‘Who am I?’ – the first and ultimate philosophical question”.

When she was a child, Lee wondered at motes of dust caught in the sunlight. As an adult she is still driven by a sense of wonder in the world around her.

The exhibition arcs over the entire trajectory of Lee’s career, starting with early photocopies of Renaissance and Baroque works. As with most women of her generation, Lee had assumed all great artists were men until she visited Italy and saw the work of Artemisia Gentileschi. Here was an artist who painted women as heroes and whose favourite subject was the Biblical Judith, beheader of Holofernes.

Read more: Explainer: Artemisia Gentileschi, a Baroque heroine for the #MeToo era

After Lee returned to Australia she studied at the Sydney College of the Arts, at first using photocopies as an aide memoir. The process of photocopying entranced her as she began to see these copies as objects in their own right.

The act of translation through art served as a metaphor for her experience as an Australian with an Asian background, seeing the world at a distance, turning “reality” into something else. From photocopies she turned to black pigmented beeswax, scraping back the European past to create an original present.

Cultural dislocation

In 1985, her painting, White Sacrament, a meditation on an El Greco painting of St Andrew, was purchased for the National Gallery of Australia. Lee was intrigued by the intensity of El Greco’s spirituality and the way this was reflected in his art. Her investigations into spirituality developed in tandem with a sense of cultural dislocation.

As with many Australians born of immigrant parents, Lee did not at first feel a connection to their country or culture. Later she came to understand that her preoccupation with photocopies was also a reflection of seeing herself as a replica, not the real thing, not a part of Australia. It could be argued that all her subsequent art is an exploration of the nature of reality, and a sense of time.

Her 2003 installation, Birth and Death, recreated for this exhibition, comprises 100 red, Chinese accordion books, printed with digitised images of members of her family, past and present, alive and dead. We are all a part of those who go before and who come after.

In 1995, Lee paid her first visit to China and realised that she was neither wholly Chinese nor completely Australian. Instead she continued to draw on both cultures for her understanding of self. The result was her installation, No Up, No Down, I Am the Ten Thousand Things.

In a catalogue interview with Macgregor she describes this work as the result of being “released from the imprisonment of trying to find my identity as being either Chinese or Anglo or this or that”.

The title is a reference to the Zen philosopher, Dogen who said, “If you want to know your self, forget yourself and be actualised by the 10,000 things.”

In subsequent visits to China, Lee became intrigued by the Daoist tradition of flung ink calligraphy, where the artist allows fate to decide where the pigment falls. In recent years, she has begun to work with the UAP Foundry in Brisbane, making flung pieces out of drops of molten bronze.

The jewel-like fragments look as though they could never be the result of accident, but one of the highlights of the exhibition is the video installation showing Lee almost dancing as she flings down the hot metal as it turns into art.

Moonlight Deities, an installation where light shines through multiple, circular holes making entrancing shadow patterns, was made especially for this exhibition, as was the sculpture Secret World of a Starlight Ember.

In both works it is easy for the viewer to immerse themselves in the patterns of light, to move with the shadows, to consider themselves as parts of the never ending universe.

This world in which we find ourselves is but a speck in the enormity of the universe, and at the same time a revelation of wonder that we who are so small can be a part of a universe, so large.

Lee tells Macgregor the Buddhist story of the net of Indra, the infinite net, as a metaphor for what she is trying to say through her art.

It’s a Buddhist story. The universe is this infinite net and at each end of the ties of the net there is a jewel. The jewel is perfect and utterly singular, but its perfection, beauty and singularity comes from reflecting every other jewel in the universe.

Lindy Lee: Moon in a Dew Drop is at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia until 28 February 2021.

– ref. Lindy Lee’s Moon in a Dew Drop: art driven by a sense of wonder, born of hard struggle – https://theconversation.com/lindy-lees-moon-in-a-dew-drop-art-driven-by-a-sense-of-wonder-born-of-hard-struggle-147185

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne

Kevin Rudd’s petition to parliament for a royal commission into the dominance of the Murdoch media in Australia is entitled to be seen as more than an embittered ex-politician’s desire for revenge.

The fact is that in the three mature English-speaking democracies where Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has a dominant presence – the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia – politics are deeply polarised and conducted with a toxicity and dishonesty that is harmful to the public good.

There are differences in degree, of course. Australia has not elected a reactionary extremist such as US President Donald Trump, nor found itself riven with political divisions of the kind shown up by the Brexit referendum. Neither has Australian political discourse descended to the depths of racism that have scarred politics in those two countries.

Australia has not seen its national leader equivocate over white supremacy, as Trump did after the Charlottesville protests of 2017. It has not seen a political campaign poster about immigration modelled on a Nazi poster on the same subject, as the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) produced during the Brexit referendum campaign.

Yet there is one fundamental similarity among the three countries that reflects the anti-democratic influence of the Murdoch media: in each country, political leaders see Murdoch as a decisive factor in electoral success.

He controls about two-thirds of Australia’s capital city daily newspaper circulation, owns The Times, The Sunday Times and mass-circulation The Sun in England, and Fox News, the most-watched cable TV service in the US.

A procession of Australian prime ministers or would-be prime ministers from Bob Hawke onwards, including Rudd, have openly and publicly paid court to Murdoch, on occasion travelling to the other side of the world to do so.

In the UK, Tony Blair travelled all the way to Hayman Island to obtain Murdoch’s blessing in the lead-up to the 1997 election. He obtained the blessing and won the election.

In episode three of the recent television documentary, The Murdoch Dynasty, Nigel Farage, who led UKIP in the Brexit referendum, said Murdoch’s support was crucial to the success of the “Leave” campaign.

In the same documentary, a Trump campaign insider from 2016 said Murdoch’s Fox News was indispensable to Trump’s success in that year’s US presidential election.

Read more: James Murdoch’s resignation is the result of News Corp’s increasing shift to the right – not just on climate

The benefit of a royal commission would be to lay bare the nature of the interactions between the elected politicians and the unelected Rupert Murdoch.

Details of the supplications, threats, deals, promises, attitudes and motives that are the stuff of these interactions would shed extraordinarily valuable light on a highly influential aspect of the way Australia’s democracy works.

It would enable the public to assess just how extensive Murdoch’s influence is, and what effect it has on public policy and electoral outcomes.

It’s highly improbable it would lead to greater diversity in media ownership. If it created a public clamour loud enough to make politicians think there were votes in it, then it might be possible one of the main parties would adopt media diversity as policy, and propose ways to achieve it.

However, history tells us this is extremely unlikely.

A royal commission in England in 1947-49 dodged the issue; another in 1961-62 resulted in significant mergers being referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. However, this was circumvented by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1981, when she pushed through Murdoch’s acquisition of The Times and The Sunday Times.

In Australia, both main parties have been complicit in creating the present state of affairs.

The Hawke-Keating government created the conditions that allowed Murdoch to take over the Herald and Weekly Times group, giving him Melbourne’s Herald Sun and daily newspaper monopolies in Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart.

The Turnbull government made the situation worse in 2017 by abolishing rules about cross-ownership, market dominance and audience reach.

Read more: Why media reform in Australia has been so hard to achieve

For another thing, the Australian public has shown an astonishing complacency and lack of interest in the health of the media. This has remained the case even as media freedom has been directly assaulted by a succession of laws since 2001 that criminalise journalism in the name of national security.

Perhaps the rush to sign the Rudd petition, which is credited with causing the parliamentary website to crash, indicates a change of attitude, or it might just be clicktivism.

Finally, Australian parliaments have shown little interest in, and less appetite for, fixing the problem.

In 1980, the Victorian government of Rupert Hamer established a committee of inquiry under the chairmanship of Sir John Norris, a retired Supreme Court judge, into the ownership and control of newspapers in Victoria.

The Norris report was presented in September 1981. It recommended an independent statutory authority be established to scrutinise proposed newspaper acquisitions, to ensure undue concentration of ownership would not result.

It aroused indignant opposition from the newspaper companies and went nowhere.

In 1992, the federal House of Representatives established a Select Committee on the Print Media to examine many of the same issues. It produced a report called News and Fair Facts, a laboured pun on “Fairfax”. It too disappeared without trace.

Even if Rudd gets his royal commission, its report risks going the same way, unless it probes deeply enough to tell us something important about the way Australian democracy works.

– ref. Paper chase: why Kevin Rudd’s call for a royal commission into News Corp may lead nowhere – https://theconversation.com/paper-chase-why-kevin-rudds-call-for-a-royal-commission-into-news-corp-may-lead-nowhere-147996

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Beth Madsen, PhD Candidate (confirmed) and casual academic at the University of Queensland, The University of Queensland

The recent federal budget included A$39.8 million to expand the Clontarf Foundation’s Academy program for 12,500 Indigenous boys and young men.

The Clontarf Foundation aims to improve confidence in Indigenous young men, and help them finish school and find work.

A study conducted by one of us, Beth Madsen, (using data from the Australian government’s grants information system), has found the Clontarf Foundation received A$74,809,900 in federal grants between July 2014 and July 2019.

While Clontarf’s aim to support young men is important, it receives significantly more funding than other programs, including those that support young women.

What programs get funding?

Beth Madsen’s PhD study has been mapping funding to nine external service providers that aim to improve school attendance for Indigenous students across Australia. The nine programs each received federal grants of more than A$1 million between July 2014 and July 2019.

The programs received a total of $123,660,900 in funding for the same period. A program with the Clontarf Foundation, designed to work solely with Indigenous boys, was the top funded. The $74,809,900 in federal grants it received made up about 60% of the total funding across the nine programs.

Between 2014 and 2019, the federal government funded four programs (out of the nine studied) to work with young Indigenous women: the Girls Academy, run by Role Models and Leaders Australia ($12,100,000), the Stars Foundation ($16,324,000), the Shooting Stars Program, run by Glass Jar Australia ($8,800,000) and the Cairns Hockey Aspire to be Deadly Program ($3,124,000).

These programs combined received a total of $40,348,000 (around 33% of the total funding for the nine programs), a little more than half of what the Clontarf Foundation received. The remaining 7% of funding for these nine programs was for programs that work with both genders.

Read more: Closing the gap in Indigenous literacy and numeracy? Not remotely – or in cities

It’s important to note the Clontarf Foundation works with a larger number of young people than the four other programs combined. And some of the female-targeted programs have acknowledged their inspiration comes from the Clontarf Foundation’s reported successes.

Still, multiple programs must compete to attract grants to support Indigenous young women.

So, why are Indigenous boys’ programs receiving significantly higher funding than girls’ programs? Arguments Indigenous boys are being left behind in relation to school attendance and year 12 completion are not supported by the government’s own data.

According to the 2019 Closing the Gap report, school attendance for Indigenous girls is only 1.3% higher than attendance rates for Indigenous boys. The report also outlined only marginally more Indigenous young women (aged 20-24) are likely to have a Year 12 or equivalent qualification to their male peers — around a 3% difference.

Independent, Indigenous-led evaluation is crucial

Aside from the issue of the gender split of public funding, many have called for more comprehensive, transparent and easy-to-access data on how effectively public funded programs create positive outcomes over time. This evaluation should be independent and Indigenous-led.

A recent report by the Productivity Commission noted:

there continues to be limited evidence about the effectiveness of many policies and programs designed to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

A 2010 report on programs that aimed to improve school attendance and retention of Indigenous Australian students noted:

A review of the literature that evaluated which programs work to increase attendance or retention found that there were very few high-quality evaluations that had been conducted in this area.

Another study noted, in general, there was “a lack of rigour around the collection, reporting and evaluation of the value” of programs that aimed to improved outcomes of Indigenous students.

Read more: The Imagination Declaration: young Indigenous Australians want to be heard – but will we listen?

In short, many expert voices have called for greater monitoring and evaluation of publicly funded programs aimed at improving outcomes for Indigenous students.

There are endless possibilities for funding to be re-imagined to respond to local needs. Evidence, rigour and equity are crucial to ensuring funding is allocated to achieve the best results.

– ref. The budget has more money for school programs for Indigenous boys than girls – https://theconversation.com/the-budget-has-more-money-for-school-programs-for-indigenous-boys-than-girls-147746

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Turney, Professor of Earth Science and Climate Change, Director of Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility, Director of PANGEA Research Centre, and UNSW Node Director of ARC Centre for Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, UNSW

Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.

If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz

Will the delay of the COP26 UN climate negotiations impact international action to decarbonise? Would catch-up talks help? Could the talks collapse because countries stopped paying their dues?

The 26th Conference of the Parties — better known as COP26 — is the United Nations climate change conference that was scheduled to be held in Glasgow, UK, during the first two weeks of November 2020.

But in April this year the COVID-19 pandemic led to the event being postponed, then later rescheduled to November 2021.

That’s a 12-month delay on a meeting of representatives from nearly 200 countries, including New Zealand, charged with monitoring and implementing the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Read more: Climate explained: does building and expanding motorways really reduce congestion and emissions?

It will be crucial to make progress towards the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to limit average global warming to 1.5-2℃ this century, relative to the 1890s (the so-called “preindustrial period”).

Preventing ‘Hothouse Earth’

The temperature target agreed in Paris was carefully chosen. Numerous scientific studies show an increase beyond 2℃ would activate self-reinforcing feedbacks in the climate system (such as a weakening of ocean and land carbon sinks). This would tip our planet into an extreme “Hothouse Earth” that could persist for millennia, regardless of what happens with future emissions.

To avoid this scenario, the legally binding UN agreement encourages all participating nations to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases as soon as possible.

As part of the Paris Agreement, developed countries agreed to provide, from 2020, US$100 billion to support developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Unfortunately, the current trajectory of global emissions is on track to increase global average temperatures by more than 2℃ and possibly as much as 4℃, far exceeding the target set in Paris.

One recent study put the economic costs of failing to meet the Paris goals up to an eye-watering US$600 trillion by 2100, effectively keeping the planet in permanent recession.

National representatives are expected to arrive in Glasgow next year with substantially strengthened plans to reduce emissions and meet their commitments to support developing countries.

The pandemic and emissions

There is no doubt the gathering of 30,000 delegates in Glasgow will come at a time of ongoing uncertainty about COVID-19 and the largest shock to the global economy since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The pandemic is a game changer but it’s not yet clear whether this is good or bad for reducing emissions.

Many of us have made substantial cuts to our travel and embraced remote work and online video chat, particularly at the height of the pandemic. Google and Apple data suggest more than half of the world’s population reduced their travel by more than half in April.

Unfortunately, greenhouse gas emissions have remained stubbornly high. Daily global carbon dioxide emissions fell by as much as 17% in early April. But as the world’s economy started to recover, emissions bounced back, according to the UN, with 2020 likely experiencing only a 4-7% decline in carbon dioxide relative to 2019.

To meet the Paris target and limit warming to 1.5℃, the world needs to achieve cuts of 7.6% year-on-year for the next decade, and effectively reach zero emissions by 2050.

More work to do

The sobering reality is nations have a lot more work to do to decarbonise their economies. But for many national governments, the thorny question is how to achieve more ambitious emission targets while at the same time rebuilding economies battered by COVID-19.

Although the UN has a large financial shortfall of US$711 million (at the end of 2019) due to some nations failing to pay their annual dues — with the US, Brazil and Saudi Arabia the worst offenders — there is no suggestion of cancelling the COP26 meeting next year.

Catch-up talks have indeed been mooted but so far nothing has been publicly announced. That’s not to say there aren’t intensive negotiations and commitments being made in advance of the COP26 meeting in Glasgow. And there are some positive signs.

A pandemic recovery

As the world moves towards an economic recovery after the pandemic, some major economies are tilting towards a green stimulus and public commitments to reduce fossil fuel investments.

For example, China is the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide and took the opportunity at the UN General Assembly 75th anniversary last month to announce it will reach peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

Read more: China just stunned the world with its step-up on climate action – and the implications for Australia may be huge

Arguably more ambitious is the proposed European Green Deal announced in late 2019. It aims to slash greenhouse gas emissions by half over the next decade and make Europe the first carbon-neutral continent.

To help achieve this, a carbon tax is proposed for imports into the European Union. This threatens to have far-reaching implications for European trading partners such as New Zealand and Australia.

Read more: Climate explained: are we doomed if we don’t manage to curb emissions by 2030?

In parallel to these government announcements, industry is also making commitments to decarbonise. The multi-trillion-dollar financial sector is adding pressure by focusing on companies at risk from climate change and identifying so-called “stranded assets”.

These pronouncements will help boost the negotiations for more stringent cuts to emissions as delegates prepare for the COP26 meeting in Glasgow next year. This can only put more pressure on all nations to be more ambitious.

Attention will inevitably focus on the world’s largest historic emitter, the US, which is formally leaving the Paris Agreement on November 4 this year, the day after the 2020 presidential election.

So the COP26 won’t collapse, but the year’s delay to the meeting may give the world the breathing space it so desperately needs to realise the ambition of the Paris Agreement and avoid the worst of climate change.

– ref. Climate explained: does a delay in COP26 climate talks hit our efforts to reduce carbon emissions? – https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-does-a-delay-in-cop26-climate-talks-hit-our-efforts-to-reduce-carbon-emissions-146762

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Quinn, Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University

How are vaccines made to kill a virus? Layla, aged 7

Thanks Layla. This is a very important question, especially now, as scientists all around the world are working hard to develop a vaccine to protect us against the coronavirus. Actually, scientists are trying to find vaccines for many different diseases.

To understand how vaccines are made, we first need to understand how viruses make us sick, and how special cells in our bodies defend us against infections.

Read more: Curious Kids: what are cells made out of?

Viruses are pretty sneaky

Viruses make us sick when they invade our cells. The way this works is kind of complicated — us scientists have to study for many years to fully understand it. But you can think of it like this.

Viruses can get inside our cells by using a special key that fits into a lock on the outside of our cells. Once inside, the virus hijacks the cell, forcing it to make more virus by turning cells into tiny virus factories.

This is stressful for our cells, which can make us start to feel sick. The virus made in the virus factories can spread the infection through our body, to make us even sicker.

It can also spread from our body to infect other people, and make them sick too.

Your immune system is your defence force

Your immune system is made up of immune cells — very special cells that live all throughout your body. Their job is to look out for any signs of an infection and defend all the other cells in your body when there is a threat.

There are many types of immune cells that work as a team to stop and even kill the virus. Two very important immune cells are B cells and T cells.

B cells make a secret weapon called antibodies. Antibodies are tiny Y-shaped particles that are incredibly sticky — they stick all over the key on the virus so it no longer fits into the lock on our cells. This stops the virus from getting in and causing an infection.

If a virus does sneak past the B cells and get into our cells, T cells can deal with it — they are the ninjas of our immune system! They kill any cells that get infected to stop the virus from spreading within our body.

Our body comes across viruses — like the common cold, for example — every day, and they don’t always make us sick because our immune cells can protect us. But our immune cells are much better at their job if the virus is one they’ve seen before.

If we come across a new virus — like the coronavirus, for example — our immune cells can’t recognise it straight away. This gives the virus a chance to infect our cells and it can start to make us sick.

Read more: Curious Kids: how does our blood fight viruses like chicken pox and colds?

Vaccines teach our immune cells about the virus

All vaccines contain a little piece of the virus, which our immune cells pick up and start to show to each other. Our B cells and T cells can then recognise that little piece of virus and remember it, sometimes for years.

The next time we see that virus, our immune cells recognise it straight away and kick into action.

If our immune cells can act quickly enough, we won’t get sick, and our bodies won’t make more virus that could make other people sick.

So, we hope that answers your question Layla. Your immune system is a powerful defence force — it protects you every day from infections. But sometimes it needs a little help from a vaccine, especially with a new virus it hasn’t seen before.

Hello, curious kids! Have you got a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au

– ref. Curious Kids: how do vaccines kill viruses? – https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-how-do-vaccines-kill-viruses-147266

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kai He, Professor of International Relations, Griffith University

As the increasingly virulent anti-China rhetoric has made clear in recent months, China has not been very popular in countries like the US and Australia for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

But new research shows just how extensive China’s image problem is at the moment.

Recent surveys conducted by the Pew Research Centre show a majority of people in 14 advanced economies now hold an unfavourable view of China.

In nine of these countries, including the US, UK, Australia, South Korea and Germany, negative views of China have reached their highest level since Pew began polling in these countries more than a decade ago.

In Australia, 81% of respondents said they viewed China unfavourably, up 24 percentage points from last year, while in the UK, 74% had negative views of China, up 19 points.

Sweden (85%) and the Netherlands (73%) also showed dramatic spikes, rising more than 30 percentage points from 2017.

A more assertive diplomatic approach

Significantly, the survey suggests that perceptions of how China has handled the pandemic heavily influenced people’s views of the country.

As the pandemic has devastated economies and cost millions of lives around the world, it is understandable for people to feel resentment and anger towards China, regardless of whether it is reasonable or not.

Read more: The world has a hard time trusting China. But does it really care?

Moreover, these unfavourable views might persist for some time, because it is human nature to remember negative things more strongly and in greater detail than positive things.

However, these negative views of China might not be solely attributable to its handling of the crisis.

China’s diplomats have also become increasingly assertive in response to questions about the origins of the virus, pushing back with a so-called “wolf warrior diplomacy”.

The Pew survey should be a warning call for the Chinese government to reflect on its foreign policy practices, especially if China envisages pursuing more of an international leadership role in a post-pandemic world.

Read more: Behind China’s newly aggressive diplomacy: ‘wolf warriors’ ready to fight back

Emphasis on mutual respect

There are three lessons Chinese diplomats might want to consider.

The first lesson is that good diplomacy is built on mutual respect. And China can earn respect from the world through persuasion — not coercion and propaganda.

For example, an open letter recently sent to Indian media by the Chinese embassy in New Delhi regarding their coverage of Taiwan backfired spectacularly, with India’s Ministry of External Affairs saying

there is a free media in India, that reports on issues that they see fit.

It is true some foreign media have biased and even distorted reports about China. But instead of trying to censor reports they see as biased, Chinese diplomats should instead make counterarguments, ideally in the same media outlets. Let the audience make a judgement call.

Empathy without strings attached

The second lesson is diplomacy should be based on empathy, especially during the pandemic or a similar humanitarian crises.

China has attempted to demonstrate empathy by providing much-needed humanitarian assistance to other countries in the past, but how China conveys the messaging around this makes a big difference.

It is undiplomatic and ridiculous, for instance, to solicit praise and compliments from foreign governments after providing assistance, which is precisely what some Chinese diplomats have done during the pandemic.

China’s diplomats would be wise to keep in mind that humility is a respected virtue in traditional Chinese culture. And in international relations, soft power is more effective if it comes without strings attached.

‘When they go low, we go high’

The third lesson is about the art of diplomacy, which is, in essence, about government-to-government relationships between countries. Diplomats need to know what they should do, and more importantly, what they should not do, in order to maintain good relations with other countries.

For example, the Chinese ambassador to Sweden, Gui Congyou, has attacked the local media and public figures frequently because, as he put it, they “have a habit of criticising, accusing and smearing China.”

Gui has been summoned to Sweden’s foreign ministry more than 40 times in two years and several parties have called for him to be expelled from Sweden.

And in Brazil, China’s embassy strongly protested when Brazilian congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, President Jair Bolsonaro’s son, blamed China for the pandemic on Twitter.

Ambassador Yang Wanming called it an “evil insult” and the embassy posited that Bolsonaro had contracted “a mental virus” while visiting the US.

China’s diplomats should understand that because of the differing political systems in other countries, it is sometimes normal for politicians and public figures to express controversial views concerning China.

Read more: US-China relations were already heated. Then coronavirus threw fuel on the flames

How and when to respond is part of the art of diplomacy. Sometimes, a quiet, measured response is more effective than public tit-for-tat bickering.

This is not to suggest China should keep its head down when being bullied by other countries. A wise diplomat should know how to pick a fight with the right target at the right time. In addition, good diplomacy should be built on taking the moral high ground when possible.

Michelle Obama’s famous saying — “when they go low, we go high” — also applies to foreign policy.

Lessons for the West, too

These three lessons are not unique to China. The US image has also plummeted internationally due to the Trump administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pew surveys show.

Australian diplomats might also find these lessons useful for repairing their country’s deteriorating relationship with China.

China’s first premier, Zhou Enlai, famously said,

There is no small thing in diplomacy.

These days, a more sensible and even-keeled approach to diplomacy is what would be best for China, as well as the rest of the world — not more heated rhetoric.

– ref. China’s image problem is worsening globally. It’s time for Beijing to consider a diplomatic reset – https://theconversation.com/chinas-image-problem-is-worsening-globally-its-time-for-beijing-to-consider-a-diplomatic-reset-147901

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Tuthill, Astrophysicist, University of Sydney

An astronomical discovery is shedding new light on an exquisitely-formed star system in our own Milky Way galaxy, featuring two Wolf-Rayet stars. These stars are short-lived and consequently very rare, with only a few hundred confirmed among our galaxy’s one hundred billion or so stars.

Research published by our team in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society offers a closer look at not one, but two Wolf-Rayet stars, in a binary star system named Apep, about 8000 light years away from Earth.

Wolf-Rayets are often more than 20 times the mass of our sun. They’re fiercely hot, bright and can emit more radiation than a million normal stars. In fact, they’re so luminous they fly apart under their own glare — shedding huge amounts of mass through intense stellar winds and driving elements such as helium, oxygen and carbon into space.

Apep, named after the serpentine Egyptian god of chaos, was first announced by my team in 2018. With the new findings from a paper led by recent University of Sydney graduate from my group, Yinuo Han, we threw everything we had at the seemingly inexplicable physics driving this exotic peacock of the stellar kingdom.

Apep’s dance caught on camera

Finding any Wolf-Rayet star is a one-in-a-billion event, only possible because their extreme properties act as a beacon visible across the galaxy. In Apep, we find a pair of these rare stars nestled in an orbit, the only example of a binary Wolf-Rayet ever verified.

Their ferocious radiation drives the outer layers of the star off into space, where the material, particularly the carbon, is able to cool and condense into a plume of grains — forming a literal pillar of stardust.

Read more: Experts solve the mystery of a giant X-shaped galaxy, with a monster black hole as its engine

In the case of the binary star Apep, however, as the two stars orbit one another, this dust gets twisted and sculpted into a vast glowing sooty tail. Both the geometric form and the motion of this dust encodes the physics of the star’s orbit, as well as the speed of winds.

Using high-resolution imaging techniques, we revealed the form of the glowing plume. By returning to Apep for three consecutive years, subtle differences could be seen in the motion of the dust tail.

Despite the vast distance over which we observed the system, the incredible power of modern telescopes and imaging technologies allowed us to capture Apep’s dance.

A potential first for our Milky Way?

Analysing these data, we produced and a model that matches Apep’s intricate spiral geometry in amazing detail. However the increasing clarity of the imagery only served to double down on the underlying enigma enshrouding the system.

Flouting rules that generally govern other wind-driven dust plumes, Apep’s dust tail seemed to float along at its own slow pace, in open defiance to the the extreme winds that should be driving it. This was hard to fathom, as Wolf-Rayet winds are more than a billion times more powerful than our own solar wind.

After double-checking for possible errors, we were forced to accept the dust spiral was, indeed, expanding four times slower than the measured stellar winds. And so, we were confronted with something unheard of in other Wolf-Rayet double star systems; something requiring new physics to understand.

The only explanation that remained was that Apep’s plume was somehow sheltered within its own, more gentle wind. This two-speed model of wind is is theoretically possible if the star that launches the wind has a peculiar property: rapid rotation.

If it’s spinning very fast on its axis, it’s possible this could launch a slow wind in one direction, say around the equator, while maintaining a fast wind closer to the poles.

This opens the door into a realm of fascinating physics that has only been glimpsed by astronomers before.

Burn bright, live fast, die young

Wolf-Rayet stars are, by definition, at the end of their life cycle. In perhaps only a few tens of thousands of years — nobody knows exactly when —they’re destined to explode as supernova, releasing a titanic amount of energy and matter into the galaxy and leaving a remnant black hole or neutron star.

It’s here the critical issue of the star’s rapid rotation comes to centre stage. A normal supernova carries few impacts and consequences beyond its immediate stellar neighbourhood. But when the precursor star is a rapid rotator, this can tip the physics into a different domain entirely: that of a gamma-ray burst.

Here, bursts of raw fury erupt from the rotational poles with such violence they are visible clean across the observable universe.

Being extremely rare, gamma-ray bursts have never been observed in our galaxy. Calculations imply a direct strike from such an intense burst of radiation, even at a considerable distance off in the deeps of the galaxy, could have real consequences for life here on Earth.

It might cause a range of problems, such as ozone depletion and acid rain. Some studies argue such a strike may have caused the Ordovician–Silurian extinction event in the fossil record — the second-largest (percentage wise) of Earth’s five major extinction events.

Read more: Solving the mystery of the wimpy supernova

Fortunately for us, in the case of Apep, we’re definitely not in the firing line. If a gamma-ray strike were to be generated, it would be pointed harmlessly off in a direction away from Earth.

If the link to a gamma-ray burst progenitor can be firmly established, this would capture an elusive phenomena formerly only known at cosmological distances. Either way, the future for studies of this system are bright indeed.

– ref. This mysterious ‘exotic stellar peacock’ may open the door to a realm of physics only ever glimpsed – https://theconversation.com/this-mysterious-exotic-stellar-peacock-may-open-the-door-to-a-realm-of-physics-only-ever-glimpsed-147911

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanna Mendelssohn, Principal Fellow (Hon), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, University of Melbourne

Review: Lindy Lee: Moon in a Dew Drop, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.

At a time when the rapidly heating earth seems to put the very future of humanity at risk, in an age when the world appears to be largely governed by clowns, criminals or those who are a combination of both, Lindy Lee’s art soothes the soul, restoring harmony.

Moon in a Dew Drop, curated by Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, does not show easy patterns or sweet sentiment. Rather it is an expression of tranquillity obtained as the result of hard struggle and rigorous self-examination.

Lee could be described as a typical Australian. She is the child of immigrant refugee parents. Her father came to Australia alone in 1947, before the Communist victory, but her mother was not allowed to follow for some years as our racist immigration policies strictly limited the number of Chinese people allowed to settle here.

Lee became an artist at a time when it was widely assumed that all art was made by men but by an accident of timing her professional career placed her in the vanguard of successful Australian artists who were neither ethnically European or male.

In a catalogue essay translated by Fiona He, the Chinese writer Shen Qilan notes that Lee’s art is a continual exploration of “‘Who am I?’ – the first and ultimate philosophical question”.

When she was a child, Lee wondered at motes of dust caught in the sunlight. As an adult she is still driven by a sense of wonder in the world around her.

The exhibition arcs over the entire trajectory of Lee’s career, starting with early photocopies of Renaissance and Baroque works. As with most women of her generation, Lee had assumed all great artists were men until she visited Italy and saw the work of Artemisia Gentileschi. Here was an artist who painted women as heroes and whose favourite subject was the Biblical Judith, beheader of Holofernes.

Read more: Explainer: Artemisia Gentileschi, a Baroque heroine for the #MeToo era

After Lee returned to Australia she studied at the Sydney College of the Arts, at first using photocopies as an aide memoir. The process of photocopying entranced her as she began to see these copies as objects in their own right.

The act of translation through art served as a metaphor for her experience as an Australian with an Asian background, seeing the world at a distance, turning “reality” into something else. From photocopies she turned to black pigmented beeswax, scraping back the European past to create an original present.

Cultural dislocation

In 1985, her painting, White Sacrament, a meditation on an El Greco painting of St Andrew, was purchased for the National Gallery of Australia. Lee was intrigued by the intensity of El Greco’s spirituality and the way this was reflected in his art. Her investigations into spirituality developed in tandem with a sense of cultural dislocation.

As with many Australians born of immigrant parents, Lee did not at first feel a connection to their country or culture. Later she came to understand that her preoccupation with photocopies was also a reflection of seeing herself as a replica, not the real thing, not a part of Australia. It could be argued that all her subsequent art is an exploration of the nature of reality, and a sense of time.

Her 2003 installation, Birth and Death, recreated for this exhibition, comprises 100 red, Chinese accordion books, printed with digitised images of members of her family, past and present, alive and dead. We are all a part of those who go before and who come after.

In 1995, Lee paid her first visit to China and realised that she was neither wholly Chinese nor completely Australian. Instead she continued to draw on both cultures for her understanding of self. The result was her installation, No Up, No Down, I Am the Ten Thousand Things.

In a catalogue interview with Macgregor she describes this work as the result of being “released from the imprisonment of trying to find my identity as being either Chinese or Anglo or this or that”.

The title is a reference to the Zen philosopher, Dogen who said, “If you want to know your self, forget yourself and be actualised by the 10,000 things.”

In subsequent visits to China, Lee became intrigued by the Daoist tradition of flung ink calligraphy, where the artist allows fate to decide where the pigment falls. In recent years, she has begun to work with the UAP Foundry in Brisbane, making flung pieces out of drops of molten bronze.

The jewel-like fragments look as though they could never be the result of accident, but one of the highlights of the exhibition is the video installation showing Lee almost dancing as she flings down the hot metal as it turns into art.

Moonlight Deities, an installation where light shines through multiple, circular holes making entrancing shadow patterns, was made especially for this exhibition, as was the sculpture Secret World of a Starlight Ember.

In both works it is easy for the viewer to immerse themselves in the patterns of light, to move with the shadows, to consider themselves as parts of the never ending universe.

This world in which we find ourselves is but a speck in the enormity of the universe, and at the same time a revelation of wonder that we who are so small can be a part of a universe, so large.

Lee tells Macgregor the Buddhist story of the net of Indra, the infinite net, as a metaphor for what she is trying to say through her art.

It’s a Buddhist story. The universe is this infinite net and at each end of the ties of the net there is a jewel. The jewel is perfect and utterly singular, but its perfection, beauty and singularity comes from reflecting every other jewel in the universe.

Lindy Lee: Moon in a Dew Drop is at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia until 28 February 2021.

– ref. Lindy Lee’s Moon in a Dew Drop: art driven by a sense of wonder, borne of hard struggle – https://theconversation.com/lindy-lees-moon-in-a-dew-drop-art-driven-by-a-sense-of-wonder-borne-of-hard-struggle-147185

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra

More than ever before, auctions shape the economy.

Sites such as eBay have made them an everyday transaction. The placement of every Google ad is priced by an instantaneous mini-auction. Governments use them to allocate radio spectrum and to run emissions trading schemes.

The 2020 Nobel Prize in economics has been awarded to two Americans, Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson, for their work in analysing auctions and how to make them more efficient.

The two professors are close collaborators. They both work at Stanford University in California and also live on the same street.

The economics prize is not one of the original categories endowed from Alfred Nobel’s will. Its formal name is the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel. The winners are selected by the same Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that awards the prizes for physics and chemistry.

Milgrom and Wilson work in various areas of economics (notably game theory) but are best known for their work in market design. Milgrom was awarded his PhD from Stanford in 1978, where he was one of Wilson’s students.

The American Economics Association has described Milgrom as the world’s leading auction designer. His work has been cited more than 100,000 times.

The winner’s curse

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has emphasised that Milgrom and Wilson have won the award for both their theoretical work and its practical application in auctions.

This is not the first time the economic prize has gone to theory relevant to auctions. William Vickrey and James Mirrlees won in 1996 for their work on incentives.

The 2017 winner, behavioural economist Richard Thaler, has also brought attention to the phenomenon at the heart of the work for which Milgrom and Wilson have been awarded – known as “the winner’s curse”.

Read more: Why Richard Thaler won the 2017 economics Nobel Prize

The winner’s curse arises from people bidding for something whose value is unknown at the time but will be agreed later. Economists call this a “common value” auction.

An example might be the right to mine for gold in a certain location. If no gold is found, the right will turn out to be worthless. If there is a lot of gold, it will be valuable.

Different bidders may have different opinions about how much gold is in the site. The more optimistic they are, the more they will be willing to bid. The most optimistic bid will win.

But the true value is likely to turn out much closer to the average rather than the highest valuation. So winning bidders are likely to overpay.

Common versus private values

Wilson’s work has shown the fear of the winner’s curse leads rational bidders to bid less than their own valuation.

Greater uncertainty, or the belief some participants have more information than others, will make bidders even more cautious. Their final price will therefore be lower.

Milgrom built on this to examine the case of auctions where there is not only a common value but also a private value that differs between bidders.

Read more: Match-making economists earn Nobel prize for economic engineering

An example would be a house. A quiet, safe and convenient location is likely to be a common value. But features such as a pool or a large garden might be valued very differently, as some buyers see them only as a chore.

This will give rise to different private values.

The design of the auction matters

The most common type of auction is an “English auction”, where the auctioneer starts with a low price and it is bid up until only one bidder is left.

There are also “Dutch auctions”, where the auctioneer starts with a high price and lowers it until someone buys.

Economists had assumed the format of the auction would make no difference to the outcome. But Milgrom showed the problem of the winner’s curse is greater in the Dutch auction, because bidders do not learn anything from watching other bidders drop out.

The final price is therefore likely to be lower in a Dutch auction.

More than merely academic

How have such insights helped society?

For one thing, Milgrom and Wilson developed a complex form of auction – the “simultaneous multiple round auction”. This allows bidding for more than one thing at the same time and allows repeated bids.

It is useful, for example, if a company wants to bid for a licence in one area only if it can also have the licence in another area.

If the auctions were held sequentially, the uncertainty about winning the second auction would depress bids in the first auction.

Running auctions simultaneously allows governments to maximise the price for valuable assets such as radio spectrum rights.

This gives governments more money to spend on public services such as health and education.

Economists are often derided as “academic scribblers”. This year’s Nobel economics prize is a clear example of economists having practical outcomes in the public interest.

– ref. Making auctions work: the winning ideas behind this year’s Nobel Prize in economics – https://theconversation.com/making-auctions-work-the-winning-ideas-behind-this-years-nobel-prize-in-economics-147981

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Kesby, UQ Amplify Researcher, The University of Queensland

To navigate our way through the world, we constantly make choices. While we’ve all made our fair share of regrettable ones, most of us eventually learn from these – and we generally take this ability for granted.

For some people suffering from illnesses such as schizophrenia and substance use disorder – previously referred to as “substance abuse” – making the right choices can be extremely difficult.

In fact, many mental illnesses feature problems with cognition (thinking and comprehension), including depression and bipolar disorder. Decision-making ability varies in healthy people, too, sometimes as a consequence of differences in genetics.

What’s happening in the brains of these people that puts them on unequal footing to the rest of us?

Even simple decisions are complex

It’s important to note in day-to-day situations, there’s often no distinctly “right” or “wrong” choice to be made. However, some choices do result in healthier or more productive outcomes for us and those around us.

Our brains carry out a suite of complex processes when making decisions. And there are four important factors in each decision we make: value, motivation, action and strategy.

When choosing between two options, say A and B, we first need to understand which choice will be more rewarding, or provide more value. Our personal motivation to attain this reward then acts to bias which option we choose, or whether we make a choice at all.

Understanding what action is required to obtain A, or B, is also important. Combining all this information, we try to understand which strategy will maximise our rewards. And this lets us improve our decision-making ability over time.

Interrupted connections

We refer to our personal history and past experiences to guide our future choices. But mental disorders often cause problems in the decision-making process.

Research shows people with schizophrenia can have trouble understanding the relationship between their actions and the outcomes. This means they might keep selecting A, even if they know it’s no longer as valuable as B.

They’re also more willing to adopt strategies based on less information, in other words “jump to conclusions”, about outcomes.

Substance use disorder, particularly with stimulants such as methamphetamine or cocaine, often leads to people getting stuck when certain outcomes change.

For example, if we reversed all the street lights so red meant “go” and green meant “stop” without telling anyone, most people would get an initial shock but would eventually alter their behaviour.

People with stimulant dependence, however, would take longer to learn to stop on the green light – even if they kept getting into car accidents. This is because excessive stimulant use impacts regions in the brain that are crucial to adapting to changing environments.

Read more: How parents and teachers can identify and help young people self-medicating trauma with drugs and alcohol

How the brain decodes each decision

The human brain contains multiple circuits (like pathways) and chemical messengers called “neurotransmitters”. These are responsible for guiding the processes discussed above.

The decision-making circuits commonly associated with schizophrenia and substance use disorder include areas of the “cortex” – the outer part of our brain important for complex thought (especially the frontal lobe) – that “talk” to hub areas such as the “striatum”. The striatum lets us select and then initiate an action to achieve a specific goal.

Different cortical areas are used to compute different processes in the brain. The prefrontal cortex helps us understand when a strategy needed for success changes. So, if we replaced all the traffic lights with sirens, the prefrontal cortex would help us realise this and adjust.

When the anticipated outcome of a choice changes (such as if A was better, but then suddenly B became better), the orbitofrontal cortex helps us identify this. Similarly, the striatum is key for anticipating what an outcome will be and when we will get the reward.

Dopamine helps make your choices a reality

Extensive research efforts have found the brains of people experiencing schizophrenia function differently in multiple areas. It’s believed this could contribute to decision-making problems.

For the psychotic symptoms observed in schizophrenia (such as hallucinations and delusions), alterations in the neurotransmitter dopamine are important. Dopamine is a chemical in the brain that’s key for anticipating rewards, making decisions and controlling the physical actions necessary to act on our choices.

In our research, we’ve argued increases in dopamine in the striatum may cause problems with how the brain integrates information from the cortex, resulting in decision-making difficulties. However, this may only be the case in some individuals.

Stimulants also cause excessive dopamine release. They can alter the balance between goal-directed behaviours, which are flexible and respond to environmental changes – and habits, which are automatic and hard to break.

Usually, when we learn something new our brain keeps adapting and incorporating new information. But this is slow and cognitively demanding. Substance dependence can accelerate a person’s progression to habitual behaviour, wherein a set strategy or response become ingrained.

This then makes it hard to stop seeking drugs, even if the individual no longer finds them enjoyable.

Read more: Why that cigarette, chocolate bar, or new handbag feels so good: how pleasure affects our brain

How we can we help people make better decisions

Unfortunately, problems with cognitive ability are hard to treat. There are no medications for schizophrenia or stimulant dependence shown to reliably improve cognition. This is a consequence of the human brain’s complexity.

That said, there are ways we can all improve our memory and decision-making, which may also help those with mental illnesses causing cognition problems.

For instance, cognitive remediation therapy is a behavioural approach that trains the brain to respond to certain situations better. For people with schizophrenia, it may improve visual memory and perhaps more complex decision-making.

Not being able to navigate decisions day-to-day is one of the most debilitating aspects of disorders that impact cognition. This leads to difficulties in maintaining work, keeping friends and leading a fulfilling life.

We need more research to understand how different brains make different decisions. Hopefully then we can improve the lives of those living with mental illness.

Read more: Five Things You Need To Know About Mental Health

– ref. Why do some people struggle to make ‘healthy’ decisions, day after day? – https://theconversation.com/why-do-some-people-struggle-to-make-healthy-decisions-day-after-day-147666

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Curtin, Professor of Politics and Policy, University of Auckland

I first met Judith Collins in a media green room somewhere in Auckland midway through 2015. She is renowned for her ambition and dogged determination. But meeting her in person, I found her engaging, funny and very direct.

She is also from my own home province, Waikato, which has a long history of producing influential political women (Dorothy Jelicich, Marilyn Waring, Margaret Wilson, Helen Clark and Jacinda Ardern, to name just a few). When she heard I taught a first-year politics class she volunteered immediately to come and give a lecture.

I took her up on that in October the same year, and she proved to be an entertaining guest. She shared with her audience of 300-plus her views on National as a party of pragmatism rather than ideology, and why any media attention is better than none. She was asked about her leadership ambitions — and was diplomatically coy.

By then, Collins had been exonerated by a government inquiry into allegations, based on a leaked email from blogger Cameron Slater, that she had sought to undermine the director of the Serious Fraud Office.

She returned to cabinet, but it was a period of her political life she refers to in her recent memoir as the “whole awful Worst of Times”. After six years as a high-profile minister of police, corrections, veterans affairs, justice, ACC and ethnic affairs, all the while in pursuit of an economic portfolio, Collins had been forced to resign from the front bench three weeks out from the 2014 election.

Until that point she had been touted as one of those most likely to succeed John Key. While it would take six more years before Collins won the leadership of the National Party, she never gave up. The subtitle of her book sums it up: Memoir of a Political Survivor.

Collins has put her name forward for the leadership several times since Key’s resignation, but could never win over enough caucus colleagues. This year was different. Todd Muller’s unexpected resignation as National leader just 53 days after his own coup against Simon Bridges presented Collins with a wide open window of opportunity to finally take charge.

National may have been turned to her in desperation, but several pundits have since argued she should have been made leader much earlier.

Divisive but decisive

Collins was first elected to parliament in 2002, the year of National’s nadir — the party received just 21% of the vote, resulting in a net loss of 12 seats. Its support had fragmented — centre-right voters had shifted to ACT, New Zealand First and United Future. With Helen Clark’s Labour Party at a 41% high, Collins was one of only five new National MPs to enter the 47th parliament.

Two of those five new MPs were Don Brash and John Key, who both went on to become National Party leaders ahead of Collins. Unsurprisingly, both were influential in her career, albeit in opposite ways.

Read more: The rise of ACT in 2020 highlights tensions between the party’s libertarian and populist traditions

Collins recounts Brash’s political style and intellect with warmth and respect. Brash holds a PhD in economics from the Australian National University, has worked for the World Bank, and was New Zealand’s Reserve Bank governor for 14 years from 1988 — overlapping with the ascendancy of neoliberalism in New Zealand.

As leader of the National Party, it was clear Brash supported Collins’s aspirations, giving her portfolios that matched her expertise. He even invited her to a dinner with Milton Friedman, at which she learnt the political leader the famous economist most admired was Margaret Thatcher.

Collins praised Brash’s Orewa speech, in which he had condemned the “dangerous drift towards racial separatism” and the “entrenched Treaty grievance industry”. Divisive in the eyes of many, Collins saw it as an example of the decisive leadership that ultimately led to Brash bringing National voters “home” in 2005.

National didn’t win, but increased its presence in parliament by 21 MPs (48 compared to Labour’s 50), with ACT, NZ First and United Future losing 18 seats between them.

Surviving the Key years

By contrast, the relationship between Collins and Key appears to have been less than rewarding. She argues Key had come into politics with a very clear agenda of being prime minister and nothing would get in his way.

One political reporter had tipped Collins as most likely to be Key’s deputy in advance of the 2008 election, but this did not happen. Nor was she promoted in Key’s first cabinet.

Describing the annus horribilis that was 2014 in her memoir, it is evident she felt let down by Key’s lack of support in quelling the Oravida and “dirty politics” controversies that year.

Read more: Analysis shows how the Greens have changed the language of economic debate in New Zealand

More broadly, Key’s political strategy sat at odds with Collins’s political intuition. In 2008, he was intent on pulling the party more towards the centre, but Collins was sceptical of the argument that winning elections meant winning over median voters.

Citing the success of Thatcher, she believed shoring up the base and delivering to that base mattered more. For Collins, centrism is an excuse to do nothing and stand for nothing.

Winning back the base

It came as no surprise that Collins titled her memoir Pull No Punches. Her style during the 2020 election campaign has reflected the pleasure she gets from flexing her parliamentary debating skills, which she says “requires quick wit […] an ability to think on one’s feet”.

She was rewarded with positive verdicts after the first two televised leaders’ debates, where her retorts and interjections were sometimes fierce, other times flippant. She clearly enjoys being in charge and unrestrained by broader collective responsibility (a point she also made about her time as a newspaper columnist during her sojourn on the backbench).

Read more: With the election looming and New Zealand First struggling in the polls, where have those populist votes gone?

Her formative political years reveal that decisiveness in a leader is a quality she values, even if it offends. She is probably further to the right than some in National might prefer, but in this she has not wavered over time. Her maiden speech and her memoir demonstrate a disdain for what she calls the “lazy gene” and a welfare system that “funded women to have multiple children”.

In a sense, her political ethos is a mix of old-school pragmatic National conservatism and a dose of ideological neoliberalism.

She has never been shy about her desire to be a good electorate MP, to make a difference, to be in power and to climb to the top of the political ladder. The polls suggest Collins will succeed in winning back a chunk of the base that began to desert National with the onset of COVID-19. Attracting centre voters, however, may prove elusive.

That is unlikely to worry Collins. She is rebuilding National’s support and is determined her political career as leader will not end on October 18 2020. There are others, including touted future leader Christopher Luxon, who might disagree — ultimately the decision will not be hers. But it may be too soon to write her off. When Collins calls herself a political survivor, she means it.

– ref. NZ election 2020: as the ultimate political survivor, Judith Collins prepares for her ultimate test – https://theconversation.com/nz-election-2020-as-the-ultimate-political-survivor-judith-collins-prepares-for-her-ultimate-test-144488

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euzebiusz Jamrozik, Infectious Disease Ethics Fellow, Ethox & Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities, Univeristy of Oxford. Adjunct, Monash University

Researchers are considering using “human challenge studies” to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine research and development. This would involve giving an experimental vaccine to healthy volunteers, then deliberately exposing them to the virus to see whether they’re protected from infection.

Challenge studies can also allow scientists to monitor the progress of infectious diseases from the moment they begin, and to study infection and immunity more closely than other types of research.

These studies can answer scientific questions in a short time. They recruit small numbers of participants — up to around 100 volunteers per study — usually young, healthy adults.

However, deliberate infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, involves risks to volunteers.

How do these studies differ from standard, larger studies?

Standard “field” trials for some COVID-19 vaccine candidates have already begun. Each aims to recruit at least 10,000 people. Usually, half or two-thirds receive the experimental vaccine and the rest might receive a placebo or a vaccine against another disease.

Participants then go about their daily lives. Scientists observe whether those who received the COVID-19 vaccine are less frequently infected with the virus than the other group, allowing them to determine how effective the vaccine is.

In large epidemics, field trials can quickly reveal whether a vaccine works. But proof may be delayed when there’s less community transmission, for example due to local public health measures.

If current field trials identify a highly effective vaccine, there might be less need for human challenge trials. However, if the first vaccines fail, or turn out to be only moderately effective, challenge studies could be used to select the next most promising candidates for future field trials.

Read more: From adenoviruses to RNA: the pros and cons of different COVID vaccine technologies

Challenge studies need extra preparation

First, scientists need to prepare a strain of SARS-CoV-2 in the laboratory to administer to volunteers. The strain needs to be similar to the virus circulating in the community.

There’s also a need for special research facilities with health-care support and capacity to isolate participants.

Volunteers may have to remain in these facilities for 2–3 weeks to be closely monitored, and so they are not released into the community while they may be infectious.

Read more: Coronavirus: why I support the world’s first COVID vaccine challenge trial

Past experience and recent developments

While COVID-19 challenge trials are now making news, scientists have previously conducted these kinds of experiments with many different types of microorganisms.

Such studies have been used to develop vaccines against malaria, typhoid and cholera. They have also provided unique insights into immunity to influenza and “common cold” coronaviruses.

One research centre in London has announced a plan to conduct challenge studies with SARS-CoV-2. Another centre in the United States is also preparing a strain of the virus.

Ethical and scientific questions

The World Health Organisation (WHO) convened two advisory groups, in which we were involved, to consider COVID-19 human challenge studies. One focused on ethics, the other on scientific and technical aspects.

The ethics group identified eight criteria proposed challenge studies would need to meet before going ahead.

These included the need for researchers to consult and engage with the general public before, during, and after the trials. There would also need to be careful independent expert review, and demonstration that expected benefits are likely to outweigh risks.

Relevant risks might be especially hard to predict for SARS-CoV-2, partly because it’s a new pathogen.

While young, healthy people generally fare better with COVID-19 than older adults with pre-existing conditions, there are exceptions. For example, a multisystem inflammatory syndrome has been reported in rare cases among previously healthy adults after they contracted COVID-19.

Read more: Infecting healthy people in vaccine research can be ethical and necessary

Members of WHO’s science group agreed on a number of technical requirements for COVID-19 challenge studies to maximise volunteers’ safety and prevent wider spread of infection.

These included recruiting only healthy young adults, conducting the studies under strict biosafety procedures (for example, isolating participants), giving the virus via the nose to mimic natural infection, and carefully increasing the dose of the virus.

However, the experts were split on other issues, such as whether:

• challenge studies would actually accelerate vaccine approval

• results in young healthy adults would demonstrate whether or not a vaccine works for older people

• challenge trials should begin before a proven and highly effective treatment for COVID-19 becomes available.

What next?

To design an ethically acceptable challenge study, it’s important to minimise the risks to study volunteers, research staff, and the wider community.

In the future, there may be additional ways scientists can reduce the risks. They may be able to better identify those at lowest risk of severe infection, develop a weakened strain of the virus, or have a highly effective treatment on hand to use if needed.

In the meantime, scientists could obtain results relevant to COVID-19 by conducting less risky challenge studies with other viruses.

For example, challenge studies with “common cold” coronaviruses, which are being considered in Australia, could teach us about the types of immune responses that protect us against coronavirus diseases.

Read more: Australia’s just signed up for a shot at 9 COVID-19 vaccines. Here’s what to expect

Research eventuating in safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19 could save many lives. However, whether the benefits of challenge studies in the current pandemic outweigh the risks depends on many factors.

We must carefully consider proposals for these studies in light of the current state of science and vaccine development, and update our evaluations as new data emerge.

– ref. Infecting volunteers with coronavirus may be one way to test potential vaccines. But there are risks – https://theconversation.com/infecting-volunteers-with-coronavirus-may-be-one-way-to-test-potential-vaccines-but-there-are-risks-147349

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Lee, Professor at the National Drug Research Institute (Melbourne), Curtin University

During crises and disasters, alcohol and other drug use often changes. But the changes are not straightforward and impacts may be different for different groups of people.

There doesn’t seem to have been significant overall increases or decreases in alcohol or other drug use during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some groups are at increased risk. And access to treatment is more limited for those who need it.

It’s a complex picture

There’s a bit of data around, but the picture is still not quite clear. As researchers from the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research at La Trobe University have argued in an editorial published today, we need more research to understand the influence of the pandemic on use.

There were some early indicators of increases in Australians’ alcohol consumption as the pandemic hit, possibly related to increased stress. But that effect seemed to reduce as we settled into the new normal.

At the beginning of COVID-19 restrictions in March, Commonwealth Bank reported spending had increased on alcohol, but this was then reversed in April.

And in April, a study by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education found that most people who had stockpiled alcohol reported drinking more. Also around the same time, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed more people had increased their drinking (14.4%) than had decreased it (9.5%).

By May, the Australian National University found more people had decreased their drinking (27%) than had increased it (20%). The Global Drug Survey between May and June found similar results among the mostly young people who responded.

However, alcohol use seemed to increase among some groups, possibly those who are more vulnerable to harms.

Read more: Worried about your drinking during lockdown? These 8 signs might indicate a problem

In both the ABS and ANU studies, more women had increased their drinking than decreased it, which seemed to be related to higher stress linked to increased responsibilities at home.

In a survey of people who use illicit drugs, more people increased (41%) than decreased (33%) drinking. And among people who inject drugs around 11% reported increased drinking.

There have also been indicators that family violence has increased during this time. Alcohol and other drug use is a risk factor for family violence.

We need more data about heavy drug use

Since the onset of the pandemic, two studies found cannabis use had increased but other drug use had decreased or was stable. The respondents were mostly young, used for recreational purposes and were not dependent nor did they have serious problems.

Reductions in use of drugs like MDMA and cocaine, which are associated with festivals and parties, are not surprising since these large events have been restricted for months.

Most of the research hasn’t involved people who are heavy or dependent users, so we don’t know much about changes in use in these groups.

One study of people who inject drugs (who tend to use more regularly) reported some changes to availability and purity of some drugs, and small changes in use, but again some people increased and some decreased their use.

With physical distancing and lockdowns, it’s likely more people used alone or with fewer people. This means if anything goes wrong, help is further away.

Telehealth for drug treatment?

A survey of treatment services found that among services that reported changes in demand, most had an increase. Most services also reported that mental health problems, family violence and financial stress had all increased among people who use their services. These factors can make treatment more complex.

There is some evidence fewer people accessed medication treatment for opioids during the restrictions, like methadone.

COVID-19 restrictions have changed the way many services offer treatment. Most residential rehabilitation services have reduced the number of places available so they can ensure physical distancing.

Before COVID-19 there were already long waiting lists for residential rehabilitation, so with more than 70% of services reporting reduced capacity, people may have found it harder to access residential treatment.

Non-residential services (like counselling or day programs) haven’t significantly reduced the number of people they see, and most have partially or fully moved to telehealth.

As a result, around 35% of services said fewer people missed appointments. This might be due to the easier access telehealth provides, including the reduced travel time.

However, around 25% of services said more people missed appointments. Anecdotal interviews suggest some of this might be due to difficulty transitioning to online appointments. One person said: “I know they are on Zoom but I don’t know how to use it”.

These adaptations are more complex than they appear. The time and effort required for services to make significant changes takes time away from providing treatment.

The move to telehealth is a significant one, requiring additional hardware and software, training of staff, and help for people who use the service to work out how to use the technology. Things like ensuring confidentiality can be more difficult when someone is receiving counselling at home with family around, for example.

Piecemeal funding for treatment services

The alcohol and other drug sector was already significantly under-resourced and struggling to meet existing demand before COVID-19.

In April, federal health minister Greg Hunt announced A$6 million in funding for alcohol and other drug services. Just over half of this was allocated to three organisations to increase online access to support services. The rest went to information and awareness campaigns. But no funds were set aside for existing treatment services to make COVID-19 related changes to their services.

Various state governments have allocated some funding to support alcohol and other drug services to adjust to COVID-19:

• Tasmania released a total of A$450,000 to help services transition to telehealth

• Western Australia allocated a total of A$350,000 for specialist alcohol and other drug services to maintain services amid the pandemic

• Victoria and South Australia announced additional support to help people access medication treatment.

Further funding is needed to ensure services can continue to provide COVID-safe services.

It’s important for people who use alcohol and other drugs, and for the public, that alcohol and other drug treatment is well-supported to continue to operate during these changes. We know treatment is cost-effective, reduces crime and increases participation in the community. For every dollar invested in drug treatment, $7 is saved to the community.

Getting help

If you’re worried about your own or someone else’s alcohol or other drug use, you can get help by phoning the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015.

You can also access support online through CounsellingOnline, Hello Sunday Morning and SMART Recovery.

You may also be eligible to access one of the new telehealth services. Talk to your GP to find out more.

– ref. COVID changed the way we use drugs and alcohol — now it’s time to properly invest in treatment – https://theconversation.com/covid-changed-the-way-we-use-drugs-and-alcohol-now-its-time-to-properly-invest-in-treatment-147577

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominique McCollum Coy, Doctoral Researcher, Behaviour Change Graduate Research Industry Partnership (GRIP), Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University

In the town of Goulburn in southern New South Wales, an energy revolution is brewing. The community has come together to build its own 4,000-panel solar farm – everyday citizens are invited to buy shares in the venture and reap the rewards.

Goulburn is not alone: community-owned energy is an idea whose time has come. About 100 community energy groups operate across Australia – their projects at various levels of development – up from 25 groups in 2015.

The concept is gaining political attention, too. Independent MP for the federal Victorian seat of Indi, Helen Haines, in August moved a motion in parliament, calling on the Morrison government to support community energy, including establishing a new government agency. The bill is backed by fellow independent Zali Steggall.

At its core, community energy rests on the belief that everyday people should have power over how their energy is generated – including its environmental and social impacts. Big corporations should not control our energy systems, nor should they reap all the profits. So let’s take a look at how community energy works.

What is community energy?

Australia’s first community-owned renewable energy project, Hepburn Wind, started generating power in June 2011. Since then, many more communities across Australia have banded together to manage their own solar, wind, micro-grid and efficiency projects.

The Goulburn project will be built in the Hume electorate of federal energy minister Angus Taylor, about 3km from the town centre. Earlier this year it received a A$2.1 million state grant, under the Regional Community Energy Fund.

Investors can reportedly buy A$400 shares, each covering the cost of a solar panel and the infrastructure needed for grid connection.

Community energy groups take various forms.

Read more: Earth may temporarily pass dangerous 1.5℃ warming limit by 2024, major new report says

Hepburn Wind and the Goulburn Solar Farm, for example, involve a community investment model in which local groups develop a project, then seek investors from the community to fund it.

This might involve forming a cooperative, or selling shares in the venture. The community organisation may take responsibility for delivering the project – including design, installation, and management – or may outsource this to an external company.

A second model involves raising money through donations, either via crowd-sourcing platforms or traditional means. The money is usually spent on installing a sustainable energy system at a local premises. For example in north-east Victoria, a First Nations-owned renewable energy project will deliver solar power to the office of a state government agency.

The third type of project involves a group of households coming together to find a renewable energy solution, such as bulk-buying solar energy.

What are the benefits?

Community-owned renewable energy projects are a great way for everyday people to get involved in the transition to a low-carbon future. The benefits include:

• local job creation and economic development

• returns on investment for community shareholders

• increased energy security, helping communities to avoid blackouts

• more affordable energy

• the creation of funds to reinvest in other community projects. For example in Scotland, dividends from renewables developments have been invested in electric public transport and local skills development

• community building, in which towns develop a stronger identity, participate in communal activities and make collective decisions about their future.

Empowering the community

The energy transformation is not just about moving from fossil fuels to renewables. It’s also about changing who is responsible for, and benefits from, our energy system.

Inevitably, those in power, such as existing energy generators and their political supporters, will resist such change.

Read more: ‘The good, the bad and the ugly’: here’s the lowdown on Australia’s low-emissions roadmap

We’ve seen this play out in Australia, which has triggered more than a decade of climate policy inaction. More recently, the Morrison government has pushed ahead with a plan for a “gas-fired” economic recovery, despite the harm this will cause to our emissions reduction efforts. These developments are clearly at odds with community support for action on climate change.

Traditionally, communities are often shut out of decision making on energy projects, including renewables. Communities often become dependent on both local political representation to voice their views, and the capacity of energy network operators to work with them.

Communities must be empowered to take part in planning, and have ownership of projects. Our research, soon to be published, shows such empowerment involves helping communities develop the capacity and power to meet their own energy goals. This means developing new skills, working together and becoming equal decision makers.

Governments are central to this by helping communities deliver projects. The Victorian government’s Community Power Hubs are a good example. At three “hubs” – in Ballarat, Bendigo and the Latrobe Valley – various types of energy projects were implemented. Each sought to build local knowledge of, and participation in, community energy, and ensured the benefits stayed in the region.

Looking ahead

Australia’s growing community energy movement shows us what’s possible, but it needs more government support, especially at the federal level. Helen Haines’ proposal is a very good start.

The energy transformation will require massive investment, and most projects will be built in regional communities.

Empowering community energy is the ideal way to provide some of that investment, build stronger rural economies and ensure the benefits of the energy transformation are shared by all.

– ref. People power: everyday Australians are building their own renewables projects, and you can too – https://theconversation.com/people-power-everyday-australians-are-building-their-own-renewables-projects-and-you-can-too-146885

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Warburton, Pro Vice-Chancellor Academic Innovation (Acting), University of New England

We are increasingly becoming digital bystanders, continually monitoring our different palm-and-TV-sized screens. From dawn to dusk and even in moments of insomnia we turn to digitally communicated news and social media. In the world of education, from primary school to university and beyond, we have realised digital learning is not only an option for learning, but is fast becoming the main option.

Consider this vignette: during the COVID-19 pandemic a family are living in a big city where access to stable digital streams and affordable data bundles is not a problem. Confined to long periods of school learning now moved online, one of the parents asked their daughter about her experience. She says:

It is boring and I learn almost nothing. Teachers give a lot of instructions with little explanation.

She had became a digital bystander. The teacher struggled to engage with all students, and few experienced rich interactions with the teacher.

In the digital world it is not simply about learning the skills (digital self-help manuals and videos are plentiful). Many teachers and professors still argue that a face-to-face experience is more authentic than digitally mediated learning.

The growth of MOOCs (massive online open courses) in recent years has challenged this view. These have gained traction as both free educational offerings and significant business opportunities based on short courses.

Time for a change of mindset

So how do we accommodate this changing digital world? Historically, when railway travel arrived, looking at the world through a window as it sped by was an unnerving experience. So, too, was the fear of being part of or witnessing a railway accident. It took people time to catch up and change their mindsets.

The same is true of digitally driven change in education. We cannot take time out from change. What is required is “reflection in action”, as Donald Schon put it, to work out how to adjust to changes.

When we consider our vignette, how can we win the hearts and minds of students and teachers to ensure they both perceive and experience learning online as meaningful and transformative? Is this a question of challenging the traditional mindset described above?

By exploring the ways in which face-to-face learning is translated into online learning, we can start to identify a series of approaches on a spectrum from simple technological substitution to more radical redefinitions of teaching. In this model of substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition, we tend to find many educators remain firmly rooted in using technology to replace what they already do in the classroom. As a result, the human essence of the teaching experience is lost when mediated via a digital interface.

An example here might be the distribution of electronic classnotes to replace the course textbook. The result is a learning setting that’s clunky compared to the day-to-day user experience of the internet. The mismatch exemplified here in the transition from the physical classroom to online is often not well managed.

A learner’s experiences of the digital education space can be dramatically different to the seamless and frictionless user experiences of a social internet. Within a paradigm of replacement versus reinvention, we have a natural gap between the experiences of teachers and students.

A need for inclusive design for online

Neither better access to technology nor more training to use digital systems will bridge this gap. This is a design gap. In recognising this, the solution becomes more straightforward – there is an absolute need to “design for online”, as Cathy Stone persuasively argues.

But this design cannot be the sole responsibility of the teacher. We need to bring together multiple perspectives and skills, including those of teachers, students and technologists, to co-design learning experiences.

No longer is the teacher the sole voice of authority. All contribute: the teacher skilled in curriculum, the student understanding what it means to be supported and motivated to learn, and the technologist sharing modes of digital delivery.

There are then no digital bystanders – all have agency as designers. As Herbert A. Simon once said, anyone who is engaged in “changing existing situations into preferred ones” is a designer.

There is no global template for designing for online learning. Each time we come together – the teacher, student, technologist – we form a new community with a shared discourse. This is a reflective and democratic space that allows us to act with consideration and respect for the skills and knowledge of others.

With historical hindsight, we will do well to reconsider what the railway journey offered: the ability to visually reflect upon and design a personal world without leaving the carriage. With the digital production of teaching and learning, we too are now called upon to reflect upon and design a world of learning without leaving our seat in front of a digital screen.

– ref. In a world of digital bystanders the challenge is for all of us to design engaging online education – https://theconversation.com/in-a-world-of-digital-bystanders-the-challenge-is-for-all-of-us-to-design-engaging-online-education-147195

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Mountain, Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University

The record A$8.5 million fine imposed on iSelect in Australia for false and misleading conduct confirms the appalling state of the commercial price-comparison market.

The company promises to help consumers save money by cutting through the confusing pricing structures in energy, home insurance, credit cards and phone plans, among other markets.

But between November 2016 and December 2018, iSelect has admitted it misled customers shopping for the cheapest electricity deal. It claimed it recommended the most suitable or competitive plan, based on comparing all plans offered by its retail partners. This was not the case.

“In fact, about 38% of people who compared electricity plans with iSelect at that time may have found a cheaper plan if they had shopped around or used the government’s comparison site,” said the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission’s chairman, Rod Sims, last week.

Commercial arrangements with partner retailers restricted the number of plans retailers could upload, so the plans iSelect recommended were not necessarily the most suitable or competitive.

The company has also admitted it failed to adequately disclose cheaper plans were only available via its call centre, not through its online service. As well, it underestimated the price of plans recommended to almost 5,000 consumers (though in error, rather than deliberately).

This is not the first time iSelect has run afoul of the consumer watchdog. In 2007 the ACCC took it to task over misleading representations about the range of health insurance policies it compared.

The penalty it is now paying for false and misleading conduct in the energy-comparison market points to a systemic problem requiring regulation.

How commissions can corrupt

Failures in the price-comparison market have been clear for years.

In January 2019 I compared the offers of Australia’s two biggest energy providers (Origin Energy and Energy Australia) made through the commercial comparison sites, with those available to customers directly from the retailers themselves.

That analysis was made possible by new rules requiring all electricity retailers in New South Wales, southeast Queensland and South Australia to publish every offer available to new customers on the Australian Energy Regulator’s Energy Made Easy price comparison website.

What I found: offers from Origin Energy and Energy Australia through commercial price-comparison sites were 5-12% higher.

Read more: New regulations expose energy price gouging through ‘free’ comparison sites

The problem, as I wrote at the time, is that commercial comparison sites make their money from commissions (or referral fees) for every new customer steered a retailer’s way.

But providing better deals to consumers may bite the hand that feeds: retailers can be expected to be willing to pay higher commissions for customers that pay higher prices. Commercial comparison sites therefore have an incentive to provide the appearance – but not necessarily the reality – of a competitive market.

The consumer watchdog’s investigation and the Federal Court’s decision suggests this speculation was well-founded.

Savings not being realised

In research published in May, my colleague Kelly Burns and I have found more evidence of questionable consumer benefits.

We analysed more than 47,000 electricity bills voluntarily uploaded by Victorians to the state government’s price-comparison website between July and December 2018.

Customers that switched retailers in the previous 12 months reduced their bills, on average, by just 4% compared to customers that didn’t switch. Had they found the cheapeast available deals when they switched, they could have reduced their bills on average by a further 21%.

Though we don’t know what percentage of those switchers consulted a commercial price comparison website, it’s reasonable to assume many would have, with the actual benefits less than promised, and missing many of the best deals in the market.

We also found that consumers, even if correctly advised on the best deal available at the time, may be better off in the long run with a different deal. This is a particular challenge for price comparison.

Nor does the price-comparison market do a good job rating attributes such as consistency, customer service and environmental performance, which switchers may also value as factors alongside price.

Read more: Victorians who switched energy retailers only save $45 a year – leaving hundreds on the table

Mandate a code of practice

Commission-based price comparison need not be problematic. It is the most common form of price comparison in Australia and elsewhere. But we suggest a mandatory code of practice for price comparison would go a long way to fixing the evident problems.

Price comparison websites can play a useful role if consumers can be confident they deliver on what they promise. This means their advice should be accurate, unbiased and comprehensive. Most importantly, they should be clear about how retailers reward them if customers act on their recommendations.

Read more: If you need a PhD to read your power bill, buying wisely is all but impossible

As the consumer watchdog noted last week, it recommended a mandatory code of practice in its review of the electricity industry in 2018. Maybe now governments will act.

In the meantime, take the ACCC’s advice and use the publicly-funded price comparison websites in addition or instead.

– ref. You can’t trust the price-comparison market, as iSelect’s $8.5 million fine shows – https://theconversation.com/you-cant-trust-the-price-comparison-market-as-iselects-8-5-million-fine-shows-147840

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Davis, Professor of Finance, University of Melbourne

The budget plan to scrap Australia’s decade-old responsible lending obligations warrants detailed examination.

It is hard to see how the stated reasons for easing what’s asked of banks and other lenders make much sense, and the timing is strange.

Introduced in 2009, the responsible lending obligations made it illegal to offer credit that was unsuitable for a consumer based on their needs and capacity to make payments.

In the leadup to last week’s budget Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced plans to dismantle a regime he said had become “overly prescriptive, complex and unnecessarily onerous on consumers”.

“Now more than ever,” he said, it had become important there were “no unnecessary barriers” to the flow of credit to households and business.

But, if well designed, responsible lending obligations ought to be largely irrelevant to responsible lenders. They take account of needs and capacity to repay anyway.

The standards don’t hurt responsible lending

Their merit lies in restraining “bad apples” and preventing the good ones from letting loan standards slip and permitting lax management to allow bad practices.

The Hayne Royal Commission into the financial services industry chastised banks and others for misconduct when it came to lending. The banks say they have listened and implemented better practices.

They probably have, which should mean the minimum standards embodied in responsible lending obligations make little difference to them.

Read more: It’s about to become easier to lend irresponsibly, to help the recovery

Another of Hayne’s recommendations, that would have outlawed conflicted remuneration for mortgage brokers, was rejected by the government in favour of a best interests obligation along the lines of the responsible lending obligations for lenders that it wants to remove.

The timing is odd

The timing of the responsible lending obligations decision is hard to justify.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission spent much of 2019 consulting on a review of its responsible lending guidelines and released a new version in December.

Then in June it lost an appeal in the long-running “Wagyu and Shiraz” case in which it attempted to prosecute Westpac for relying on general borrower expense benchmarks.

If anything, that should have somewhat settled bank concerns that the responsible lending obligations required too much of them.

Banks such as Westpac are no longer required to rely on detailed examination of an applicant’s past expenditure levels when assessing whether payments can be met.

In the words of Justice Perram of the Federal Court, “I may eat Wagyu beef everyday washed down with the finest shiraz but, if I really want my new home, I can make do on much more modest fare”.

Instead banks will be able to focus on whether applicants are willing to forgo discretionary spending (on things such as school fees) in order to obtain the loan size required for buying an otherwise unaffordable house.

The change will put some of the onus of assessing loan suitability back on the borrower, which is what the Treasurer says he wants.

They ought to be becoming less burdensome

It might be that the responsible lending obligations impose excessive assessment costs on the banks. And the extra work for applicants to provide the required information might dissuade them from applying.

But with the recent introduction of open banking allowing banks to access applicants’ data with their permission, and “fintechs” developing products to cost-effectively mine that data, it seems likely that loan assessment costs (including meeting responsible lending obligations) are likely to decline.

If costs are the issue, why change the rules in the midst of a cost-reducing revolution?

And they ought to have stopped bad loans

Another argument has been that abolishing responsible lending obligations will facilitate growth in lending.

Maybe – but not permanently without increasing unsuitable lending. Responsible lending obligations may slow the approval process but could only have reduced the level of loans on issue if one or both of two conditions apply:

• the information-supply requirements (gathering of which should help applicants understand their borrowing capacity) have dissuaded potential applicants, meaning removing them would allow more poorly-informed borrowers to take out loans

• the obligations have led to banks lending less to unsuitable borrowers, meaning removing them will encourage more lending to unsuitable borrowers

Another argument, that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority can police and enforce good lending behaviour ignores the fact that APRA’s remit relates to credit risk and safety of the banks.

It has no mandate for (nor expertise in) considering whether borrowers will be put into financial hardship by loan obligations.

– ref. None of the justifications for weakening bank lending standards quite makes sense – https://theconversation.com/none-of-the-justifications-for-weakening-bank-lending-standards-quite-makes-sense-147843

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Smith, Senior Lecturer in Music, University of New England

A child’s toy may seem like an unlikely candidate for the classical concert hall. Around the world, however, thousands of musicians gather every year for festivals, conferences and concerts dedicated to the toy piano.

Exploring its sound, range, and playing technique, these composers and performers congregate to talk about latest developments in toy piano music and perform new pieces.

Along with many festivals in the US and Germany, Italy and Korea have both held their first toy piano festival in recent years.

Pop artists such as Bruno Mars and groups such as Coldplay have brought a larger audience to what was once considered a niche and experimental use of the instrument. Search “toy piano” or “tiny piano” on Twitter or Facebook and you’ll find countless posts featuring performers and composers using or discussing the instrument.

Read more: Jamming with your toddler: how music trumps reading for childhood development

Serious music with a playful spin

Toy pianos, despite being designed and marketed to children and families, have been used for decades to write everything from concertos to pop songs.

French composer Yann Tiersen used one prominently in his score to the 2001 film Amélie to represent the title character’s inner child.

Neil Diamond’s song, Shilo, is one of the earliest pop songs to feature toy piano (you can hear it in the bridge at about the 2:28 mark here).

And John Cage’s 1940s suite for toy piano, where he took all the seriousness of writing for the piano and put a playful spin on it, came at a crucial moment in the mid-20th century; hard borders of the musical arts, which reached a limit of seriousness in the 1920s and 1930s, had started to break down.

This mixing of traditional “high music” with artefacts that might be considered juvenile, populist, naff, or domestic, was becoming more common — and more exciting.

Play and experimentation

Toy pianos typically have a range of 12-36 keys, roughly one quarter the range of a full piano (though there are smaller and larger examples, too).

These acoustic instruments are made from a wood or plastic frame. They produce a bell-like sound when a small hammer hits a tube or flat piece of metal inside.

Unlike a typical piano, toy pianos are rarely tuned to perfection and can sound a bit off to the ear but many can’t help but be charmed by their tiny size, variety of colours and quirky inconsistent plonking.

With its history and connection to ideas of childhood, this instrument is commonly used to musically convey a sense of innocence and nostalgia.

Traditionally, art music composition can be very prescriptive and confined. The traditional conservatorium or university composition class teaches the rules of writing — what you can and cannot do with an instrument — but something about the toy piano invites play and experimentation.

Every toy piano is different

Unlike many instruments used for composing, the toy piano is not standardised around the world.

There are dozens of makers who use different techniques and different materials giving every toy piano a unique sound, range, and register. This makes writing music for the piano a bit random — but for many of us, therein lies the fun.

If you write a piece of music for the toy piano and if a performer in another part of the world has enough keys on their instrument, they can play your piece in their own special way. It’s like a singer using their own unique voice to cover a song.

The composer gives up some control, which contrasts sharply with romantic and and modernist-era ideas that positioned the composer as a genius whose works should never be altered.

Many composers end up collecting toy pianos, which gives them a variety of sounds to play with. Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin became known as the toy piano lady at a Sydney toy store after buying eight in a row. I’m up to a modest five and am resisting buying my sixth.

Toy piano specialists are becoming more common as performers and composers in demand.

Italian specialist Antonietta Loffredo has performed several times in Australia and released many recordings with the Australian art music label Wirripang. You can hear her recordings of works by Australian composers on Spotify here.

Margaret Leng Tan, a toy instrument virtuoso with many commissions and dedications to her name, was due to perform with toy piano at the Sydney Opera House this year but the concert was postponed due to COVID-19.

As Margaret Leng Tan herself puts it:

I remain wholeheartedly intrigued by the toy piano’s magical overtones, hypnotic charm, and not least, its off-key poignancy. In the words of author John David Morley, “Sound combed from the keys of a stairway ascending faintly into sleep”. My composer-friends were similarly beguiled and driven to frenzied heights of creativity by this modest little instrument.

Escaping a rigid world

Artists are always looking for new ways to challenge and surprise audiences. What is and isn’t accepted on the concert stage is constantly shifting and the rise of the toy piano suggests that we are ready to welcome new sounds and new instruments into the relatively closed world of classical music.

To many composers, the toy piano offers more than a symbolic representation of childhood — it provides an exciting escape from the strict and rigid world of formal contemporary art music.

Read more: From the First Fleet to Changi, Australia’s pianos have a long history

– ref. How toy pianos went from child’s play into classical concert halls – https://theconversation.com/how-toy-pianos-went-from-childs-play-into-classical-concert-halls-146206