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How our art museums finally opened their eyes to Australian women artists

September 12, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanna Mendelssohn, Honorary Associate Professor, Art & Design: UNSW Australia. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, UNSW

This is an edited extract from the new book Australian Art Exhibitions: Opening Our Eyes published by Thames & Hudson. It is a longer read, at just over 3000 words.

The 1970s saw major changes in the status of women, which led to more women artists being included in exhibitions, as well as art histories conceived from a feminist perspective. Germaine Greer’s The Female Eunuch was published in the UK in 1970. Although she visited Australia to promote its publication in 1972, it took some time for those running arts organisations to notice the arrival of second-wave feminism.

Linda Nochlin’s provocative essay “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” first appeared in the American publication Art News in January 1971, and found a receptive audience with Australian artists, art historians and junior curators.

In the first half of the 1970s, as part of the wider feminist movement, women artists, art historians and curators began the slow process of recovering their histories, establishing slide registers to create an archive of women artists, and formalising a Women’s Art Movement in Melbourne, 1974; Sydney, 1975 and Adelaide, 1976.

Women’s groups were at first run as collectives, supporting each other to see women as equal players in the art world, as in Ann Newmarch’s screenprint Women Hold Up Half the Sky of 1978. By the mid-1970s there was a proliferation of artist collectives in which women made a significant contribution, including the Tin Sheds Poster Collective at the University of Sydney, Round Space and SAW (South Australian Workshop) in Adelaide.

There were also virtual collectives, as described by photographer Carol Jerrems and writer Virginia Fraser in A Book About Australian Women, 1974, in which artists experimented with photo media to reflect on their lived experiences.

In August 1977, the Women’s Art Movement in Adelaide hosted The Women’s Show for the entire month. This national project was organised by a collective of between 50 to 60 women, with sub-collectives organising women-oriented elements for theatre, music, film, photography, poetry and literature, media, a conference and a visual art exhibition. Another collective arranged childminding.

Margaret Dodd, Made to serve, c. 1977, ceramic, earthenware chrome glazed teapot, 12. Collection Julie Ewington. Exhibited: The Women’s Show Adelaide 1977

The exhibition consisted of work by women artists without any culling of entries for a total of over 350 works. The collective opted for a “mixed show”, which meant the exhibition was not ordered by theme, subject or genre, which led to a certain visual incoherence.

Frances Budden (Phoenix), Relic, 1977. Embroidery, crochet, photogravure and tampons, 72 x 45 (in frame). tc

Margaret Dodds’s Made to Serve, c.1977, a ceramic teapot of a woman whose head, covered in hair-styling rollers, was filled with Bex tablets, while Frances Budden’s Relic, 1977, featured an embroidered text, “Mary’s blood never failed me”, and was hung above the confronting work, Period, 1977, from which menstrual blood flowed. Works by well known artists shared the cavernous viewing space of the Jam Factory.

The journalist, Peter Ward, while sympathetic to the cause, was critical of the uneven nature of the work, writing: “Ideologically, the organisers chose not to discriminate, but to let everyone hang or do their thing. As a result, it turns out to be a kind of women’s newspaper art show”.

This provoked angry responses at the time, but a year later Julie Ewington suggested that “feminists wanting to mount large shows … need experienced professional advice”.

‘Candidly self possessed’

The first International Women’s Year in 1975 was marked by the Ewing and George Paton touring exhibition Australian Women Artists, One Hundred Years: 1840–1940. This was planned by Kiffy Rubbo and Meredith Rogers, but fuelled by the wider energy of the women’s movement.

Paintings, prints and drawings by 39 artists including Clarice Beckett, Margaret Preston, Constance Stokes and Vida Lahey were drawn mainly from public collections, with a mere eight of the 71 exhibits coming from private collections. The exhibition was assembled with all the energy, panache and excitement of rediscovery that marked second-wave feminism and the “need to re-assess and re-establish the position of women in the history of Australian art”.

While the idea of the exhibition was commendable, the actuality revealed the limitations of knowledge about women’s art. The exhibition ended its time-frame in 1945. In the 1970s, art from the 1950s and 1960s was seen as passé.

Janine Burke, the exhibition’s research officer and curator, saw a discernible female aesthetic related to domestic subject matter, which she called “female art”, and found a “problematic treatment of the human body” such as the figure in the landscape with “a pronounced lack of confrontation with the viewer”. Jessie Traill’s etchings of the Sydney Harbour Bridge under construction were not included, nor was there any industrial imagery such as Ethel Spowers’ The Works, Yallourn, 1933.

Ethel Spowers, The works, Yallourn 1933, colour linocut. 15.8 x 35.1 cm (block), 24.4 x 43.0 cm (sheet) ed. 3/50. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne The Joseph Brown Collection. Presented through the NGV Foundation by Dr Joseph Brown AO OBE, Honorary Life Benefactor, 2004 (2004.265)

Australian Women Artists prompted Maureen Gilchrist to observe in The Age, “we have not in recent years seen anything as far reaching as this picture survey of a century of activity by 39 painters who happen to be women”.

She noted the impact some paintings had on viewers, such as Vida Lahey’s monumental portrayal of two women doing the washing in Monday Morning, 1912, but she singled out Margaret Preston’s Self-Portrait, 1930, writing that her “formal directness is astonishing – the way she plays with echoes of the frame in the planes of the face. But the image itself is also extraordinarily direct, the gaze unflinching … . Never did a woman more fully own the space in which she stands. Never was a woman more candidly self-possessed”.

‘Neglected by the boys’

Three curators, in particular Daniel Thomas and Nicholas Draffin at the AGNSW, and Ian North at the AGSA, were responsible for creating a greater awareness of modernist women artists via focused exhibitions in the 1970s.

The most spectacular exhibition in terms of re-inserting women into art history was the 1973 AGNSW retrospective of works by Grace Cossington Smith curated by Thomas. She had exhibited at Macquarie Galleries since 1932, but as Thomas observed in 1967, “it is astonishing that there has never been an article written on Miss Smith”.

Her national reputation was established with the touring exhibition in which only 26 works out of the 80 selected were in public collections. Forty-nine were held in private collections, while the remainder were still with the artist.

The exhibition was promoted as a special event to honour a still living but very elderly artist in her 81st year. Margaret Jones’s article, “This Year of Grace” was published when Cossington Smith was awarded an OBE for services to art in the 1973 New Year’s Honour’s list. Jones repeated Daniel Thomas’s view that Miss Smith was neglected for many years because “her surroundings may have invested her with a false air of genteel amateurism”.

Grace Cossington Smith Door into the Garden 1959 Oil on board 91 x 60.8cm. Collection: Bendigo Art Gallery Purchased 1959 © Bendigo Art Gallery 2017

It was trustees and fellow artists, though, who were the culprits, not art historians as Bernard Smith had drawn attention to her originality in the first edition of Australian Painting in 1962.

The exhibition revealed “Miss Smith … as an innovative and important Australian painter, who developed a talent largely in isolation, finding many of her subjects in the interior of the house in which she has lived for nearly 60 years”.

Thomas said of the exhibition:

I thought she was an incredibly good artist neglected by the boys who ran the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Artist Trustees, as they had always exhibited their mates, in a way. … The point about Grace Cossington Smith …was the outstandingness of the work … . It was the constant productivity. The constant excellence. It was the long time span of wonderful productivity. A kind of obvious strength and determination, that was the quality that I wasn’t perhaps conscious of, but a lot of visitors noticed it.

In May 1975 Grace Crowley, whose abstract work was not widely appreciated for much of her life, was the subject of the exhibition Project 4. This exhibition of work produced from c.1922–1953, featuring 12 drawings and 25 paintings, some sourced from the collections of the NGV and the NGA, revealed “a persistent pleasure in the flowing line” and a “personal feeling for luminous colour”. Crowley was elderly – her 85th birthday fell while the exhibition was on.

She was so little regarded that only eight of the exhibits came from public and private collections. The remainder came from her own collection. Lenore Nicklin reported when she interviewed the artist in her home, “there were gaps on the walls where her paintings had been removed for the exhibition”.

Grace Crowley, Abstract, 1953, oil on hardboard, 61.0 x 87.3 cm. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Bequest of the artist, 1980.

When asked about her exhibition Crowley said, “I’m pleased and I’m terrified. It’s only the second one man show I’ve had in the whole of my life”.

The first was in 1932 at Dorrit Black’s progressive Modern Art Centre in Margaret Street, where Crowley taught until she opened her own art school with Rah Fizelle in 1932. The AGNSW exhibition was also shown at the NGV with a more substantial catalogue. Both exhibitions led to Crowley’s recognition, finally, as one of the most significant abstract painters of her generation.

‘Dorrit who?’

Also in 1975, as the AGSA’s contribution to International Women’s Year, Ian North organised a touring exhibition of Dorrit Black’s work.

North’s rationale in staging the exhibition of 68 works and producing the book was partly to recover the archive – since “very little was written on Black during her lifetime, outside art columns in the press, and she has been largely ignored by most art historians since”.

Following her years in Europe, working with Claude Flight at the Grosvenor School in London and in France with Andre Lhôte, Dorrit Black had set up the Modern Art Centre in Sydney. This was Australia’s first teaching and exhibiting space for Modernism.

As North observed, “the nature of Dorrit Black’s achievement as painter and her activities as an evangelist of the modern movement in Australia have hitherto been unassessed”.

Dorrit Black, The Bridge, 1930. Oil on canvas on board, 60.0 x 81.0 cm. Bequest of the artist, 1951, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.

North’s judgement was reinforced by Peter Ward’s review which opened with the line: “Dorrit Black, Dorrit Who?”

There was no talk of a female sensibility in this artist’s subjects, rather “Black’s subject matter was mostly the landscape, but there were also some fine still-lifes, remarkably objective portraits of both men and women, and (mainly in the early 1940s) depictions of people at work”.

The best-known modernist artist of this period was Margaret Preston. In contrast to Cossington Smith and Crowley, Preston’s work did not need to be rediscovered. She was readily accepted by both the progressive and the conservative art establishments.

Though she was well known, the depth, the variety and extent of her work was not, which led Ian North in the late 1970s to curate The Art of Margaret Preston, working with Humphrey McQueen and Isobel Seivl. The Art of Margaret Preston was conceived in the spirit of recognising the full worth of a woman artist, even though Preston could never have been described as obscure. When the NGA began to purchase her prints in 1976 they became objects of acute market speculation.

Margaret Preston, Rock Lily, c.1933. Woodcut printed in black ink, hand-coloured with gouache, on off-white Japanese paper, 44.9 x 45.8 cm. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Purchased, 1964.

Her popular paintings had entered many private collections, which led to North contacting the Australian Women’s Weekly to direct the search to almost every Australian household with an article, “Has anyone seen the missing Preston paintings?”. While some works were discovered in the media, Aboriginal Landscape, 1941, was traced to Yale University.

The Art of Margaret Preston opened in Adelaide on 22 May 1980. The 45 paintings and 45 prints were arranged around key themes – paintings, geometric, modern and Aboriginal-influenced work. The exhibition also presented the full range of her accomplishment as a print-maker – woodcuts, monotypes and gouache stencils. Display cases contained relevant contextual material such as her ceramics, woodblocks and books, unframed photographs and watercolours, and the 1924 Margaret Preston issue of Art in Australia.

Viewers could at last see the full significance of Margaret Preston to Australia’s art history.

A single exhibition is never the last word on an artist. By 1987, when Roger Butler curated The Prints of Margaret Preston, all the etchings, woodblock prints, monotypes, screenprints and stencils came from the NGA’s own collection, the greatest single holding of her graphic work.

As Preston is such a pivotal figure in Australian art, her work rewards a revisiting every generation. In 2005 Deborah Edwards, with Rose Peel and assisted by Denise Mimmocchi, compiled a comprehensive analysis of Preston’s entire oeuvre in the national touring exhibition, Margaret Preston: Art and Life.

The early works showed the classicism that underpinned her later, apparently artless, modernist studies of bush flowers, explorations of a Japanese aesthetic and Aboriginal colours and form. In reviewing the exhibition Rex Butler wrote:

It is becoming clear as the years go by that it is Margaret Preston and not, say, Sidney Nolan or Fred Williams who was the most important Australian artist of the 20th century. It is she who speaks most powerfully to us today – even ambiguously – of the things that matter most to us: the modern and modernisation, the possibility of a national identity, the reconciliation between whites and Aborigines.

Redefined as major figures

Jane Hylton, Emeritus Curator at the AGSA, has consistently inserted women artists into art history. In 1994, as a part of the celebration of the Centenary of Suffrage in South Australia, she curated South Australian Women Artists, 1890s–1940s.

Work by 28 women painters was displayed in three discrete sections: “the call to Europe: the 1910s and 1920s”, including Marie Tuck, Bessie Davidson and Kathleen Sauerbier; “those who stayed at home” with Jessamine Buxton and Marjorie Gwynn; and “revolt in Adelaide: the 1930s and the 1940s”, the years around the formation of the CAS, with Dorrit Black, Mary P. Harris and Jacqueline Hick. According to Hylton:

South Australian Women Artists broke the record (at that time) of attendance. It was extraordinary. And people were walking around in tears. They were their ‘aunts’ – it was astonishing, the actual importance that it had for people. And I loved that, and that was completely unexpected.

In 2000 Hylton broadened the scope with a national touring exhibition, Modern Australian Women: Paintings and Prints 1925–1945. This included 34 artists, some of whom had worked in Paris and London. The strength and quality of their art led the director, Ron Radford, to wonder why their work had been so readily forgotten when Dobell and Drysdale “had become accepted as the modern Australian masters”.

Jane Hylton, curator Modern Australian Women, installation image, 2000. Author provided

Not all Australian women artists who studied in Europe saw themselves as Modernists, but because they had so readily adopted the pure colours of Neo-impressionism, they were regarded as such on their return to Australia. This led to a certain ambiguity in their standing. For many years publications on Australian art saw Hilda Rix Nicholas as the painter of Étaplian peasant women, as these were the works purchased by public collections on her return to Australia shortly after World War I.

Artist Hilda Rix Nicholas painting in 1922 or 1923. Wikimedia Commons

However Nicholas Draffin’s 1978 exhibition at the AGNSW, based on her entire oeuvre, revealed a far more complex and interesting artist with work ranging from studies made in Morocco, to paintings accepted by the Paris Salon before the War, to the later celebrations of Australian pastoral life.

This exhibition triggered a series of major re-assessments of her work, including John Pigot’s Capturing the Orient: Hilda Rix Nicholas & Ethel Carrick, which demonstrated how these two painters were liberated by the experience of North Africa.

In 2013 Sarah Engledow at the NPG curated Paris to Monaro: Pleasures from the Studio of Hilda Rix Nicholas, which traced the artist’s transition from tragic war widow to painting contented family life in rural NSW. The following year Julie Petersen at Mosman exhibited a small well-crafted survey, Une Australienne: Hilda Rix Nicholas in Paris, Tangier and Sydney. The artist, once seen as an interesting footnote in Australia’s art history, has now been redefined as a major figure.

Olive Cotton Teacup ballet, 1935, gelatin-silver photograph, height 50.50 mm, Width: 38.50 mm. Wikimedia Commons

In 1985 Barbara Hall curated Olive Cotton: Photographs 1924–1984 for the ACP. Instead of being regarded as Max Dupain’s one-time studio assistant (and former wife) who also took photographs, Cotton was re-assessed as a distinguished modernist photographer, using elements of everyday life in her visual experiments.

The investigation of modernist printmakers, many of them women, had begun in the 1970s when Nicholas Draffin at the AGNSW curated a major exhibition of previously little-known printmakers from the decades between the two World Wars. The AGNSW did not publish a catalogue, but the essence of Draffin’s exhibition lives on in his book, Australian Woodcuts and Linocuts of the 1920s and 1930s.

In 1995 Roger Butler reprised this as part of the National Women’s Art Exhibition where Joan Kerr persuaded almost every Australian public art museum to rehang their collection so that only works by women artists were shown.

Catalogue of Through Women’s Eyes: Australian Women Artists and War 1914– 1994, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1994. Author provided

This resulted in 150 exhibitions mounted across the country. One great revelation of the National Women’s Art Exhibition was the Australian War Memorial’s (AWM) first ever exhibition of work by women, Through Women’s Eyes: Australian Women Artists 1914–1994.

Three women, Nora Heysen, Stella Bowen, and Sybil Craig were appointed official war artists during the Second World War and the AWM continued to actively collect work by women from the late 1970s, although by then much of it was anti-war. Few had been aware of a female presence in the collection until this exhibition.

The National Women’s Art Exhibition spread across the nation. As Jo Holder and Anne Ryan observed, it was a “fragile, provisional construction where the personal is not only political, but also meets past narratives” to reshape “traditional notions of art history”.

Installation view of Ann Newmarch, Tear, 1992. Wooden high chair, crutches, violin case, wooden batons, crocheted rug, wooden alter with miscellaneous objects, framed gelatin silver photograph, framed pastel drawing, dimensions variable. Exhibited: Ann Newmarch: The Personal is Political, Art Gallery of South Australia, 1997. Private collection.

That spirit continued in exhibitions such as Ann Newmarch: The Personal is Political, curated by Julie Robinson at the AGSA in 1997. Newmarch moved away from painting to embrace screenprinting as a democratic medium, producing her anti-nuclear series Babies Alive, 1977, and documenting and validating motherhood in Jake and Bruno, 5 years and 5 days, 1977.

Other work spanned her politically-charged Progressive Art Movement era with Nationalize G.M.H. t-shirt, c. 1975, showing the iconic FJ Holden. She also was active in community art projects, especially the anti-rape mural Reclaim the Night, 1980.

Newmarch has long argued that “art should be made out of personal experience not out of “art” concerns”. This was evident in Tear, 1992, in which she modified a high chair to have “a very unstable base – almost like a crutches high chair”, as a metaphor for life itself.

She has also confronted her own ageing. When Newmarch turned 50, in 1995, she used the occasion to record the shaving of her head, and then used it as a blank canvas to paint renditions of paintings by well-known male artists.

Australian Art Exhibitions: opening our eyes is a result of the authors’ Australia Research Council Linkage Project grant in partnership with the Art Gallery of New South Wales, National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia and Museums Australia.

– How our art museums finally opened their eyes to Australian women artists
– http://theconversation.com/how-our-art-museums-finally-opened-their-eyes-to-australian-women-artists-102647]]>

The Herald Sun’s Serena Williams cartoon draws on a long and damaging history of racist caricature

By The Conversation -

September 11, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate professor, Deakin University

In the aftermath of the dramatic US Open women’s final between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight sketched a cartoon of Williams that has drawn opprobrium worldwide.

Critics such as writer J.K. Rowling and basketball player Ben Simmons have denounced it as racist and sexist. However, the Herald Sun’s editor defended Knight, saying the cartoon had “nothing to do with gender or race”.

But whether Knight and his editor realise it or not, the cartoon draws on at least 200 years of racist and sexist caricaturing of African and African-descended women.

Early cartoon caricatures

In the United States, the tradition of racist caricature began as slavery came to end. This was not a coincidence.

The first place to outlaw slavery in the newly formed United States was Vermont in 1777. Over the next 50 years, northern states abolished slavery at different rates. Then, in 1861, the nation went to war over slavery, and with the Union’s victory four years later, this dark period of the nation’s history officially came to a close.

But wealthy whites’ desire for cheap labour did not end. In order to maintain a permanent underclass of workers, new and pernicious forms of racial classifications emerged. These were designed to keep black people “in their place,” or prevent them from becoming “uppity.”

The 19th century also saw the solidifying of now-discredited forms of science that pegged races to a so-called ladder of civilisation. White people, in this logic, had ascended to the top of the ladder. In the United States, African-descended people were at the bottom. (In Australia, white people pegged Aboriginal people to the bottom rung.)

Alongside such ideas came new ways to represent – or misrepresent – groups of people in imagery. Racist and sexist caricaturing became a staple of newspapers and pamphlets, which were circulating ever more cheaply by the decade. This was “racism’s visual vocabulary”, to use a phrase coined by American professor Martha S. Jones.

American cartoonists exaggerated the features, clothes, speech and deportment of black people. The effect, as in Edward Clay’s famed “Life in Philadelphia” series, was to suggest that African Americans would never fit into city life as free people. Such stereotypes helped undermine free black people’s claim to citizenship and to rights as fundamental as the vote.

Life in Philadelphia etching. US Library of Congress

Stereotypes of black people took several forms. Zip Coon was a dandy who imperfectly mimicked modern city ways and never earned an honest dollar; the “mammy” existed only to take care of white people; harmless “uncles” or “sambos” were not very bright and good only for menial labour.

Cartoons often infantilised black people into odd-looking, overgrown “picaninnies”, similar to Knight’s depiction of Williams in his cartoon.

Aunt Jemima advertisement from 1909. US Library of Congress, CC BY

Damaging stereotypes of hyper-sexed black characters emerged too, including the “buck” and “Jezebel.” These served as yet another way to control black lives and labour.

Minstrels and film

Caricatures also extended beyond cartoons to what was fast becoming the most popular form of entertainment in the 19th century United States: blackface minstrelsy. Audiences across the country, and eventually all over the world (including Australia) revelled in this new comic form. Sharing a laugh by making fun of black people became one way that white Americans united with large new groups of immigrants.

The idea that African-descended people were somehow less human or less advanced also enabled white people of different classes to feel united and superior to black people. This feeling of superiority is what black intellectual and activist W. E. B. Du Bois called “a psychological wage”. It helped wealthy white people suppress alliances between poor white people and black people who had been enslaved, or their descendants.

Racist caricaturing was so useful to those in power that it by the end of the 19th century it was everywhere. Consumer goods, an ever-expanding market, were sold with images of caring Aunt Jemima and benign Uncle Ben (the latter is still on grocery shelves today, albeit with an updated image).

Such caricaturing continued to demean African Americans into the 20th century. Some of the very first short films and feature films in the United States centred on black characters who were stereotyped as lazy, thieving and/or stupid. The Jazz Singer, the first “talkie” released in 1927, featured Al Jolson in blackface singing a song called “Mammy”.

Right into my childhood in regional Australia, racial caricatures could be seen on TV’s Bugs Bunny, while more recent examples include Eddie Murphy’s donkey in Shrek (2001) and the Lion King’s hyenas (1994).

The purpose of racist caricature of African Americans is no longer to maintain a cheap workforce. It is also vital to note the ways African Americans have resisted, negotiated and minimised harm wherever possible. But such images do continue to perpetuate racist myths about black people’s natures and capabilities, with other deleterious effects. They have had a long, damaging history, and it’s time that 21st century media outlets such as the Herald Sun let them go.

– The Herald Sun’s Serena Williams cartoon draws on a long and damaging history of racist caricature
– http://theconversation.com/the-herald-suns-serena-williams-cartoon-draws-on-a-long-and-damaging-history-of-racist-caricature-102982]]>

Mark Knight is our best tabloid cartoonist. Is his Serena Williams drawing racist?

By The Conversation -

September 11, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Phiddian, Professor of English, Flinders University

Is the Mark Knight cartoon of Serena Williams racist? It depends on where you sit.

Let me start with three opinions:

I have long thought Mark Knight the best and most intelligent tabloid cartoonist in Australia.

I find it inconceivable that he deliberately sat down to draw a racist cartoon and accept his explanation of purpose at face value.

Race is a real, if second order, category in how most people will assimilate the image of Williams; it is not “not there”.

I can imagine an Australian past when this cartoon, which shows Williams jumping on her racquet with a dummy on the ground, would have been less controversial. Williams has been dominant long enough that she might well have thrown a similar tantrum, say, in the 2002 Australian Open. Had she done so, the same cartoon would probably have passed with little comment.

The Herald Sun sold more copies then, but it only circulated in Victoria, and Australian sensitivity specifically to racism against African Americans was (and possibly still is) too weak for that aspect of the image to loom large. As I said, race is not “not there”, but neither is it, in my view, “the point”.

But here’s the rub: in the endless passion play of US culture, there is no way the cartoon will now be read as non-racist in the US and, therefore, internationally.

An artist’s intention cannot control the way images circulate any more. This isn’t exactly new, but the instant circulation of everything has put the risk of offence being taken on steroids.

My guess is that J.K. Rowling is not a regular reader of the Herald Sun, but Twitter can shear off the context and deliver the cartoon to her for comment.

Cartoonists have to compress their images, so they often use stereotypes. This objectifies the subject and is thus, inevitably, an othering process. That is how representation works in general and how satirical representation works in particular.

You just cannot draw Serena Williams without drawing her female and black. So should she never be drawn? Even when she has plainly made herself a topic of interest in a very public way? Is silence better than risk of offence?

The National Association of Black Journalists has accused Knight’s depiction of being “unnecessarily sambo-like”. They certainly have a point, particularly about Williams’ hair and lips, which could have been drawn more demurely without loss of fidelity. On the other hand, those who comment on Naomi Osaka being depicted as “a petite blonde” seem to miss that her skin tone is almost identical in the cartoon to Williams’.

So, is there any way of drawing an angry and powerful African-American woman and quarantining the image from old racist stereotypes? Should Knight just not have gone there? By all means make up your own mind.

The problem is that balance and restraint are not what we want from our satirists. Cartoonists often draw to probe and offend. Otherwise they would just be freelance marketers of positive images. If they do offend, however, they have to live with the criticisms, or they are demanding a standard they do not themselves apply.

Cartoons should generate a robust exchange of views on matters of public significance. It’s an exchange where the Hippocratic Oath of “first do no harm” cannot reign supreme without undermining the free circulation of ideas, images, and opinions.

Mark Knight should not be muzzled but he has to cop it sweet from those who dislike the cartoon. He does not work in a safe environment, where all he will hear is the gentle murmuring of affirmation. Neither do public figures like Serena Williams.

So, my last opinion: given the current configuration of digital media, there’s no way this safe environment is about to arrive, and I hope it never does.

– Mark Knight is our best tabloid cartoonist. Is his Serena Williams drawing racist?
– http://theconversation.com/mark-knight-is-our-best-tabloid-cartoonist-is-his-serena-williams-drawing-racist-102990]]>

This is bigger than Serena Williams: lessons from the 2018 US Open tennis

By The Conversation -

September 11, 2018

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The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Terry, Professor of Psychology, University of Southern Queensland

Judging by the fallout from Sunday’s dramatic spat between Serena Williams and umpire Carlos Ramos during the women’s final of the US Open, it is clear that the greatest female player of all time divides opinion like few others.

Williams appeared to interpret the three code violations meted out by the umpire as sexism by Ramos and an attack on her personal integrity. She said:

Because I’m a woman you’re going to take this away from me … there are a lot of men who say a lot (of) things, and because they are men, nothing happens to them.

But others argued that Ramos was simply applying the rules of the sport.

This incident highlights a need to consider changing the rules of tennis, to make them more consistent across tournaments and players.

The three strikes

The first strike issued to Williams – strike 1, a warning – was a code violation against her coach Patrick Mouratoglou for repeatedly gesturing to her to get forward during rallies.

The rules governing grand slam tennis are unambiguous, stating clearly that “Players shall not receive coaching during a match” and clarifying that “Communications of any kind, audible or visible, between a player and a coach may be construed as coaching”.

This rule doesn’t apply in all tennis events. Mouratoglou openly acknowledged he was coaching but used the “everyone is doing it” argument as justification.

Serena Williams gestures towards chair umpire Carlos Ramos during the women’s final of the US Open Tennis Championships, New York. EPA/Jason Szenes

Williams’ rage appeared to be fuelled in part because she perceived this code violation as rarely enforced (and certainly not in grand slam finals). But even more so because, as she apparently viewed it, her character had been impugned.

“I don’t cheat to win! … You owe me an apology,” she yelled.

Strike 2, a point penalty, was a mandatory code violation for destroying her racquet after losing a service game.

Serena Williams of the US breaks her racquet at the US Open Tennis Championships. EPA/Justin Lane

Strike 3, a game penalty, was triggered after Williams confronted Ramos, repeatedly accusing him of being “a thief” for taking a point away from her.

Publicly challenging the honesty of the umpire is another reason for a mandatory code violation.

No ‘soft warning’

Several commentators, including tennis great Chris Evert, have pointed out that Ramos missed the opportunity to defuse the situation by first issuing a “soft warning”, along the lines of asking Williams to calm down or warning her that she was risking another code violation.

Williams’ critics have argued that this was a case of a tennis player seeing herself as above the laws of the game, and a reminder of the excesses of the John McEnroe era that code violations were introduced to ameliorate.

Williams is no stranger to such confrontations. Her previous run-ins with officials at the US Open include an expletive-laden rant against a line judge in her 2009 semi-final defeat by Kim Clijsters.

A powerful voice

When Williams speaks, the world listens. As a powerful voice for change, her words carry more weight than her trademark crosscourt forehand.

After the game was over she said:

I just feel like the fact that I have to go through this is just an example for the next person that has emotions and wants to express themselves and want to be a strong woman.

This plea implies some awareness that she might have created a watershed moment for tennis.

Katrina Adams, head of the US Tennis Association, almost immediately came to Williams’ defence, commenting that:

There’s no equality when it comes to what the men are doing to the chair umpires and what the women are doing, and I think there has to be some consistency across the board.

Moreover, Women’s Tennis Association chief executive Steve Simon has already called for coaching to be permitted “across the sport”. Others have pointed out that professional baseball allows bats to be thrown or broken with impunity, so why does tennis punish racquet smashing?

Time for change

While it is possible that the current crop of young tennis players may start asking umpires for an apology when their ball is called out, it seems more likely that the 2018 US Open women’s singles final will be remembered as a catalyst for future change in the sport of professional tennis.

I know from my own experiences of working with professional players at Wimbledon that surreptitious coaching is commonplace. Williams’ outrage at receiving a code violation for her coach’s hand gestures could be avoided in future by allowing coaching during matches at all levels of professional tennis, rather than having different rules for different tournaments.

Beyond formal rule changes, it appears almost certain that, in future, umpires will take extra care to be consistent in their approach towards male and female players.

Serena Williams breaks her racquet at the US Open Tennis Championships. EPA/Justin Lane

– This is bigger than Serena Williams: lessons from the 2018 US Open tennis
– http://theconversation.com/this-is-bigger-than-serena-williams-lessons-from-the-2018-us-open-tennis-102912]]>

Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Sympathy for Clare Curran

By Bryce Edwards -

September 11, 2018

claire_curran_rnz_richard_tindiller-680wside-jpg — ]]>

Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Sympathy for Clare Curran

[caption id="attachment_13635" align="alignright" width="150"]

Dr Bryce Edwards.[/caption] It is very hard not to feel sympathy for Clare Curran. The minister was obviously not coping with her job, and scrutiny from the National Party opposition and the media. She was clear about that herself in her statement, saying she found it an “intolerable” situation, and pleaded to be understood as a “human being”. This has raised questions in recent days about whether Curran really deserved the treatment she was receiving, and the manner of her downfall. Some have seen it as a “media beat-up” or a “National Party lynching”. [caption id="attachment_16678" align="aligncenter" width="680"]

Labour MP, and former Government cabinet minister, Clare Curran.[/caption] Many of her supporters, especially on social media, have painted a picture of the former minister as a victim of an unnecessarily brutal and dehumanising political culture. Some have questioned whether her downfall was even warranted, suggesting it was simply a result of bullies in Parliament and the media wanting to claim a “scalp”. Others feel the heat on Curran was over the top. Such reactions are fair enough, and it’s always good to reflect on whether politics and the media are becoming too harsh at the expense of everyone’s humanity. However, the problem is that the people asserting the cries of “injustice” are invariably partisans of the politician in question, and their arguments often appear as just another form of opportunistically appealing to some sort of higher principle in order to defend their own team. Very seldom do those crying “unfair” seem to ask themselves whether they have behaved in the same way, or how they would react if the shoe was on the other foot and the other political side was under pressure. For a good example of sympathy for Clare Curran over the whole scandal, you can read Frank Macskasy’s blog post, Kicking a person when they are down is never a good thing. He argues that National’s pursuit of Curran was akin to amoral hungry animals killing their prey: “Sensing the Minister’s vulnerability, National Opposition MPs continued to attack her in Parliament and through on-line social media. It was the most primal of interactions between creatures; a pack of predators hungry for a kill, circling a solitary, wounded creature. The ‘pack’ pursued her, drained her of strength until all resistance crumbled, and she relented”. Macskasy does admit the same occurred to National when they were in power: “To be utterly, brutally fair – the Labour Opposition scored their own victories during nine years of Key’s administration, claiming one ‘scalp’ after another; Todd Barclay; Judith Collins; Aaron Gilmore; Phil Heatley; Mike Sabin; Kate Wilkinson; Maurice Williamson; Pansy Wong; Richard Worth”. National Party blogger David Farrar has also expressed sympathy for Curran, but points out Labour was equally ruthless in targeting National MPs. Farrar says: “I actually feel sorry for Clare Curran… I’ve always found her well intentioned, nice on a personal level, and it must be horrible going through all this” – see: Duncan and Tova on Curran. Farrar’s main point, however, is that no side is blameless in putting pressure on MPs: “Parliament is a tough environment and Labour never held back when a National MP was in trouble. As someone pointed out on Twitter, Labour tried to crucify Todd Barclay (also a really nice guy) for a stupid mistake, and even get him arrested.” Similarly, Claire Trevett says this is simply reality for all in politics: “Ministers who make one mistake will always be branded a potential weak link and face greater scrutiny than their colleagues from the Opposition. It looks like bullying and sometimes it is. But neither side can cry foul because both do it” – see: Clare Curran the canary in the mine for Jacinda Ardern. Trevett says some politicians actually benefit from the pressure: “those who emerge tougher than tungsten from the pressure… Judith Collins is one exhibit, Bill English and Helen Clark are others who have the intestinal fortitude to forge through hard times and ultimately triumph. The hard times simply make the redemption that much sweeter. Others crumble under the pressure”. Too much media scrutiny of Curran? The claim that the media has also been bullying towards politicians has been made. And Clare Curran seems to think so, too, making one last tweet at a political journalist who had been covering her press conference: “That is an incredibly nasty comment… Just show a damn example to other journalists will you” – see the Herald’s Clare Curran hits back at RNZ journalist on Twitter, then deletes account. Certainly, a number of journalists have been rather scathing of Curran. The Political editor of the Otago Daily Times has reflected on Curran’s ten years as a politician in Dunedin, and suggested it might be time for Labour to seek a replacement for her, as her electorate is now vulnerable to National taking it off her – see Dene Mackenzie’s Gone but wrongs not forgotten. Mackenzie argues that the MP was never strong under scrutiny: “Ms Curran was never suited to be a minister. She struggled in Opposition to build a credible reputation after unseating MP David Benson-Pope in a contested selection in February 2008, and was never confident under scrutiny.” Furthermore, he argues that as the local MP for Dunedin South, Curran has been rather ineffective compared to her predecessors. And he expressed his frustrations with her interactions with the media: “She could not complete a task and was very defensive when questioned on any of her actions. Her relationships with even the most accommodating of local media personnel were fractious, to say the least. Arriving late for interviews was stock in trade. In fact, this reporter used to wait 10 to 15 minutes and return to the office rather than continue to wait for the then Opposition MP. As a minister, she has not been in contact.” Some in the media have also challenged the notion that Curran was the victim of someone else’s harsh actions. For example, Heather du Plessis-Allan responded to this, saying “as for Curran’s exit statement, she told reporters that the pressure has become ‘intolerable’ because the current heat being placed on her is unlikely to go away. Come on, that’s blaming everyone else! Curran’s not in this position because people are chasing her. She’s in this position because she kept stuffing up” – see: Curran saga shows PM is lacking a spine. And when Curran hit out at a journalist on Twitter, former parliamentarian Deborah Coddington tweeted: “MPs should just suck it up. Taxpayers pay them good wages. They want to regulate; they have to roll with the punches and NEVER blame media. It’s the old kitchen/heat cliche.” Was Clare Curran “hard enough” for ministerial politics? I’m reported in an ODT article about Curran’s demise, suggesting that the former minister was perhaps not as tough as she made out: “Edwards said Ms Curran was normally a feisty and combative debater, but recent events suggested she was not as tough as that veneer suggested” – see Mike Houlahan’s Pressure sinks Curran. The same article also quotes rival local MP, and former minister, Michael Woodhouse: “The so-called intolerable pressure has been brought on entirely by her own actions… Life as a minister is difficult and busy and there is a high level of scrutiny. If she wanted less intolerable pressure she should have performed to a higher standard.” As to Curran’s status as a tough and battling politician, Richard Harman has written a revealing commentary today which looks at some of the issues of her operating style. He relays a recent conversation with her: “she reminded me that she had worked for the Australian Labor Party. It was something her opponents didn’t seem to realise, she said. “I learned how to be tough there,” she said. Sadly, it is now obvious. She didn’t” – see: Why did Labour let Curran go. Harman reflects on how Curran normally operated in politics with a “forceful personality”, but her performance last week in Parliament “was not the way an ALP hard person would have reacted.” Others have drawn attention to Curran’s infamous and unique achievement of successfully challenging her Labour predecessor in Dunedin South, David Benson-Pope. Not only had this taken an incredibly ruthless approach from Curran, but there now seemed to be, according to Barry Soper, a case of “History repeating itself – or karma” – see: Clare Curran saga reflects poorly on Jacinda Ardern’s leadership. Soper points out that the parallels between the declines of both Labour ministers are uncanny. For example, “By the time he stepped down as a minister, Benson-Pope was a quivering wreck, having developed a nervous tick.” Curran an author of her own misfortune Soper also suggests that politicians just have to get used to the rough and tumble of politics: “Politics is a tough business but if you answer questions honestly and in good faith you generally survive relatively unscathed.” And he doesn’t believe that Curran was in anyway a victim of misfortune: “Curran committed what were two significant strikes, meeting secretly with people who sought to gain from her role in Government, she should have been fired after the first and after the second it was a no-brainer.” Also unsympathetic to Curran’s plight is broadcaster Kerre McIvor, who says “Her press conference on Friday afternoon was full of self pity and delusional justification” – see: Clare Curran had to go but must own mistakes. She suggests that some self-reflection is in order: “Come on, Clare! Whose fault is it that the media are asking questions and the Nats are taking chunks out of you?” McIvor explains in detail why Curran’s misdemeanours were actually very serious, and she is worth quoting at length: “the clandestine meeting with Radio NZ’s head of news was a shining example of what NOT to do to create a thriving democratic system… The point is that in an open democracy, you cannot have a government interfering, or appearing to interfere, with the media. The Minister of Broadcasting held a meeting with a senior member of management at Radio NZ. The Cabinet Manual says that if a minister wants to meet with an employee of a government agency, then the minister must first have ensured the employee has raised the matter with the chief executive. That clearly didn’t happen. Who knows what sweetheart deals could be arranged in meetings between taxpayer funded ministers and members of taxpayer funded organisations?” Ardern’s failure to be “cruel to be kind” I’ve written about how Curran has faced “one of the most wretched weeks of her life”, and how this might be partly due to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern failing to be “cruel to be kind” in not removing her earlier – see: Curran’s misery at an end, but the PM’s goes on. Here’s my main point about Ardern’s “kindness” in keeping Curran in the job as long as she did: “If it was a matter of personal friendship or loyalty, of giving a colleague another chance, then it will be a tough lesson for everyone concerned. The phrase “cruel to be kind” springs to mind, because allowing Ms Curran to stagger on did her no favours and certainly did not help the government.” Similarly, Tracy Watkins has written, that “Sometimes in politics, you have to be cruel to be kind” and “Forcing Curran to limp on until then would have been as cruel as it was unwise politically” – see: Wounded Clare Curran had no choice but to quit. Watkins suggests that it might be Ardern’s intended approach of being “kind in government” that has let her down: “Her popularity in huge part was based on her putting a softer kinder face on Government. But there is a fine line and strong leadership isn’t always just an image thing.” In his article today on the issue, Richard Harman also draws attention to whether Ardern and the rest of the Government’s leadership and advisers did enough to help Curran during her difficulties, saying that normally these problems would mean “she would come under tight political management from someone higher up the Beehive. We now know that this did not happen and because of that she was doomed. It may be that management was attempted, and maybe it was rejected. We don’t know.” Finally, despite the question of whether Clare Curran was the author of her own misfortune, clearly there is a need to remember that such politicians are – as the former minister rightly put it, “human beings”. And the pressures of life in politics need to be considered in the current focus on mental health issues. In this regard it’s worth considering Laura Walters’ thoughtful article, asking: Where is politics’ John Kirwan?]]>

Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – September 11 2018

By Bryce Edwards -

September 11, 2018

Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – September 11 2018 Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. [caption id="attachment_297" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Beehive and Parliament Buildings.[/caption] Capital gains tax Nikki Mandow (BusinessDesk): Closing the gap: How a capital gains tax could raise $100M Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Capital gains tax debate not over, Grant Robertson suggests Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Capital gains tax in doubt, decision seen too political for tax working group Herald: Capital gains tax in doubt, says accounting expert Judith Collins (Herald): Capital gains tax will hit the vulnerable Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): National Party crows as capital gains tax seen to be in doubt Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Property investors: Capital gains tax wouldn’t work No Right Turn: We’ve been had Government, Clare Curran resignation RNZ: Lessons to be learned from Curran controversy – Ardern Newstalk ZB: PM gives MP ‘stern call’ over ZB interview Jenna Lynch (Newshub): New MP Greg O’Connor grilled after criticising Jacinda Ardern’s handling of Clare Curran saga Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Liability or lynching – Does Clare Curran deserve any sympathy? Point of Order: More fallout from the Curran affair could follow inspection of her G-mail account Danyl Mclauchlan (Spinoff): Here’s what the NY Times didn’t tell you about life in Jacinda Ardern’s New Zealand David Cormack (Herald): Is Jacinda Ardern a weak leader? 1News: ‘Some clown slept in!’ – Police Minister criticises ‘unbelievable and unacceptable’ Napier Airport delay Herald: Police minister hits out at late airport staff following delays Jennifer Dann (Herald): 12 questions with Golriz Ghahraman: ‘They hate it when you’ve achieved something’ Employment Richard Harman (Politik): Is Winston is about to have another go at Labour? 1News: ‘Things change when you become a coalition’ – Labour hits a wall over scrapping youth rates Jock Lawrie (ODT): Anti-Meca message a sophisticated dog whistle Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): BusinessNZ considering an international challenge to labour law changes Liam Dann (Herald): Workplace law changes a ‘smack in the face’ – business group Susan Strongman (RNZ): The reality of life on the minimum wage in NZ RNZ: IRD staff call off industrial action after reaching agreement Business Anneke Smith (RNZ): Small businesses doing well despite low business confidence Cas Carter (Stuff): Nike working hard to look ‘woke’ Housing Simon Collins (Herald): Banks queue to lend to first KiwiBuild home buyers in Papakura Newshub: The ballot for first block of KiwiBuild homes is open Henry Cooke (Stuff): KiwiBuild ballot officially opens for first 18 homes in South Auckland 1News: Ballot opens for first KiwiBuild homes Catherine Hutton (Stuff): Landlord group embarks on alternative to rental WOF Thomas Manch (Stuff): Wellington City Council issues three rental WOFs in a year No Right Turn: Of course we need rental warrants-of-fitness Health and disability Phil Pennington (RNZ): Plunket proposal: ‘Potential for clients to fall through the gaps’ Tracy Neal (RNZ): Canterbury DHB $142.9m outsource move unavoidable – union head Oliver Lewis (Stuff): Capacity constraints see Canterbury DHB spend $143m on private surgeries Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): ACC should cover sickness and disability, says Sir Geoffrey Palmer Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): Ministers’ lack of interest a barrier for Whānau Ora Catherine Hutton (RNZ): Changes needed before Pacific can enter aged care sector – NZACA RNZ: Fepulea’i Margie Apa first Samoan to lead a District Health Board in New Zealand Jo McKenzie-McLean (Stuff): Wanaka midwife faces going it alone when interim locums’ contracts end Abby Hartley has died Herald: New Zealander Abby Hartley has died in Bali hospital: report Newshub: Sick New Zealand woman Abby Hartley stuck in Bali has died 1News: Kiwi woman Abby Hartley who fell ill while holidaying in Bali dies Crown-Māori Partnership Office planned Audrey Young (Herald): Jacinda Ardern announces plans for Crown-Māori Partnership Office Henry Cooke (Stuff): New Treaty office suggested, likely to be established Audrey Young (Herald): Activist Titewhai Harawira joins Jacinda Ardern to hail Crown-Māori partnership Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Titewhai Harawira’s ‘wow’ moment Parliament Nuk Korako (Stuff): Māori succeeding in Parliament just fine without need to entrench seats Ruben Toa Kearney-Parata (Salient): Meeting Our Māori MPs Environment and conservation Phil Pennington (RNZ): Foam contamination found in streams around Palmerston North airport Kirsty Lawrence (Stuff): Testing shows surface water and soil contaminated near Palmerston North Airport Tess Brunton (RNZ): Dog proposal at National Park sparks fury and debate 1News: ‘Bipartisan accord on climate change’ is critical if New Zealand wants to tackle the issue – James Shaw Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Habitat loss, pollution drive significant drop in fish Piers Fuller (Stuff): 1080 operation in northern Remutakas continues despite nationwide protests Timaru Herald Editorial: The evidence says it’s the best control we have Lisette Reymer (Newshub): 1080 dump in Hunua Ranges puts human health at risk, lawyer argues Matthew Theunissen (RNZ): Brakes put on 1080 programme in Hunua Ranges Te Reo Māori Herald Editorial: Until te reo is in the core curriculum, progress will be slow Tova O’Brien (Newshub): Mass confusion over Government’s Te Reo Māori in school policy 1News: Compulsory classes will help right the wrong after Te Reo Māori ‘beaten’ out of school children a generation ago – Sir Pita Sharples Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern says not learning te reo Māori one of her ‘great regrets’ Talisa Kupenga (Māori TV): High School with compulsory te reo Māori classes welcomes PM 1News: Te Tari: Labour’s Peeni Henare on being a teen dad and why te reo shouldn’t be compulsory (video) Regan Paranihi (Māori TV): Mahuta urges NZ to take part in Māori Language Week 1News: ‘It is a taonga’ – Green Party renew calls for compulsory Te Reo Māori in school by 2025 Katarina Williams (Stuff): Resourcing and teacher shortage could impact on plans for more te reo in schools 1News: Singing taniwha helping children around the country learn te reo during Māori Language Week Mark Dawson (Whanganui Chronicle): Wanganui Chronicle changes name to Whanganui Chronicle Laura Macdonald (Newshub): NZ’s oldest newspaper adds key letter for Māori Language Week Herald: NZME embraces Te Wiki o Te Reo Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Te Wiki o te reo Māori: Day one with Guyon Espiner (video) Patrick Gower (Newshub): My woeful Māori pronunciation means I owe Tūhoe an apology Ripeka Timutimu (Māori TV): Disability no obstacle to learning te reo Māori Lee Kenny (Stuff): She’s Pākehā, but raising her children with te reo Māori Michael Neilson (Herald): Pākehā need to get over politics and embrace te reo Michael Neilson (Herald): Māori Language Week: New arrivals to Aotearoa embrace te reo Māori 1News: Hundreds take part in Wellington hīkoi, celebrating Te Reo Māori Moana Makapelu Lee (Māori TV): Thousands march in Wellington for Māori Language Week Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Wellington turns out for Te wiki o te reo Māori Regan Paranihi (Māori TV): Research shows more Māori ‘loan words’ being used Benn Bathgate (Stuff): New te reo road sign welcomes motorists to Rotorua Foreign Affairs and trade AAP: NZ joins Australia in rejecting push for Japanese commercial whaling RNZ: PM reinforces condemnation of Russia after Novichok suspects named Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): Winston Peters belatedly condemns Russia for Salisbury attack Stacey Kirk (Stuff): National calls on harsher condemnation of Russia over Salisbury attacks Audrey Young (Herald): National condemns Govt for ’embarrassing’ statement on Salisbury findings RNZ: Ulu o Tokelau visits Wellington Justice, corrections, police Edward O’Driscoll (Newshub): Revealed: The ‘significant’ increase in police misconduct allegations in 2018 Sam Hurley (Herald): Hours after losing High Court defamation case, police employee receives ‘termination letter’ Kelly Phillips (Spinoff): How Terri Friesen, convicted of killing her baby, finally cleared her name Kim Dotcom Melissa NIghtingale (Herald): Kim Dotcom’s ‘vexatious’ information request appealed in High Court Ben Strang (RNZ): Attorney-General appeals Dotcom privacy win Education David Cohen (RNZ): ‘Uni of NZ’ idea opens new chapter for academic rationing John McGowan (Herald): Teacher shortage really is a crisis – Schools are growing and not enough teachers are being trained Andre Chumko (Stuff): Small school won’t sell beer and wine at fundraiser after ‘bullying’ from DHB Doug Laing (Hawke’s Bay Today): Opposition to alcohol at Hawke’s Bay school food and music festival Primary industries and animal welfare RNZ: Tegel evade legal action after chicken welfare concerns Carla Penman (Herald): Tegel won’t be prosecuted over footage of dead and deformed chickens Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Care of meat chickens must improve: SPCA Tim Mackle (Stuff): Most dairy farmers strive to do the best for their cows and the environment Andrea Vance (Stuff): Cattle of former two-decade MP tested for M. Bovis Pat Deavoll (Stuff): Technology puts farmers on-call to their animals Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Farm debt mediation bill needs more work Newshub: Call for 50-year plan to boost farming confidence Nona Pelletier (RNZ): Forestry deal shows NZ ‘open’ for investment Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Fonterra names board candidates up for election Newshub: Fonterra board nominations open to farmers Banks, finance Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): Consumer NZ hits out at toothless financial code Kieran McAnulty (Stuff): Banks must uphold their side of the bargain for small-town NZ Catherine Hutton (RNZ): Martinborough bank closure will hit businesses and elderly – protesters Local government Michael Hayward (Stuff): Christchurch stadium the big winner from council’s plans for Government funding 1News: Tim Shadbolt coy on France hotel investment idea as ratepayers give thumbs down Bernard Orsman (Herald): John Banks takes the hand of Penny Bright and says there is no bigger fighter Dave Armstrong (Dominion Post): My suggestions for how council chief can fix Wellington’s buses Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): Whangarei District Council apologises to whānau after grave desecrated Haka Herald: ‘He’s way off’: Haka expert slams Brash’s comments that it glorifies domestic violence 1News: Watch: Don Brash under fire for saying the haka ‘seems to glorify’ domestic violence Dan Satherley (Newshub): Haka glorifies domestic violence – Don Brash Madeleine Chapman (Spinoff): How did a 77-year-old white guy become the go-to media voice on Māori issues? Patrick Gower (Newshub): Haka for Te Toiroa shows why Te Reo is so special Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to visit New Zealand Sophie Bateman (Newshub):Revealed: Harry and Meghan’s New Zealand tour schedule Stuff: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to visit New Zealand 1News: Dates and itinerary of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s trip to New Zealand confirmed Herald: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tour of New Zealand confirmed RNZ: Dates set for Harry and Meghan’s royal visit Other Liz Macpherson (Stuff): ‘Weapons of Math Destruction’ or a force for good? Stuff: Experts consider Pike River Mine re-entry options Stuff: Waitangi Tribunal finds Crown breached treaty obligations, caused harm to Te Rohe Pōtae Logan Church (RNZ): Checkpoint: On-sold, broken home forces owner to seek help on Facebook Meriana Johnsen (RNZ): Chelsea Manning ‘still fighting the same battles’ Jennifer Eder (Stuff): Cruise industry calls for more ‘unique and authentic’ Māori tourism Edward Gay (RNZ): Trial begins for first person charged with insider trading Sam Clarke (1News): School lunch scheme for hungry Christchurch kids is revived Tom McRae (Newshub): Oil companies capable of Rainbow Warrior-level sabotage – Greenpeace Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Corporate NZ lagging behind state sector for women in leadership Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Susan Peterson: Quotas need to be considered 1News: Children’s clothing company admits selling garments with incorrect fire warning tags, if any at all Mike Treen (Daily Blog): How I got hijacked, kidnapped, tasered, cracked ribs and a fractured foot! Newstalk ZB: Firefighters union warns lives at risk due to faulty fleet (audio) Jack Latimore (Guardian): Another Captain Cook documentary – but do we really need it? Jessie Chiang (RNZ): ‘Bananas’ Split Over Their Identity]]>

Rainbow Warrior returns to NZ for ‘oil free’ future and activist doco

By Pacific Media Centre -

September 11, 2018

Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman and the Rainbow Warrior skipper toss a wreath in memory of Fernando Pereira into the sea at the spot where the original bombed RW was scuttled in 1986 to create a living reef. Video: David Robie/Cafe Pacific

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

Greenpeace’s flagship Rainbow Warrior 3 was welcomed in Matauri Bay at the start of a month-long tour of New Zealand yesterday to celebrate a victory in the fight against fossil fuels and to launch filming on a documentary drawing on the links between the nuclear-free and climate change struggles.

The tour began following the laying of a wreath at sea to honour the memory of Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira who was killed by French secret service saboteurs who bombed the original Rainbow Warrior in Auckland on 10 July 1985.

Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman gave an emotive speech about Pereira’s legacy being the ultimate success of the antinuclear struggle with the end of French nuclear testing in the Pacific in 1996 and the ongoing climate change campaign.

Rainbow Warrior crew, Greenpeace stalwarts and local hapu members were treated to a seafood lunch at Matauri marae.

The Nuclear Dissent interactive documentary.

-Partners-

Also launched yesterday was a new interactive documentary, Nuclear Dissent, a cautionary tale about haunting nuclear destruction, told through the lens of some of the world’s bravest activists and experts – the successful leaders of disarmament efforts from French Polynesia and New Zealand to Canada, the United States, and Greenpeace, who influenced outcomes and fought for change.

In five short video chapters available on desktop, mobile and webVR, the true story of the battle to end French nuclear weapons testing between 1966 and 1996 is told through dynamic 360º panoramas on land, afloat in the fallout zone, amid riots, and underwater, Greenpeace says in a statement.

The story is capped off with a raw assessment of where the world is today – the greatest global nuclear threats, risks and effects unpacked.

Extreme health and environmental damage to French Polynesia was caused by test nuclear explosions in the South Pacific, spreading cancerous plutonium across continents and into the food chain.

Activist persistence
Due to the persistence of activists braving the fallout zone and widespread protests and a growing nuclear free movement, the French government eventually shut down its testing programme.

More than a decade later, those affected have yet to receive justice for the intergenerational trauma inflicted on their land, their health and their resources by the French government, the Greenpeace statement said.

With historical accounts from protesters Anna Horne and Greenpeace’s David McTaggart who sailed into the test zone, expert opinions from nuclear policy analyst and Harvard professor Matthew Bunn, Dr Ira Hefland and climatologist Alan Robcock, viewers are guided through an eye-opening journey.

Alongside each chapter’s video content, 360 x-ray environments and journals filled with evidence and artifacts bring otherwise invisible details and deadly damages to light.

An interactive fallout map enabled with address entry visualises what the scope of destruction, death and injury would look like in any city, from a selection of current nuclear weapons that exist in the arsenals of the world’s most dangerous superpowers.

‘Making oil history’
Anna Horne joined Rainbow Warrior 3 yesterday as the ship prepared to sail from Matauri Bay to Auckland where Greenpeace will launch its “Making Oil History” tour of New Zealand”.

Earlier, the Rainbow Warrior had been joined by David Robie, author of Eyes of Fire about the Rongelap voyage and the bombing of the original Rainbow Warrior, and currently director of the Pacific Media Centre.

In 2015, Professor Robie and a group of student journalists combined with Little Island Press and Greenpeace to create a microsite dedicated to Rainbow Warrior and environmental activist stories and videos, Eyes of Fire: 30 Years On, as a public good resource.

Both Horne and Dr Robie are among at least 10 activists, writers and changemakers being interviewed for the new Greenpeace documentary being directed by journalist Phil Vine.

The wreath laying ceremony in memory of Fernando Pereira on board the Rainbow Warrior yesterday. Image: David Robie/Cafe Pacific

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

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‘Do your job without fear or favour’, says veteran former Fiji journalist

By Pacific Media Centre -

September 11, 2018

Veteran journalist – now postgraduate student – Sri Krishnamurthi (left) with USP Journalism staff members from right, Eliki Drugunalevu, Dr Shailendra Singh and Geraldine Panapasa at the the University of the South Pacific’s Laucala Bay campus, Suva. Image: Wansolwara

By Chris Ha’arabe of Wansolwara News

Fiji-born veteran journalist Sri Krishnamurthi has some simple advice for aspiring journalists – “Do your job without fear or favour”.

And this advice could not have come at a better time as Fiji awaits the impending 2018 election.

A former journalist with The Fiji Times, Krishnamurthi left for New Zealand after the 1987 coup, returning to his homeland this year after 30 years away to conduct research and writing on an international media project to gauge the mood and issues in Fiji before elections later in the year.

Krishnamurthi is a postgraduate digital communications student from Auckland University of Technology’s (AUT) Pacific Media Centre and arrived in Fiji last week for the International Journalism Project, which is a collaboration between the University of the South Pacific’s Journalism Programme and AUT’s Pacific Media Centre student publications Wansolwara and Asia Pacific Report.

Journalist Sri Krishnamurthi … social media now a key element of contemporary journalism. Image: Wansolwara

“I came back and saw a lot of changes in Fiji. I notice that students have easy access to the internet and new technologies,” said the former reporter for the now-defunct New Zealand Press Association news agency.

“Students can search through websites or social media for events, entertainment and information.”

-Partners-

Even though he has more than two decades of experience in journalism, Krishnamurthi believes he still has a lot to learn – even at age 54.

Smart students
“As far as I see, students nowadays are really smart and intellectually fit compared with my early days of learning when there was a lack of facilities to study journalism in Fiji,” said Krishnamurthi, who has a New Zealand Certificate in Journalism and MBA from Massey University in Auckland.

He said USP provided a platform and opportunities for young aspiring journalists to train themselves to become professionals.

Krishnamurthi spent more than 10 years with NZPA as a seasoned sports journalist. He also had a stint with NZ’s Rugby News magazine. One of the many highlights of his career was covering the 1992 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

More recently, he has worked for a tertiary institution (NorthTec), an Iwi organisation (Ngatiwai) as well as an economic development agency (Northland Inc) as a communications and marketing specialist.

In 2008, he was press secretary to Shane Jones, then NZ Minister for Building and Construction; Associate Minister for Trade, Treaty Negotiations, Immigration.

Krishnamurthi was also part of the crisis communications management team for the Canterbury District Health Board. He was tasked with managing external and international media interest after arriving in Christchurch within hours of the February 22, 2011 earthquake.

He lists sports, politics, movies, reading and meeting people, going to the gym and camping as some of his interests.

Long-standing partnership
The AUT’s Pacific Media Centre and USP Journalism have a long-standing partnership stretching back more than 11 years.

According to PMC director Professor David Robie, the International Journalism Project has supported challenging projects such as the three-year-old Bearing Witness, where postgraduate students gain first-hand experience of the impact of climate change in Fiji and co-operate in a learning environment with Pacific environmental and journalism students.

“We had two students covering the 2014 election. A short documentary produced by two other students under the Bearing Witness project [Blessen Tom and Hele Ikimotu], featuring Rabi island, has been entered in the Nuku’alofa Film Festival,” Professor Robie said.

“We thank our USP journalism colleagues for the encouragement and support to enable these unique assignments to take place.”

Chris Ha’arabe of the Solomon Islands is a final-year journalism student at the University of the South Pacific.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

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Poll wrap: Labor retains big Newspoll lead; savage anti-Liberal swing in Wagga Wagga; Wentworth is tied

By The Conversation -

September 11, 2018

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The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne

This week’s Newspoll, conducted September 6-9 from a sample of 1,650 gave Labor a second consecutive landslide 56-44 lead. Primary votes were 42% Labor (up one), 34% Coalition (up one), 10% Greens (steady) and 6% One Nation (down one).

This is the Coalition’s 40th successive Newspoll loss. It is also Labor’s highest primary vote since Julia Gillard ousted Kevin Rudd as PM in June 2010. Labor and the Greens combined have had a majority of the primary vote in the last two Newspolls. Under Malcolm Turnbull, the highest Labor/Greens vote was 48%.

Scott Morrison’s first Newspoll ratings were 41% satisfied, 39% dissatisfied, for a net approval of +2. In his last Newspoll as PM four weeks ago, Turnbull’s net approval was -19, but in the poll before that his net approval was -6, his equal highest this term. Bill Shorten’s net approval jumped ten points to -14 since four weeks ago. Morrison led Shorten by 42-36 as better PM (39-33 to Shorten last fortnight).

The Coalition and Morrison led Labor and Shorten by 40-36 on maintaining energy supply and keeping power prices lower (37-36 four weeks ago). A question on pulling out of the Paris climate agreement is skewed right.

This question asks if pulling out “could result in lower electricity prices”, which is a dubious proposition. It also presents Donald Trump’s reasons for pulling out as a statement of fact. In last fortnight’s Essential, voters opposed withdrawing from Paris by 46-32, while in Newspoll’s skewed question, they favoured pulling out 46-40.

Morrison is currently relatively popular, but the Coalition is trailing badly. This indicates that perceptions of the Coalition have crashed since the leadership spill, and the last two weeks of claims about bullying have not helped.

In January to February 2010, new NSW Labor Premier Kristina Keneally had a +15 net approval in Newspoll, while her party trailed by 57-43. At the March 2011 state election, Labor was crushed by 64-36 on two party preferred votes. The key question is whether perceptions of the federal Coalition recover before the next election.

Morrison’s positive ratings are likely due to a honeymoon effect, with people giving him the benefit of the doubt. However, Morrison’s +2 net approval is weak compared to most new PMs in their first Newspoll ratings.

According to analyst Kevin Bonham, only Paul Keating (a -21 net approval) had a net approval much worse than Morrison. Rudd’s second stint as PM began with a net zero approval, and all other new PMs had a far better net approval than Morrison.

I have conducted analysis based on The Poll Bludger’s review of the 2016 election, and aggregated data from Turnbull’s final three Newspolls as PM. As explained on my personal website, the Coalition under Morrison appears most likely to lose support among the well-educated, the young and in Victoria.

The federal Coalition’s woes almost certainly contributed to bad results for the state Liberals in the Wagga Wagga byelection and in a Tasmanian state poll.

Over 28% primary vote swing against Liberals at Wagga Wagga byelection

A byelection was held on Saturday in the New South Wales state seat of Wagga Wagga, following the resignation of Liberal MP Daryl Maguire over allegations of corrupt behaviour. The Liberals have held Wagga Wagga since 1957.

Primary votes were 25.5% Liberal (down 28.2% since the 2015 election), 25.4% for independent Joe McGirr, 23.7% Labor (down 4.3%), 10.6% for independent Paul Funnell (up 0.9%) and 9.9% Shooters. McGirr will almost certainly win on preferences from all other candidates, but we do not yet have a two candidate count as the electoral commission selected Labor and the Liberals as its two candidates on election night.

The Labor vs Liberal election night two candidate count gave Labor a 51.4-48.6 lead, though not all votes were entered before it was pulled. So if the Liberals and Labor had been the final two candidates, Labor would have won on about a 14% swing. NSW uses optional preferential voting for its state elections, and the swing to Labor would be higher with compulsory preferential.

The NSW state election will be held in March 2019, but I have seen no NSW state polls since a March ReachTEL poll, which had the Coalition ahead by 52-48.

Wentworth ReachTEL: 50-50 tie

A byelection is likely to be held in Wentworth in October. A ReachTEL Wentworth poll for the left-wing Australia Institute, conducted August 27 from a sample of 886, had a 50-50 tie between the Liberals and Labor, an 18% swing to Labor since the 2016 election.

There were two primary vote scenarios. In the first, the Liberals had 41.9%, Labor 31.5%, the Greens 15.6% and One Nation 2.3%. The second scenario included two prominent independents, who each had 11-12%, with the Liberals on 34.6%, Labor 20.3% and the Greens 8.9%.

While seat polls are unreliable, the loss of Turnbull’s personal vote, and the anger of well-educated voters at his ousting, could make Wentworth close (see my previous article).

By 67-24, Wentworth voters thought the national energy guarantee should include an emissions reduction target. By 69-10, they thought Scott Morrison would do less to tackle climate change than Turnbull, rather than more.

National Essential: 54-46 to Labor

This week’s national Essential poll, conducted September 6-9 from a sample of 1,050, gave Labor a 54-46 lead, a one point gain for the Coalition since last fortnight. Primary votes were 37% Labor (down two), 36% Coalition (up one), 10% Greens (steady) and 8% One Nation (up one).

Essential still uses the 2016 election preference flows, where One Nation preferences split evenly, while Newspoll assigns One Nation preferences about 60-40 to the Coalition. If both pollsters used the same preferencing method, there would be a three point gap between Newspoll and Essential. The Labor primary vote is five points lower in Essential than in Newspoll.

Morrison’s initial ratings in Essential were 37% approve, 31% disapprove, for a net approval of +6; Turnbull had a net zero approval in August. Shorten’s net approval was up two points since August to -8. Morrison led Shorten by 39-27 as better PM (39-29 last fortnight).

By 47-35, voters disapproved of the change from Turnbull to Morrison (40-35 last fortnight). By 69-23, they thought it important that the government agree to a policy for reducing carbon emissions.

Over 57% agreed with four negative statements about the government, but voters disagreed by 41-34 with the proposition that Tony Abbott and his conservative supporters are really running the country now.

Over 2/3 of One Nation preferences went to LNP at Longman byelection

A political eternity ago, five byelections were held on July 28. On August 30, the electoral commission provided detailed preference flow data.

Labor won Longman by 54.5-45.5 against the LNP, a 3.7% swing to Labor. Primary votes were 39.8% Labor, 29.6% LNP, 15.9% One Nation, 4.8% Greens and 9.8% for all Others. 67.7% of One Nation voters preferenced the LNP ahead of Labor, a massive increase from 43.5% at the 2016 election.

Labor also had weaker flows from the Greens, winning 76.5% of their preferences, down from 80.7%. However, Labor won 59.0% of preferences from Other candidates, including 81% from the DLP.

At the 2016 election, One Nation recommended preferences to Labor ahead of the LNP in Longman; at the byelection, they reversed their recommendations. However, I believe the largest factor in the One Nation shift is that they were perceived as an anti-establishment party in 2016, but are now clearly a right-wing party.

One Nation’s preference flows in Longman vindicate Newspoll’s decision to assign about 60% of One Nation’s preferences to the Coalition, rather than the 50-50 split that occurred at the 2016 election.

Final results and preference flows for the other four July 28 byelection seats are available at my personal website. Overall, Labor had strong performances in Longman and Fremantle, but did not do very well in the other seats. The Greens failed to benefit from the Liberals’ absence in Perth and Fremantle.

Tasmanian EMRS poll: 36% Liberals (down 11), 34% Labor, 16% Greens

A Tasmanian state EMRS poll, conducted August 29-31 from a sample of 1,000, gave the Liberals 36% of the vote (down 11 since May), Labor 34% (up four) and the Greens 16% (up two). Labor leader Rebecca White led incumbent Will Hodgman as better Premier by 46-38 (47-41 to Hodgman in May). This is the largest poll-to–poll drop for a party in EMRS history.

Bonham interpreted this poll as 39% Liberals, 36% Labor and 13% Greens. If the poll is correct, the Liberals are likely to lose their majority under Tasmania’s Hare Clark system.

– Poll wrap: Labor retains big Newspoll lead; savage anti-Liberal swing in Wagga Wagga; Wentworth is tied
– http://theconversation.com/poll-wrap-labor-retains-big-newspoll-lead-savage-anti-liberal-swing-in-wagga-wagga-wentworth-is-tied-102771]]>

The myth of a vegetarian India

By The Conversation -

September 11, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tani Khara, PhD student in Sustainability, University of Technology Sydney

India has a reputation as a vegetarian nation, and Indians certainly consume far less meat than the global average. But the view of India as a predominantly vegetarian nation may not be quite accurate.

India, whose population is predicted to overtake China’s, is rapidly changing from an agricultural society to an industrial economy with a surging urban population. This is driving the fastest-growing poultry market in the world, as cultural norms change and eating meat becomes a status symbol.

Total vegetarianism is rare

Vegetarianism in India has been gradually becoming less strict over the past 30 years. Only about three in ten Indians now claim to be vegetarian, and a 2016 national survey found that more than half of people aged between 15 and 34 eat meat.

A recent National Family Health Survey found that only 30% of women and 22% of men describe themselves as vegetarian. Other studies have similarly found that a relatively small minority practise vegetarianism.

Even these numbers may well be underestimates. Indians are said to underreport their meat consumption due to religious and cultural stigmas associated with it.

Tastes like chicken

Poultry is India’s most popular type of meat, and India is projected to be one of the world’s largest growth markets for poultry consumption.

The rise in meat consumption is predominantly driven by urban India, and the highest percentages of non-vegetarians come from southern states such as Telgana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Another reason may be that chicken can be considered a universally acceptable meat, given the religious taboos associated with beef among Hindus and pork among Muslims. Although 80% of Indians are Hindus, India is home to several other major religions and sub-faiths, each with its own strictures about food and eating. Vegetarianism is less common among Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Bahais, Parsis and Jews who collectively make up 15% of India’s population.

Upwardly mobile urbanites

In addition to religious and cultural variations, several key factors have influenced India’s shift, overall, towards meat consumption. These include rising urbanisation, increasing disposable incomes, globalisation and cross-cultural influences. Many urban Indians are embracing consumerism as a sign of upward social mobility and meat is widely considered to be a status symbol.

Despite this, others still consider meat-eating to be socially and culturally unacceptable. A 2015 study found young people felt “you eat [meat] in secret, away from your family”.

This appears to reflect differences in front-stage and backstage behaviours, a trait mainly found in collectivist cultures. “Front-stage behaviours”, which is how we act in public, may have more role-playing elements than backstage behaviours, which tend to be carried out in private.

It seems urban Indians today face a dissonance. On one hand, increasing exposure to new lifestyles is creating cultural change, but there is still pressure to adhere to traditions that have prevailed for centuries.

This contradiction is reflected in some of the urban Indian attitudes from the 2015 study on meat consumption. On one hand, some felt:

…in our Bhagvad Gita, Ramayan (in reference to the Hindu holy books) there are old teachings that non-veg is impure. It is the food of demons/monsters.

On the other hand, it was also claimed:

[When it comes to] holy men and Brahmins, it’s not like they don’t like eggs or meat. In front of people they will behave, but on the quiet/sly, they will smoke and drink and eat everything else.

Meat eating in India is a complex issue, with many facets. However, recent trends and figures certainly seem to indicate one thing: it is a mistake to label India as a vegetarian nation.

– The myth of a vegetarian India
– http://theconversation.com/the-myth-of-a-vegetarian-india-102768]]>

Blue poles 45 years on: asset or overvalued drip painting?

By The Conversation -

September 11, 2018

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The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sue Rabbitt Roff, Researcher, Social History/Tutor in Medical Education, University of Dundee

Blue poles infinitely winding, as I write, as I write.

– Patti Smith

Forty-five years ago, the National Gallery of Australia was still a gleam in the eye of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and the yet-to-be-built gallery’s acting director, James Mollinson. But in 1973 Mollinson’s former boss, Australian art dealer Max Hutchinson, wrote to him from New York, telling him Jackson Pollock’s Blue poles was for sale. New York property mogul Ben Heller ultimately sold the painting to the NGA for US$1.9 million (then A$1.3m). Unusually, the Australian government as buyer paid the dealer’s fee of A$100,000.

This was the highest price paid for an American art work at the time. Owning this abstract expressionist painting, Mollinson and his political supporters said, would put Australia on the international art map – and the NGA said it had almost completed its collection of Australian art. You could perhaps see this as the moment Australia transferred its cultural cringe from Britain to the US.

I asked the now 92-year-old Heller recently why he had sold the painting to Australia. “There’s never a simple answer,” he told me. “I was very close to Jackson and out of the blue I got an approach from Max Hutchinson for Blue poles. I was in possession of knowledge where other things might be going, where the major Pollocks were. This was different and would appeal to Jackson [who had died in 1956] because he had his daring side… This place [Australia] was new, different, not likely to have a Pollock.”

Indeed, the purchase, says Heller, was “a mark of Australia joining Western culture”.

An added attraction was that the purchasers were willing to leave the painting on Heller’s apartment wall in New York until the NGA was built (the building was officially opened in October 1982.) This later proved impossible for insurance reasons.

Another attraction may well have been that Heller’s asking price doubled during negotiations with the Australians.

Be that as it may, Blue poles has progressively increased in reputed monetary value over the past 45 years. It was recently reported to have an insurance value of A$350 million. This figure is often cited to justify the purchase even if the aesthetics offend some and the painting’s provenance has been questioned from the outset.

A postage stamp depicting Pollock at work. shutterstock

In 1974, a meeting had been convened at the National Gallery of Art in Washington to explore whether Pollock’s mates Tony Smith and Barnett Newman had helped to squeeze paint onto the canvas that became Blue poles. Present were Pollock’s widow, Lee Krasner, and gallerist Bryan Robertson, who had given both Pollock and Krasner their first major showings in London. As the NGA website carefully puts it: “The examination revealed that any marks made on the canvas” by those other than Pollock “played no part” in the painting that became Blue poles.

In 2016, Victorian Liberal Senator James Paterson suggested that if Blue poles was worth A$350 million it should be sold to reduce the national debt. His idea was quickly quashed by many, including his party’s own Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, who called Blue poles a “national art treasure”.

(Mind you, as one accountant recently pointed out to me, insurance value of a work of art is often different from the price it might reach on the open market. And upping insurance valuations can markedly increase both premiums and security costs.)

Interestingly, as early as 1977 Mollinson told Art News: “I’m sick of it [Blue poles]. It’s not the sort of painting I ordinarily respond to on a personal level anyway. That isn’t what a museum director’s job is necessarily about.”

He thought that when the NGA finally opened in 1982, “We’ll play it down. It’s just one painting – a picture made by a very ordinary person about which a lot of people showed interest at the time we bought it.”

Rather than playing down the controversial painting, in 2015 the then director of the NGA, Gerard Vaughan, said Blue poles was one of the greatest ever American abstract expressionist pictures and had proved to be an excellent purchase.

“It’s the best investment this country has made in anything in my view,” he said.

Still, if it wasn’t for the probably inflated price Australia paid for one of scores of Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings, it might never have become the crowd-drawer it is.

When I asked Heller what he thought of the sums now being talked about in relation to the painting he sold for US$1.9 million 45 years ago, he roared with laughter. “It’s so expensive I don’t want to discuss it!”

– Blue poles 45 years on: asset or overvalued drip painting?
– http://theconversation.com/blue-poles-45-years-on-asset-or-overvalued-drip-painting-102639]]>

World politics explainer: Pinochet’s Chile

By The Conversation -

September 11, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Read, Professor of History, Australian National University

This article is part of our series of explainers on key moments in the past 100 years of world political history. In it, our authors examine how and why an event unfolded, its impact at the time, and its relevance to politics today. You can read parts one, two and three here.

General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, a career military officer, was appointed Commander in Chief of the Chilean army by President Salvador Allende on August 1973. Eighteen days later, with the connivance, if not the assistance, of the US, he authorised a coup against Allende’s Socialist government.

To be clear, Pinochet’s rule was not the first, last or worst dictatorship in the history of Latin America. But it did grip the attention of western countries because of Chile’s comparatively orderly and democratic past, its institutions that made it seem closer to Great Britain than to Spain, its status as the first freely-elected Marxist government in the west, and the questionable role of the CIA in undermining the socialist Allende’s government.

What happened?

Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, 1986. Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional, CC BY

On hearing the news of the coup, Allende dashed to his seat of government in the capital. Then, after his last and remarkable radio address, he shot himself rather than becoming a prisoner. Pinochet proclaimed himself president of the military junta (dictatorship) that followed.

The initial plan held that Pinochet would rule only for a year, to be succeeded by the chiefs of the navy, police and air force. However, Pinochet continued to rule, eventually as President of the Republic by decree (in effect, Chile’s military dictator) up until 1988. At that point, following a constitutional obligation signed eight years earlier, he held a national plebiscite. Unexpectedly to his followers, and no doubt himself, 55% of the country voted against him.

Pinochet retired soon after, in 1990, to what he hoped would be a quieter life as lifetime senator. But in 1998, he was detained in Britain to answer charges of torturing Spanish citizens in Chile during his rule. He was held in Britain for 18 months before being allowed to return to Chile to answer further charges. It was the first time a former head of state had been arrested based on the principle of universal jurisdiction.

Augusto Pinochet Ugarte (left) with Mario Arnello. Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional, CC BY

He returned to face 59 criminal complaints for kidnapping, murder, and torture. Those charges never eventuated from a variety of legal complexities, principally because the Chilean Supreme Court ruled him mentally and physically unable to answer them.

He died in 2006 without answering those charges.

Nevertheless, by then, his reputation was damaged, even among his supporters. This is because of the findings of two National Commissions detailing the arbitrary arrests, torture, incarceration, disappearances and political executions that had occurred under his dictatorship. He directed his forces first at the more extreme of the left-wing parties, the Armed Revolutionary Movement (El MIR) and the Socialists, but later none of the members of any left wing party could consider themselves safe.

Some Chileans who had supported Pinochet’s attempt to rid the country of what he called the “communist cancer” withdrew support after allegations of serious financial mismanagement for his own benefit were revealed. For all the accusations levelled against him, Pinochet admitted nothing. Instead, he blamed his senior operatives like Manuel Contreras, his hated head of the secret police, for the terrible abuses that he himself had authorised.

The impact on the development of neoliberalism

One of the biggest impacts of Pinochet’s coup is his contribution to the advancement of an economic theory known as neoliberalism, which arguably has shaped the economies of many modern western countries to this day. Neoliberalism in essence means a distant retreat by the state from total economic management: it wants the state to withdraw from much regulation, encourage free enterprise and competition, and let the market determine real value. By contrast, socialist “command” economies seek to be the regulators of supply, demand and wages.

The last chaotic year of Allende’s presidency, marked by massive protectionism, chaotic land expropriations, strikes, food shortages (some artificially induced) and galloping inflation, certainly demanded reform. This provided the basis for the work a group of conservative Chilean economists had discussed and planned for a decade, which was enacted after 1973.

Members of the Government Junta in 1985 and Augusto Pinochet (middle) Wikicommons

These economists renewed international trade, reduced inflation and divested the state of some of its assets. Some of these actions proved unwise, including selling some national utilities to Spanish companies, which did not necessarily run them in the interests of Chile.

The debates about Pinochet’s economic achievements continue, especially for the period after 1982, when the benefits of neoliberal practice faltered. His successes are still held by some to be a Chilean miracle, but the reality was a situation heavily tilted in his favour at a time when political opposition was eliminated, trade unions weakened and working class wages determined by the military dictatorship. The revelations of massive human rights abuses has further tarnished some of this achievement.

Contemporary relevance

We can now also detect some unforeseen consequences, thanks to Chile’s long and successful tradition of reconciliation after political trauma. The ten years of centre-left rule that followed Pinochet was a remarkable achievement, as was the first four-year term of the moderate centre-right Piñera government from 2010. This was the product of the peacemaking tradition called the via Chilena, the Chilean way.

Those who had achieved political exile in East Germany or the Soviet Union during Pinochet’s government did not take long to discover that life under the communist state was not the people’s utopia they had hoped to achieve in their own country.

Some returned, somewhat disillusioned, after 1990 to become high officials in much more moderate administrations than those they had planned many years before. They had learned not to make political changes too fast. Other exiles taking refuge in western Europe learned alternatives to a program of people’s revolution in every Latin American nation as taught by Che Guevara. They came to appreciate the lessons of Euro-Communism, that political change need not be wrought by violence but negotiation and co-operation with less radical left-wing parties.

Woman holding pictures of victims of Pinochet’s rule, marching in commemoration of the coup, 2015. Mauricio Gomez/Crowdspark/AAP

Some reverberations from Pinochet’s rule are still also working themselves out. Members of what was once the radical and optimistic left, who gave so much to the radical cause and suffered so grievously, now wonder about the value of their struggle under Pinochet as they contemplate the low wages of today, much unemployment and, especially, wide disillusionment in the processes of government.

Some of their children have come to the same, but more pointed, conclusion. Fifty or 60 Chileans were actually sent to Cuba by their parents so they could re-enter the country at a later stage to continue the armed struggle against Pinochet. The children did not enjoy the experience. The documentary El edificio de los chilenos (The Chilean House) shows the filmmaker subjecting her once-radical mother to an excoriating interrogation as to whether her ideology, and by inference, any political ideology, should supervene her duty to care for her children.

Pinochet is now remembered not so much as someone who saved his country from becoming a second Cuba, or for clearing the ground to test economic theory. Rather, internationally he is recalled for his sensational detention in the UK. That’s an important outcome that, perhaps, makes every retired dictator think twice before venturing from their homelands.

– World politics explainer: Pinochet’s Chile
– http://theconversation.com/world-politics-explainer-pinochets-chile-100659]]>

Who is our health regulator, AHPRA, and does it operate effectively?

By The Conversation -

September 11, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bill Madden, Adjunct Fellow, School of Law & School of Medicine, Western Sydney University

In Australia, we sometimes hear of problems in the health industry regarding anaesthetics, cosmetic surgeons or chiropractors acting in ways that could be, and sometimes are, harmful to patients.

This leads many to wonder whether our health regulations are sound enough to protect patients. We do have a national health regulator that usually operates effectively, but it currently doesn’t have all the data it needs to make good judgements on professional negligence.

Who is our regulator?

Our national health regulator, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), has been operating nationally for almost ten years. Prior to that there were individual systems in each state and territory, but no national system.

AHPRA now administers a national registration and accreditation scheme for health practitioners, extending to 15 national boards that also play a role in maintaining standards in health care.

Medical practitioners, nurses, midwives and pharmacists are of course covered. Perhaps less well known are the boards for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice, Chinese medicine, chiropractors and osteopaths. In all there are about 700,000 registered health practitioners and about 150,000 registered students.

But AHPRA not only registers health practitioners, it also has a “disciplinary” role – though not for all states. In New South Wales, for example, that disciplinary role is performed by the Health Care Complaints Commission, which cooperates with AHPRA.

AHPRA regulates chiros and osteos as well as doctors, nurses and pharmacists. from www.shutterstock.com

Practitioner performance and conduct

Recognition of appropriate qualifications for practitioners and their registration is unfortunately not enough to guarantee highest-quality health treatments. The performance or conduct of registered health practitioners sometimes requires “disciplinary” action by AHRPA or the state-based health complaints bodies.

Recent disciplinary matters cover many health services, as can be seen from the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission website. Examples include a pharmacist involved in the illegal supply of prohibited drugs, a doctor engaged in inappropriate “off-label” prescribing of ketamine and his failure to maintain adequate medical records, and a psychologist providing an excessive number of treatment sessions at an excessive cost.

Similar (and arguably greater) problems may arise in relation to the provision of health-related services by people who are not registered health practitioners. The NSW Health Care Complaints Commission recently issued a public warning based on its concerns about unsafe practices involving subdermal (under the skin) implants inserted for “extreme” body modification purposes, such as horns and crowns.

Minimising the chance of future harm

It’s been recognised for some time that there may be a problem with repeat offenders putting the public at risk. A consultation paper was recently released by the Council of Australian Governments health council with a view to enhancing the powers of AHPRA, to keep the national law up to date and fit for purpose.

The paper notes there are increasing expectations (from governments and the community) that the national boards, such as the Medical Board of Australia and the Nursing and Midwifery Board, monitor and intervene early where a practitioner’s practice presents a risk to public health and safety.

Accurately predicting future risk requires all useful information about past and present practice issues to reach AHPRA and the national boards. At the moment, AHPRA and the national boards do not have information about compensation claims made against health practitioners.

So one enhanced power raised for discussion in the consultation paper is the compulsory reporting of compensation claim data. The national law would have to be amended to impose an obligation to report professional negligence settlements and judgements to AHPRA. Such an obligation might be imposed on a practitioner personally, and/or on the practitioners indemnity insurer.

One example of a potentially reportable judgement might be a recent matter where a medical practitioner was held liable for delaying the diagnosis of possible chronic renal disease. While such publicly-available judgements could be located by AHPRA, confidential settlements cannot.

Establishing AHPRA was a sensible step. While not perfect, it has been working well in conjunction with the national boards. But there is room for improvement.

In the modern world we rely heavily on data, which makes it difficult to argue against the compulsory reporting of claims data as a new power for AHPRA to enhance its capacity to protect the public. This might be of particular value in relation to health practitioners who appear to be involved more often in compensation claims, such as those in cosmetic surgery.

– Who is our health regulator, AHPRA, and does it operate effectively?
– http://theconversation.com/who-is-our-health-regulator-ahpra-and-does-it-operate-effectively-101966]]>

Prasad confident NFP could be in Fiji’s post-election government

By Pacific Media Centre -

September 11, 2018

Fiji’s National Federation Party (NFP) leader, Professor Biman Prasad could find himself in the same position as New Zealand’s deputy prime minister and leader of the New Zealand First Party, Winston Peters, if there is a major swing against the ruling FijiFirst Party. Sri Krishnamurthi talks to the man who might be the kingmaker after the Fiji general election, due later this year.

The National Federation Party (NFP) is the oldest political party in Fiji. It was founded by A.D. Patel in 1968 as a merger between the National Democratic Party and the Federation Party.

It has survived through four coups and it has had its ups and down, but never out, having secured three MPs in Parliament in the 2014 election (FijiFirst has 32 seats, SODELPA has 15).

A professor of economics, Biman Prasad, who was former dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of the South Pacific is the man in charge of NFP since taking over the leadership in 2014.

SPECIAL FIJI PRE-ELECTION REPORTS

He could possibly be the kingmaker of the next government if his party wins as many as 10-seats in a 50-seat Parliament – as some predict. And, he, like Peters, is giving nothing away.

“Somebody has called me ‘Winston Prasad’,” he laughed, of the man he was likened to in the Fiji Sun.

“It’s possible, but first we want to be a major party. I’ve looked at the agreement that he (Peters) has with Labour because we follow New Zealand and Australian politics very closely,” the former academic said.

-Partners-

“We are hoping to get a good number of seats, if not, the majority of seats. And we are being realistic because we got three seats in the last election, but strange things have happened in politics.

‘Fighting on our own’
“We may not need another party. We have said we are fighting the election on our own. As for a coalition, you can ask the other parties who they are going to go with.

“That is a question best left until after elections because it comes down to negotiations and the various policies of each party.”

At best, he can hope for a coalition with the ruling FijiFirst Party, holding at least 60 per cent of the vote in the 2014 election, and in many eyes, the favourite in this election.

In the event of an upset, NFP’s other option could be the major indigenous Fijian party, the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODEPLA), led by 1987 coup leader and former prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, although Prasad is not confirming much in this regard, preferring to wait and see how the votes swing.

Prasad is adamant that he has not jumped the gun by announcing some of his candidates early and drip feeding his policies in print since July last year – suggesting that his was the first party to do so.

“We are the only party that has announced almost all its candidates. We started this early and we have announced major policies.”

One of the key planks in the NFP’s foreign policy, which he announced last week, was his support of the West Papua struggle for independence, which SODELPA endorsed a fortnight ago.

Support for West Papua
“We feel Fiji should support its Melanesian brothers. If smaller countries like Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands can raise this issue then we must do something about it,” he said.

Prasad is also concerned about Fiji’s debt, which he places at about F$5.5 billion, especially the $500 million reportedly owed to China.

He points out that for the 2018/19 financial year, the repayment is $635 million, of which $300 million is interest alone.

“We need about $53 million cash every month for payment,” he said.

But, Fiji’s Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said in May this year that the World Bank had done a thorough analysis of the national debt and was convinced it was manageable.

NFP has other policies of note like increasing the minimum wage and addressing the cost of living designed to get them into the driver’s seat post-election by appealing to the common vote.

Prasad alleges that despite the “handouts” and “freebies” dispensed by government, the people are struggling because of the high and mounting cost of living.

People disenchanted
He said people were disenchanted and this would be seen in the voting patterns.

However, could waiting for the election take the sting out of his campaign, given that they have been gearing up for it for a long time now?

“As a party, we are ready whenever the election is called. Technically, the election could have been held after April 6; that is the earliest that Parliament could have been dissolved,” he explained.

“That is when we finish three-and-a-half years. The Constitution says you cannot dissolve Parliament and have an election before three years and six months has elapsed from the first sitting of Parliament.

“The writ can be issued once Parliament is dissolved in that six months. If it is not dissolved before October 6, then it will automatically dissolve by that date. Once Parliament is dissolved, within seven days the writ is issued.

“Once the writ is issued, you have 14 days for nominations and then you have a maximum of 30 days for elections. The last date is November 21.”

The final word on the oldest party in Fiji that is defiant is that the curtains aren’t set to come down yet.

“I am confident we are going to be in government, whether jointly or on our own, and that is the feedback we are getting,” Prasad says confidently.

Spoken like Winston.

Sri Krishnamurthi is a journalist and Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies student at Auckland University of Technology. He is attached to the University of the South Pacific’s Journalism Programme, filing for USP’s Wansolwara News and the AUT Pacific Media Centre’s Asia Pacific Report.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

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I’ve Always Wondered: How do we know what lies at the heart of Pluto?

By The Conversation -

September 11, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Maynard-Casely, Instrument Scientist, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation

This is an article from I’ve Always Wondered, a series where readers send in questions they’d like an expert to answer. Send your question to alwayswondered@theconversation.edu.au

I’ve always wondered: how do astronomers determine what comprises the core and layers of distant planetary bodies like Pluto when we’ve never been there? – Brian

Its not just astronomers that get to answer this question, though they do play a key role. Like many issues in planetary science, it takes a village of different specialists to solve these planet-sized problems.

To build up a picture of each planet’s interior has required the merging of keenly observed astronomy, complex theoretical calculations, and the most elegant of experiments. And it is very much ongoing work; only this year our idea of what’s inside Jupiter changed completely.

Let’s start with Earth

The deepest hole that’s been dug (well, drilled) into Earth is the Kola super deep borehole. Cutting through the Siberian peninsula it is 12.6 km deep,only a fraction of the 6,400km to the centre of Earth. Despite this we do know quite a bit about the interior of our own planet.

We know Earth has layers of minerals that increase in density as you delve deeper and the pressure increases, until we reach the core. We also know that the very centre of Earth, its core, is made of two components: a surprising liquid outer part, and a solid inner. Both parts of the core are made of super-dense iron and nickel mixture, with some other mystery element in the mix.

Our knowledge of Earth’s interior has come from listening to earthquakes that send sound waves right through our planet. These sound waves are affected by the density changes, and this can be unwrapped by having a network of siesmometers that can pick up signals from each quake.

The density changes have been followed by extensive laboratory studies that have recreated the conditions and come up with a great picture of the mineral changes as you delve towards Earth’s core.

Sadly, however, there is no other planet with a seismometer on it. There will be soon though, as NASA’s Insight mission is on its way to plant one on Mars. Yet, like Earth, we do have some good theories about the centre of Mars, Pluto and indeed all of the planetary bodies in our solar system.

How dense is your planet?

A big clue to a planet’s interior is its average density. This can be calculated from its mass (which you can measure as soon as you have anything orbiting it) and its radius (which can be found from telescope observations). Once you have that, you can relate this average density to that of a similar material.

Average density of a few planetary bodies. Helen Maynard-Casely, Author provided

I’ve plotted a few of them (above) and you can see that rocky planets such as Earth have an average density close to that of rock (about 5,000 kg/m³), whereas gas giants have a much lower density.

Even the difference between two gas giants can be quite big. The change between Saturn and Uranus tells us that Saturn is mainly made of the light gases hydrogen and helium, whereas Uranus is made of heavier molecules such as water.

Pluto, like many icy worlds, has a density between that of rock and ice – but closer to ice. So that immediately suggests it is a mixture of both.

As a planet evolves, heavier materials sink towards its centre. So it is safe to assume that, in Pluto’s case, the rock will sit at its core and the ice and lighter materials will make up its surface and subsurface.

But can we tell any more than that? We can, by examining the detail of a planet’s gravity field.

Looking for wobbles

Slight wobbles in how spacecraft orbit planets can tell us how density is distributed beneath the surface. For gas giants such as Jupiter, this can extend right through the planet.

The Juno spacecraft is currently measuring Jupiter’s gravity field in more detail than ever before – and has already revolutionised what we know of the gas giant’s interior.

The inside story of Pluto and its largest moon Charon. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute, Author provided

This does work for the smaller rocky planetary bodies – but gives us a less complete picture. For instance, small wobbles in Cassini’s orbit (only milimetres) around Saturn that were observed all the way back on Earth gave us evidence that there is a ocean under the south pole of Saturn’s tiny moon Enceladus.

With Pluto, evidence from the flyby suggests it also has a liquid ocean under its icy surface. But gravity field data from a flyby, like that of NASA’s New Horizons, is never as good as having a spacecraft in orbit – so we’ll have to wait until we return to Pluto to know more.

You can watch me here explaining in a bit more detail how we’ve followed these observations with lab work to discover yet more about the insides of our planetary neighbours.

Helen takes us on a journey to get to know the planets of our solar system, filmed at Science Academy.

– I’ve Always Wondered: How do we know what lies at the heart of Pluto?
– http://theconversation.com/ive-always-wondered-how-do-we-know-what-lies-at-the-heart-of-pluto-101327]]>

Reforming our political system is not a quick fix. Here’s a step-by-step guide to how to do it

By The Conversation -

September 11, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Triffitt, Lecturer, Public Policy and Political Communications, University of Melbourne

With public trust in government already in serious decline over the last ten years, the downfall of yet another prime minister between elections underlines both the importance and urgency of making serious changes to our political system.

The key to renewing Australia’s democratic system is to view it as our next major reform challenge, just as economic renewal was prioritised in the 1980s and ’90s.

So far, however, the changes proposed by political commentators, academics and think tanks are largely single reforms, such as citizens’ juries to seek more public input into policy, or fixed four-year terms for federal parliament to allow more time to tackle big problems and implement complex policy.

These fall short of matching the scope of the challenge: democratic renewal requires multi-level and multi-step change addressing interconnected issues. In short, we need a comprehensive roadmap for political reform.

Charting a roadmap for renewal

We first need to recognise that two distinct crises are contributing to declining public trust in government.

The first is a “crisis of representation”. This results from a fragmented, highly diverse electorate that increasingly fails to connect with major parties. The major parties are left with shrinking, less diverse memberships.

The second is a “crisis of functionality”. Our democratic system is increasingly unable to deliver good public policy in a consistent or coherent way, and to convince the public to support it.

This “crisis of functionality” is partly due to the decline of the public service and its ability to deliver independent, quality policy advice to ministers. Also to blame is an increasingly myopic approach to policymaking by parties obsessed with short-term polling and point-scoring.

But it is also linked to the “crisis of representation”. As an increasingly disconnected public turns its back on politicians, it also loses trust in their ability to deliver sound policy programs and decisions.

A two-stage approach

The dual nature of these problems underlines a critical issue. The roadmap not only needs to link up separate reforms, it also needs to be rolled out in stages to persuade a highly distrustful public that democratic renewal is in the interests of everyone – not just those in power.

The first stage is what I would call “creative governance”. The aim here is to start restoring public trust in government by making immediate and tangible improvements to the political system.

These reforms would have clear precedents or strong levels of public support. For example, national uniform caps on campaign spending, like those recently introduced in New Zealand, would reduce money in politics. This in turn would put the onus on politicians to explain their policies with more fact-based detail instead of expensive, slogan-based advertising campaigns.

Other possible reforms include real-time disclosure of all political donations, which is already in effect in Queensland, and the establishment of a federal anti-corruption commission, also already in existence at the state level.

Recent surveys show that a majority of Australians support both moves and believe these would improve transparency in the political system.

Setting the scene for deeper reform

The more difficult second stage of political reform is what I call “systemic renewal”. The goal here is to realign our democracy with the fundamentally changed dynamics and expectations of how it should work in the 21st century.

For instance, a major overhaul of our federal-state constitution is needed to update a framework originally written in the 1890s. It’s replete with outdated rules, processes and responsibilities.

However, this has largely failed to capture the public’s imagination because of the arcane way experts talk about the problem and potential solutions. Reframing it as part of a broader democratic renewal to usher in a more nimble and representative political system is much more likely to gain public traction.

Major reforms are also needed to make federal parliament more effective and less dysfunctional. These might include eliminating Question Time and mandating a strict code of ethics for MPs aimed at addressing toxic behaviours like the bullying crisis rocking the Coalition government.

Reforms like these would raise the level of decorum in parliament and set a new standard for parliamentary behaviour. This would increase public confidence that politicians both reflect and are accountable to modern values.

Lastly, a “Citizens’ Assembly” could be formed of randomly selected citizens to act as a non-partisan check and balance on parliament. Such an assembly could be modelled after the citizens’ juries that have been trialled successfully around the world, including Ireland, Canada and South Australia. The assembly would be given the responsibility to chart out long-term, national policy blueprints in areas like health, tax and education.

With this kind of direct voice on a national level, the public would be much more involved in policymaking and thus more vested in the success of their government.

Thinking like reformers

What’s clear is we must do the hard strategic thinking of reformers if we are serious about fixing our political system.

Like every credible plan to reform a major institution showing multiple dysfunctions, we need more than one reform idea. We also need to test these ideas against the root causes of the institution’s malaise. And we need to organise them into a strategic and practical sequence.

The alternative is to believe Australian democracy will magically right itself. Which is no alternative at all.

– Reforming our political system is not a quick fix. Here’s a step-by-step guide to how to do it
– http://theconversation.com/reforming-our-political-system-is-not-a-quick-fix-heres-a-step-by-step-guide-to-how-to-do-it-102415]]>

How will my divorce affect my kids?

By The Conversation -

September 11, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Halford, Professor of Clinical Psychology, The University of Queensland

This is part of a package on Parenting after Divorce. Read the other articles in the series here.

Most children adjust well to parental separation and divorce, at least in the long term.

A minority of children of separated parents have long-term problems, which can affect them through their childhood and into adult life. But it’s conflict between separated parents, and not the separation itself, which accounts for many of the problems children of separated parents experience.

Many Australian children experience parental separation and divorce. About 50,000 to 60,000 children in Australia experience their parents separating each year. Around one in five Australian children (about one million) will experience parental separation before the age of 18.

Immediately before and after parental separation, children are often upset. But for most children, their adjustment improves across the next year or two. Studies show most children adjust reasonably well in the longer term.

On average, children of separated parents do just a little bit worse than children of parents in intact families. This effect is evident across multiple outcomes. For example, children of divorce do a little bit worse on educational attainment, have slightly more behaviour problems, and are slightly more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression.

While the average effect of parental separation is small, children of separated parents have twice the rate of serious mental health problems and substance abuse, and are twice as likely to attempt suicide, as children of parents in intact families. These statistics reflect that a minority of children from separated parents have very poor adjustment.

Witnessing conflict

The strongest predictor of poor child adjustment after separation is conflict between the separated parents. Poor long-term outcomes for children occur when parental conflict is severe (such as verbal abuse or physical violence), is frequent, and occurs in front of the child.

Children are particularly affected when the conflict is about them, or issues around parenting. Many children blame themselves for parental conflict, particularly when the conflict is about parenting or child behaviour. If the child believes they have caused the conflict, or should be able to stop the conflict, then they are particularly likely to suffer adjustment problems.

Severe parental conflict in front of the children is also associated with child adjustment problems in intact families. In high conflict parental relationships, separation sometimes reduces children’s exposure to parental conflict. So staying in a relationship does not necessarily protect children from parental conflict.

As well as parental conflict, poor child adjustment is predicted by mental health or substance abuse problems in a parent. Many separated parents re-partner and these new relationships sometimes end. Frequent changes in the child’s living arrangements, and changes in who cares for the children, are also associated with poor child adjustment.

Read more: How to co-parent after divorce

Children are particularly affected when the conflict is about them, or issues around parenting. from www.shutterstock.com

Co-parenting after divorce

When parents separate there has to be an agreement about how the children will be cared for. Agreements have to address issues such as where the child will live, how much time each parent will spend with the child, and how and where the parents will communicate about parenting decisions.

About 30% of separating parents reach a co-parenting agreement without assistance. Another 30% seek advice from professionals such as family lawyers, psychologists, or family counsellors, and then negotiate an agreement acceptable to both parents. But about 40% of separated parents have disagreement about parenting arrangements they’re unable to resolve.

In Australia, most parents who disagree about parenting arrangements are required to undertake mediation. If mediation does not produce an agreement, then the parents can apply to the Family Court to make a decision. In some circumstances, the parents can go straight to court without having to attempt mediation. Examples of such circumstances are if there is family violence, or if one of the parents has a mental health problem that is seen to make mediation inappropriate.

Family mediation usually involves four or five hours of sessions with a professional mediator. Typically the mediator conducts a separate individual interview with each parent to assess the family background, and identify the current issues of dispute around parenting. There might also be a session talking with the child or children asking them their views. Then there would be a conjoint session between the mediator and the two parents.

Of separated parents who undertake mediation, about two-thirds reach a co-parenting agreement. The remaining third usually go to the Family Court to have a judge or magistrate determine what the parenting arrangements will be.

As most parents will realise, parenting arrangements need to change as children’s circumstances change. Parenting agreements need to allow for decision-making as new circumstances arise, and to be renegotiated across time. For example, a child who usually stays weekends with her mother might get interested in a weekend sport that occurs near her father’s home, and the child might want to change around where she spends her weekends.

Due to the ongoing nature of co-parenting, separated parents often have contact with each other for 20 or 30 years after they separate. Developing collaborative co-parenting can be challenging for separated parents. If separated parents allow conflict to occur in front of their children, the children suffer. If parents manage to be mutually respectful and keep their child’s best interests as their shared focus, then the child is likely to do well.

Numerous services are available to assist separated parents to develop more effective co-parenting. These include parenting education, counselling, and legal advice. The Family Relationships Advice line provides information and referral to services. Their telephone line is open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, and Saturday 10am to 4pm (local time) on 1800 050 321. Information is online here.

– How will my divorce affect my kids?
– http://theconversation.com/how-will-my-divorce-affect-my-kids-101594]]>

Ten of Australia’s best literary comics

By The Conversation -

September 11, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabriel Clark, Lecturer, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney

With news that the Man Booker Prize long list includes a graphic novel for the first time, the spotlight is on comics as a literary form. That’s a welcome development; the comic is one of the oldest kinds of storytelling we have and a powerful artform.

Right now, the Australian comics community is producing some of the best original work in the world. Australian comics punch above their weight globally. Many have been picked up by international publishers and nominated for international and national literary awards – yet remain little known at home. Some are directed at an adult audience; some are for all ages. They tackle issues ranging from true crime to environmental ruin to life in detention.

As someone who has researched comics for years – and been a fan since childhood – I want to share with you some highlights from the contemporary Australian comic scene. Here are 10 Australian comics of note, in no particular order.

Sue Neill-Fraser’s conviction for the murder of her de-facto partner Bob Chappell in 2009 polarised the Tasmanian city of Hobart. To this day, Sue has maintained her innocence. This piece of long-form comics journalism by cartoonist Eleri Mai Harris takes readers deep into the personal impact this case has had on the families of those involved.

You can read Reported Missing online here.

Reported Missing; cover page. Reported Missing; inside page.

Bottled, by Chris Gooch

According to one study, mean friends can be good for you. The opposite may be true in this psychological drama, a tale of jealousy, friendship and narcissism. Bottled is a tense piece of suburban noir set in the suburbs of Melbourne, rendered stark and disjointed by Chris Gooch’s striking artwork.

Bottled; cover page. Bottled; inside page.

Who is my birth mother? In this autobiographical story, Meg O’Shea travels to Seoul to find an answer to that question, armed with her sense of humour and imagination. This whimsical story of sliding door moments explores the emotional impact of not having solutions and the fatality of not knowing.

You can read A Part Of Me Is Still Unknown here.

A part of me is still unknown; cover page. A part of me is still unknown; inside page.

Villawood is a Walkley award-winning piece of comics journalism about the experiences of being held captive in a Sydney asylum seeker detention centre. In sharing the stories and experiences of the detainees, it lays bare the harsh realities of indefinite detention. These stories are made even more real through the inclusion of artwork created by the detainees. Their images sit alongside Safdar’s tense line work, which illustrates the realities of this brutal system.

You can read Villawood online here.

Villawood cover. Villawood inside page.

Home Time, by Campbell Whyte

Changes are on the horizon for a group of Year Six school friends who are looking at their last summer together. But their suburban world is transformed after a freak accident transports them to an alternative universe. The friends find themselves in an inverse world filled with creepy gumnut babies, cups of tea and a deceptively familiar Australian landscape. With Home Time, Campbell Whyte has created an intoxicating and visually stunning Australian Narnia.

Home Time; cover page. Home Time; inside page.

Sarah Catherine Firth’s visual essay explores how we understand the complex systems that exist in the world around us. Through autobiographical anecdotes and humour, it covers the history of scientific thought, unpacks complex ideas and helps provide answers to complicated questions.

You can read Making Sense of Complexity online here.

Making sense of complexity Making sense of complexity.

The blurb says The Lie is about how “after a chance encounter, two formerly close friends try to salvage whatever is left of their decaying relationship”. But it’s much more that. Visually, Tommi Parissh’s disproportioned characters dominate the spaces and the panels they inhabit, their uneven bodies reflecting their unease with themselves and their shared history. The Lie is a beautifully poignant tale of confused identities, self-centeredness and regret.

The Lie and How We Told It; cover page. The Lie and How We Told It; inside page.

Hidden, by Mirranda Burton

“Everyone sees the world in their own unique way.” That’s how Mirranda Burton introduces Steve, one of the intellectually impaired adults she teaches art to. But Hidden isn’t about how her subjects see the world. It’s about how Mirranda sees them – with care, respect and humour. Mirranda’s fictionalised stories reveal how engaging meaningfully with people can shift your perspectives in beautiful and unexpected ways.

Hidden; cover page. Hidden; inside page.

The Grot, by Pat Grant with colours by Fionn McCabe

If everyone you know is trying to get rich at everyone else’s expense, then who can you trust? In The Grot, the world is in the wake of an unnamed environmental catastrophe, technology and society have been reduced to simple mechanics, and everyone is rushing to Felter City to make their fortunes. With The Grot, Pat Grant and Fionn McCabe have created a stained and wondrously dilapidated alternative universe of Australian hustlers and grifters fighting to survive in a new Australian gold rush.

You can read The Grot online here.

The Grot; cover page. The Grot; inside page.

Sam Wallman’s comic essay So Below explores ideas of land ownership and its social and political ramifications. Sam’s poetic artwork guides the reader through complicated questions to reveal the communities impacted by the social construct of land ownership.

You can read So Below online here.

So Below; cover page. So Below; inside page.

– Ten of Australia’s best literary comics
– http://theconversation.com/ten-of-australias-best-literary-comics-98766]]>

View from The Hill: Wentworth looks scary for Liberals having trouble explaining why they sacked a PM

By The Conversation -

September 11, 2018

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

As the government faced its first post-coup parliamentary day, the enormous gamble the Liberals have taken was obvious.

It isn’t just that big “transaction costs” of felling a prime minister are coming back to be paid.

It’s that leading Liberals can give no half-way convincing rationale for an upheaval that has pushed the Coalition’s two-party vote substantially backwards in Newspoll, and further baked in the community’s anger with politicians.

We talk about “narratives” in politics. This coup does not have a presentable public “narrative”.

In parliament and the media, everyone this week is demanding answers to the “why?” question. No doubt Liberal MPs have been belted with it in their electorates during their short break among the voters.

Scott Morrison talks about the new (post coup) generation of Liberal leadership. As they struggle to explain the inexplicable, this looks more like the old generation heavily bandaged after a bar room brawl.

Some are not even pretending.

Deputy leader Josh Frydenberg was up front on Sunday about the National Energy Guarantee being ditched. “No one is more disappointed than I am”, he told the ABC. As to why Turnbull was sacked: well, he’d just leave that to the commentators to discuss.

On Monday, arguing the government’s defence against Labor’s (unsuccessful) attempt to launch a censure, Leader of the House Christopher Pyne made the frank admission that “changing the leader is not the right thing to do.

“The Australian public are quite rightly most disconcerted with what’s occurred”, he said, but it was Labor’s fault because they’d started the process. “I agree with the Australian public that what they want is stability,” Pyne said.

After dodging and weaving, Morrison told parliament: “The party chooses the person they want to lead to ensure that we can put the best foot forward at the next election and to ensure that we are connecting with Australians all around the country.”

Insofar as there can be any hygiene in such a business, Morrison has been able to claim relatively clean hands. But Senate leader Mathias Cormann. whose withdrawal of support delivered a fatal blow for Malcolm Turnbull, clearly soiled his hands on the way through and struggles to explain.

When his shifting positions were put to him in Senate question time, his defence was one of I-meant-it-when-I-said-it. “All of these statements were, of course, entirely accurate at the time,” he maintained.

Boiled down to its essence, the core answer to the “why?” question is that the Liberal party’s right – surely it is time we called them “the right” rather than “the conservatives” – made a grab for power that killed Turnbull, although they didn’t have the numbers to install their man Peter Dutton.

There were other important factors but that was at the heart of it.

Morrison and his colleagues can’t, however, say that. They have to indulge in non-answers or fudges until the media get sick of asking the why question.

One of the coup’s back stories has been about the media, because it has highlighted the growing power of the shouty commentators, and the move of Sky’s evening programming towards the Fox News model.

The always-forthright Liberal backbencher Warren Entsch called out the role of certain media commentators who, he suggested, became players in the coup.

Asked about the actions of some sections of the media applying pressure during the coup week, Entsch said: “I thought it was an absolute disgrace. I don’t think Sky News in particular wrapped themselves in glory.”

He told the ABC: “I actually saw texts coming through to colleagues encouraging them to get rid of the prime minister, from some of these commentators. And to me, that’s overstepping the line.”

Their “absolute dislike” of Turnbull was obvious, he said: “There was nothing that the former prime minister could have done to satisfy their obvious hatred of him. And they took every opportunity to actively have him removed”.

If the past is beyond explanation, the future is looming increasingly scary for the Liberals. The Wentworth byelection – despite a 17.7% buffer – is shaping as a close-run thing.

If any Liberals were complacent about Wentworth, they won’t be after the weekend Wagga Wagga state byelection. where a community-based independent, Joe McGirr, took the seat after a massive 28 point drop in the Liberal vote.

How much damage could a similar candidate do in Malcolm Turnbull’s old seat? Probably a great deal.

Kerryn Phelps, who is set to run in Wentworth, is (like McGirr) a doctor. She is well known, with a local practice in the electorate. Most recently she received plenty of publicity during the same-sex marriage plebiscite.

On Monday Andrew Bragg, who had quit his Business Council of Australia job to seek Liberal preselection and had been considered one of the frontrunners, withdrew. Whatever influences were at work there, Bragg’s public explanation was that the party should choose a woman.

The leading females in the preselection race are Mary-Lou Jarvis, a NSW party vice-president and president of the NSW Liberal Women’s Council, and Katherine O’Regan, chair of the Sydney East Business Chamber.

Whoever becomes the Liberal candidate, this is potentially one of those byelections for the history books.

It will be hugely expensive, just when the Liberals face a NSW election and the federal election. The cost will only be exceeded by the stakes. If the Liberals don’t hold the seat Morrison goes into minority government, with the angst that would bring.

In the meantime, in the campaign the Wentworth voters will want better answers than we’re hearing now on why the party deposed their man.

– View from The Hill: Wentworth looks scary for Liberals having trouble explaining why they sacked a PM
– http://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-wentworth-looks-scary-for-liberals-having-trouble-explaining-why-they-sacked-a-pm-102940]]>

At its current rate, Australia is on track for 50% renewable electricity in 2025

By The Conversation -

September 10, 2018

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The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ken Baldwin, Director, Energy Change Institute, Australian National University

The Australian renewable energy industry will install more than 10 gigawatts of new solar and wind power during 2018 and 2019. If that rate is maintained, Australia would reach 50% renewables in 2025.

The recent demise of the National Energy Guarantee saw the end of the fourth-best option for aligning climate and energy policy, following earlier vetoes by the Coalition party room on carbon pricing, an emissions intensity scheme, and the clean energy target.

Yet despite the federal government’s policy paralysis, the renewable energy train just keeps on rolling.

Our analysis, released today by the ANU Energy Change Institute, shows that the Australian energy industry has now demonstrated the capacity to deliver 100% renewable electricity by the early 2030s, if the current rate of installations continues beyond the end of this decade.

Record-breaking pace

Last year was a record year for renewable energy in Australia, with 2,200 megawatts of capacity added. Based on data from the Clean Energy Regulator, during 2018 and 2019 Australia will install about 10,400MW of new renewable energy, comprising 7,200MW of large-scale renewables and 3,200MW of rooftop solar (see charts below). This new capacity is divided roughly equally between large-scale solar photovoltaics (PV), wind farms, and rooftop solar panels. This represents a per-capita rate of 224 watts per person per year, which is among the highest of any nation.

Actual and probable deployment of large-scale (more than 0.1MW) systems in Australia. About 4,000MW per year is currently being installed. Clean Enegy Regulator/ANU, Author provided Annual small-scale (less than 0.1MW) rooftop PV capacity additions including an estimate of 1,600MW for the whole of 2018 based on installations for the year to June. Clean Energy Regulator/ANU, Author provided

If the current rate of renewable energy installation continues, Australia will eclipse the large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET), reaching 29% renewable electricity in 2020 and 50% in 2025. It may even surpass the original 41 terawatt-hour (TWh) target, which was downgraded by the Abbott government to the current 33 TWh.

Our projections are based on the following assumptions:

demand (including behind-the-meter demand) remains constant. Demand has changed little in the past decade
large- and small-scale solar PV and wind power continue to be deployed at their current rates of 2,000MW, 1,600MW and 2,000MW per year, respectively
large- and small-scale solar PV and wind continue to have capacity factors of 21%, 15% and 40%, respectively
existing hydro and bio generation remains constant at 20 terawatt-hours per year
fossil fuels meet the rapidly declining balance of demand.

No subsidies needed

Renewable energy developers are well aware of these projections, which indicate that they believe that little or no financial support is required for projects to be competitive in 2020 and beyond.

Indeed, the current price of carbon reduction from the government’s existing Emissions Reduction Fund (A$12 per tonne, equivalent to A$11 per MWh for a coal-fired power station (at 0.9 tonnes per MWh), would be sufficient to finance many more renewable energy projects.

The current deployment rate might continue because:

large-scale generation certificates will continue to be issued by the Clean Energy Regulator to accredited new renewables generators right up until 2030
renewable investment opportunities are broadening beyond the wholesale electricity market, as companies value the economic benefits and green profile of renewable energy supply contracts. For example, British steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta has announced plans to install more than 1GW of renewable energy at the Whyalla steelworks, and Sun Metals in Townsville has already installed 125MW of solar capacity
the price of wind and PV will continue to fall rapidly, opening up further market opportunities and putting downward pressure on electricity prices
increased use of electric vehicles and electric heat pumps for water and space heating are expected to increase electricity demand. This increased demand is expected to be met by wind and solar PV, which represent almost all new generation capacity in Australia
retiring existing coal power stations are being replaced by PV and wind.

A renewables-powered grid

As the electricity sector approaches and exceeds 50% renewables, more investment will be required in storage (like batteries and pumped hydro) and in high-voltage interconnections between regions to smooth out the effects of local weather and demand.

We have previously shown the hourly cost of this grid balancing is about A$5 per MWh for a renewable energy fraction of 50%, rising to A$25 per MWh at 100% renewables.

Modelled increase in annual PV and wind generation (TWh) and the consequent reduction in fossil generation based on extrapolation of current industry deployment rates for renewables. ANU, Author provided

What do our projections mean for Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions? In 2017 these emissions were 534 megatonnes (MT). Under the Paris Agreement, Australia has undertaken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26%, from 612MT per year in 2005 to 453MT per year by 2030. This is a reduction of 81MT per year from current emissions.

We assume that all emission reductions are obtained within the electricity system through progressive closure of black coal power stations, which emit an average of 0.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide per MWh of electricity.

On this basis, emissions in the electricity sector will decline by more than 26% in 2020-21, and will meet Australia’s entire Paris target of 26% reduction across all sectors of the economy (not just “electricity’s fair share”) in 2024-25.

Our analysis shows Australia’s renewable energy industry has the capacity to deliver deep and rapid emissions reductions. Direct government support for renewables would help, but it is no longer vital.

Government support for stronger high-voltage interstate interconnectors and large-scale storage projects (like the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro proposal) will allow 50-100% renewables to be smoothly integrated into the Australian grid. What is crucial is government policy certainty that will enable the renewable industry to realise its potential to deliver deep emissions cuts.

– At its current rate, Australia is on track for 50% renewable electricity in 2025
– http://theconversation.com/at-its-current-rate-australia-is-on-track-for-50-renewable-electricity-in-2025-102903]]>

If the NBN and Snowy Hydro 2.0 were value for money, would we know?

By The Conversation -

September 10, 2018

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The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rosalind Dixon, Professor of Law, UNSW

When Malcolm Turnbull wrote to his electorate last week outlining his achievements he listed economic growth, jobs, same-sex marriage and a number of really big construction projects including the Western Sydney airport, Melbourne to Brisbane inland rail, and Snowy Hydro 2.0.

Some people will like those and other big projects, some will not. But, combined, they are going to cost more than $75 billion over the next ten years, so it is worth asking as a separate (threshold) question whether they are likely to be value for money.

For some of them, such as the National Broadband Network or the Gonski education reforms, its worth asking whether we might get better value if we spent even more. Turnbull’s downsizing of Labor’s original NBN plan made it cheaper, but not necessarily better.

For goods provided for a social purpose, value for money is about more than profit. But social returns often get left out of the equations because they are harder to measure. In a paper to be launched on Monday night as part of the University of NSW Grand Challenge on Inequality, we put forward a mechanism for considering both together.

In the private sector any significant investment decision requires a summation of future costs and benefits discounted (cut) by a few per cent each year to accord with the reality that future costs and benefits matter less to us than immediate payoffs or costs.

If the project makes sense when the discount rate is set at or above the firm’s cost of capital (or hurdle rate of return) it is worth agreeing to. If its benefits are so far into the future that they only make sense with a very low discount rate it is said to be not worth proceeding with.

There is no reason why we can’t do the same for public sector projects as well, although assessing the benefits is complicated.

This is where the revolution in empirical economics and social science over the last two decades comes in.

Consider a proposal to lengthen the school day by two hours. The costs are relatively easy to calculate: some more teacher time, slightly larger utility bills. Maybe some more pencils.

The benefits are more complex. Does a longer school day lead to better educational outcomes? What does that lead to late in life? How can we tell?

Modern social science has a well-refined method for answering these questions – the randomised controlled trial. Take 50 randomly selected schools and lengthen their school day, then compare the outcomes on standardised tests to a group of control schools. This reveals the true, causal impact of a longer school day on test scores.

Test scores are obviously not an end in themselves, but these can then be mapped all the way through into high school and post-secondary outcomes, and then into labour market and later life outcomes. This would naturally involve understanding the impact on earnings, but also outcomes such as crime and physical and mental health.

Answering these questions persuasively is what modern social science, armed with amazing data and great computing power, does extremely well. Just as a pharmaceutical trial gives one group, say, heart medication and another group a placebo, randomised trials can increasingly guide public policy.

Our study includes a demonstration of that sort of analysis on the money that will spent on the National Broadband Network and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

We find that, taking into account social benefits such as telemedicine and the expansion of skills, the money being spent on the NBN will make sense even at a very high discount rate of 15.2%. Labor’s original more expensive fibre-to-the-premises model would have made sense at an even higher discount rate of 21.1%.

The benefits of the National Disability Insurance System are harder to measure. But, when account is taken of the value of reducing stress in carers and value of independence to those being cared for, it too becomes worthwhile at reasonable discount rates.

Politics, and political debate, will still need ultimately to control these sorts of investment decisions.

But the debate would be far better if we had a common language for assessing the relevant costs and benefits, and a more principled way of prioritising the competing demands on the public purse.

– If the NBN and Snowy Hydro 2.0 were value for money, would we know?
– http://theconversation.com/if-the-nbn-and-snowy-hydro-2-0-were-value-for-money-would-we-know-102908]]>

At its current rate, Australia is on track for 50% renewable energy in 2025

By The Conversation -

September 10, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ken Baldwin, Director, Energy Change Institute, Australian National University

Yet despite the federal government’s policy paralysis, the renewable energy train just keeps on rolling.

Record-breaking pace

Our projections are based on the following assumptions:

demand (including behind-the-meter demand) remains constant. Demand has changed little in the past decade
large- and small-scale solar PV and wind power continue to be deployed at their current rates of 2,000MW, 1,600MW and 2,000MW per year, respectively
large- and small-scale solar PV and wind continue to have capacity factors of 21%, 15% and 40%, respectively
existing hydro and bio generation remains constant at 20 terawatt-hours per year
fossil fuels meet the rapidly declining balance of demand.

No subsidies needed

Renewable energy developers are well aware of these projections, which indicate that they believe that little or no financial support is required for projects to be competitive in 2020 and beyond.

The current deployment rate might continue because:

large-scale generation certificates will continue to be issued by the Clean Energy Regulator to accredited new renewables generators right up until 2030
renewable investment opportunities are broadening beyond the wholesale electricity market, as companies value the economic benefits and green profile of renewable energy supply contracts. For example, British steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta has announced plans to install more than 1GW of renewable energy at the Whyalla steelworks, and Sun Metals in Townsville has already installed 125MW of solar capacity
the price of wind and PV will continue to fall rapidly, opening up further market opportunities and putting downward pressure on electricity prices
increased use of electric vehicles and electric heat pumps for water and space heating are expected to increase electricity demand. This increased demand is expected to be met by wind and solar PV, which represent almost all new generation capacity in Australia
retiring existing coal power stations are being replaced by PV and wind.

A renewables-powered grid

We have previously shown the hourly cost of this grid balancing is about A$5 per MWh for a renewable energy fraction of 50%, rising to A$25 per MWh at 100% renewables.

– At its current rate, Australia is on track for 50% renewable energy in 2025
– http://theconversation.com/at-its-current-rate-australia-is-on-track-for-50-renewable-energy-in-2025-102903]]>

In Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, language is power

By The Conversation -

September 10, 2018

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The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Gemma King, Lecturer in French Studies, Australian National University

Ever since his 1989 film Do the Right Thing opened with Rosie Perez’s boxing-inspired dance to Public Enemy’s Fight the Power, Spike Lee’s cinema has been driven by the tensions between power and race in America. Lee’s mostly black protagonists can only make it in their racist surrounds when they know their own power, and how to use it.

But Lee’s latest film, BlacKkKlansman, suggests their most powerful weapon against racism may also be a commonplace one – the English language.

Based on a true story, and set in 1970s Colorado Springs, BlacKkKlansman follows Ron Stallworth (played by John David Washington) as he becomes the city’s first black police officer and inflitrates the Ku Klux Klan. The film is both a pitch-perfect representation of the period, charting the parallel rises of the Black Power movement and the revised Ku Klux Klan under David Duke, and a deft indictment of Trump’s America. Everything and nothing has changed.

In BlacKkKlansman, English is not one language but many. Stallworth quickly distinguishes himself through his ability to code-switch between “black” and “white” dialects to manipulate, infiltrate and compromise power structures from within.

His first mission is to observe a rally by Black Power icon Kwame Ture, where he slides into “jive” with the Black Student Union President Patrice Dumas (“I can dig it, sister, I can dig it”).

But when he comes across a KKK recruitment ad, Stallworth woos local Klan members over the phone with his convincing imitation of a racist man with “pure-as-driven-snow white skin”. He will, of course, need a white stand-in to attend local meetings in his place, and his superiors initially question whether he can keep up the ruse.

Insists Stallworth: “Some of us speak King’s English, some of us speak jive. Ron Stallworth happens to be fluent in both.”

Stallworth ends up regularly speaking with David Duke (played by Topher Grace), the Grand Wizard of the Klan. Their phone conversations, such as the following one, are darkly ironic:

Topher Grace in BlacKkKlansman (2018). 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, Blumhouse Productions, Legendary Entertainment

Duke: I can always tell when I’m talking to a Negro.

Stallworth: How so?

Duke: Take you, for example, Ron.

Stallworth: …Me?

Duke: Yeah. Now, I can tell that you’re a pure, Aryan white man by the way you pronounce certain words.

Stallworth: Can you give me any examples?

Duke: Yeah, take the word ‘are’. A pure Aryan like you or I would pronounce it correctly: ‘are’. A Negro pronounces it ‘are-uh’. D’you ever notice that? It’s like ‘Are-uh… you gonna fry up that… crispy fried chicken, soul brother?’

Duke’s dialogue is deeply racist, and Lee cuts through its heaviness by having Stallworth and his white sergeant, who is eavesdropping on the line, struggle to suppress their shared laughter.

But the exchange reveals something else: Duke cannot code-switch. He cannot enter his adversary’s world, and as such will never be able to truly understand him – or identify him on the other end of the phone.

‘Passing’

Passing, or presenting as another race (usually white) to escape discrimination, is a centuries-old practice crystallised in Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel, Passing. In Larsen’s book, two black women pass as white to sidestep the racism of 1920s society. And Stallworth’s stand-in is not just any WASP cop; his colleague Flip (Adam Driver) is a Jewish man whose need to deny his heritage to the Klan prompts introspection as to his own racial passing.

Spike Lee, Topher Grace, and Adam Driver working on BlacKkKlansman (2018). to come

BlacKkKlansman is far from alone in representing such issues. Boots Riley’s 2018 Sorry to Bother You, a less hopeful but no less incisive look at linguistic racism, follows a black telemarketer, Cassius (Lakeith Stanfield) who learns he makes more sales if he speaks like a white person when pitching to white clients. In fact Cassius is so adept at using his “white voice” he is promoted to the prestigious sales role of “Power Caller”.

Linguistic passing also recurs in films like Justin Simien’s 2014 Dear White People and Jordan Peele’s 2017 Get Out. Fittingly, Peele was a producer of BlacKkKlansman, and brought Stallworth’s story to Lee in the first place.

Unlike the women in Larsen’s Passing or Flip in BlacKkKlansman, Ron Stallworth cannot pass as white when it comes to his appearance. Nor does he want to. Though he often disagrees about methods for black liberation with Dumas, who views his job as a “pig” as colluding with the enemy, he does not code-switch to hide from himself.

In fact, the film’s comedic climax lies in Ron’s triumphant reveal to Duke (“are-uh… you sure you don’t know [who I am]?”) He uses his ability to shift, chameleon-like, between his natural expression, the Black Student Union’s dialect and the pompous inflections of the Klan not to efface his identity, but to take down those who seek to threaten it.

Ron doesn’t fully belong in Dumas’s world, and he certainly doesn’t belong in Duke’s. Instead, he carves out a place for himself in the spaces in between. There, he can speak truth to power.

– In Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, language is power
– http://theconversation.com/in-spike-lees-blackkklansman-language-is-power-102716]]>

Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – September 10 2018

By Bryce Edwards -

September 10, 2018

Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – September 10 2018 Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. [caption id="attachment_297" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Beehive and Parliament Buildings.[/caption] Clare Curran resignation Audrey Young (Herald): Clare Curran may be gone but more headaches loom Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Wounded Clare Curran had no choice but to quit Jane Patterson (RNZ): Curran: The best of intentions now subject to ridicule Bryce Edwards (RNZ): Curran’s misery at an end, but the PM’s goes on Tim Watkin (RNZ): Clare Curran controversy: PM finally rips off the band-aid Richard Harman (Politik): Why did Labour let Curran go Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): Clare Curran saga reflects poorly on Jacinda Ardern’s leadership Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Clare Curran saga shows PM Jacinda Ardern lacks backbone RNZ: Simon Bridges: ‘Let us see the Gmails’ RNZ: Possibility for Clare Curran’s emails to be made public through OIA Dan Satherley (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern showing ‘real weakness’ over Clare Curran – Simon Bridges Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Parliament’s pressure cooker claims Curran Claire Trevett (Herald): Clare Curran the canary in the mine for Jacinda Ardern Ben Uffindell (The Civilian): Ardern reaffirms that she still won’t be firing Clare Curran Martin Johnston (Herald): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told two radio stations she was not firing Clare Curran David Farrar: The edited transcript David Farrar: Ardern misleads No Right Turn: Dishonest Herald Editorial: PM not impressive when dealing with Clare Curran Duncan Garner (Dominion Post): Time for weak Ardern to show them who’s boss Steve Braunias (Herald): Secret Diary of Jacinda Ardern 1News: Clare Curran’s resignation as Minister a ‘significant but necessary blow’ to Government Kerre McIvor (Herald): Clare Curran had to go but must own mistakes 1News: Clare Curran situation has ‘done real damage’ to Jacinda Ardern and Government’s credibility – Simon Bridges Herald: Clare Curran hits back at RNZ journalist on Twitter, then deletes account Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Clare Curran’s agonising downfall Audrey Young (Herald): The real reason Clare Curran resigned as a minister Mike Houlahan (ODT): Pressure sinks Curran No Right Turn: Good riddance David Farrar: Curran resigns 1News: ‘A tough one for her’ – Jacinda Ardern on Clare Curran’s resignation from ministerial portfolios after position became ‘untenable’ RNZ: PM: Clare Curran under ‘huge’ pressure Emma Hurley (Newshub): Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern accepts Clare Curran’s resignation as a Minister 1News: Watch: ‘I am… a human being’ – tired Clare Curran admits mistakes, speaks of personal toll after quitting as Minister Jo Moir (RNZ): Clare Curran’s resignation: ‘This pressure has become intolerable’ RNZ: Clare Curran: ‘I’ve made some mistakes’ Audrey Young (Herald): Clare Curran fronts following resignation Herald: ‘Unacceptable distraction’: Besieged Clare Curran quits as a minister Emma Hurley (Newshub): Clare Curran says her mistakes were ‘greatly amplified’ Talisa Kupenga (Māori TV): “Intolerable” pressure pushes Curran to resign as Minister 1News: As it happened: Clare Curran resigns, former 1 NEWS journalist Kris Faafoi named new Broadcasting Minister Lucy Bennett (Herald): Clare Curran’s short time as a Government minister Bryce Edwards: Top tweets about the resignation of Clare Curran Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Clare Curran’s resignation provides opportunity to change course Mke O’Donnell (Stuff): New CTO must have full support of industry Vaughn Davis (Stuff): Time for government to grow up on CTO idea John Anthony (Stuff): New broadcasting minister must negotiate ‘incredibly important’ and ‘delicate’ portfolio Government, Pacific Forum, Nauru Audrey Young (Herald): Jacinda Ardern was equally to blame for last week’s Coalition chaos Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Jacinda Ardern faces growing challenge of Winston Peters Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: Media go OTT on PM as RNZAF VIP Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Why it’s right to call out PM over Nauru flight of fancy Nick Perry (AP): Unwanted by Australia, refugees on Nauru have few options Herald: Stuck on a tiny Pacific island: Teen refugees taking desperate measures to get off Nauru Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Pacific needs hard hats, not silly shirts Colin Peacock (RNZ): Nauru squirms under the spotlight Maureen Dowd (New York Times): Lady of the Rings: Jacinda Rules Sophie Bateman (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern opens up about Nauru flight backlash in New York Times profile Debrin Foxcroft (Stuff): Global hype continues to paint Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as a cliche Herald: Police minister hits out at late airport staff following delays David Farrar: How the Meka inquiry should have happened Provincial Growth Fund Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Govt announces $152m investment for Gisborne area Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Shane Jones dishes out $152m in Tairāwhiti Emma Hurley and Anna Bracewell-Worrall (Newshub): East Coast gets $153m investment from Provincial Growth Fund Political finance Bryce Edwards (Herald): Political Roundup: Is the public being ripped off by politicians’ spending? Bill Ralston (LIstener): Politicians spend taxpayer dollars. Get over it Official Information Act Mitchell Alexander and Finn Hogan (Newshub): Ticked Off: The Official Information Act Eva Corlett (RNZ): Ombudsman tackling increase in complaints about OIA requests Parliament Phil Smith (RNZ): How to shout at MPs on TV: the rules of political scrums Tracy Watkins (Stuff): Below the beltway RNZ: Focus on Politics for 7 September 2018 (audio) Point of Order: So how did the politicians dish out our money this week? Let’s check it out… Stephanie Mitchell (Stuff): Social media can prove a minefield for politicians Alison Mau (Stuff): Politicians and social media: A very bad combo Daniela Maoate-Cox (RNZ): Crossing enemy lines for women’s representation Miranda Burdon (Herald): Kate Sheppard’s legacy still inspiring at 125th anniversary Morgan Godfery (Māui Street): Rino Tirikatene pulls one out of the bag Dominion Post Editorial: Fix the gap in our history by honouring Land Wars dead Peter de Graaf (Northern Advocate): Northland MP’s ‘coward’s punch’ Bill drawn from ballot Anna Whyte (1News): Proposed law aims to ‘focus on the lethal nature’ of coward punches – MP Foreign Affairs and trade Keith Locke (Spinoff): Why on earth is NZ sending a plane into the Kim-and-Trump tinderbox? Laura Walters (Newsroom): NZ sends troops to North Korea over sanction breaches RNZ: NZ airforce plane to join patrol near North Korea 1News: NZ, Australia deploy planes to Japan to help enforce UN sanctions against North Korea Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Was a Govt beset by problems given a sympathy ‘second chance’ on Salisbury statement? Stacey Kirk (Stuff): New Zealand joins UK condemnation of Russia in Salisbury chemical attack Victoria University: NZ’s trade opportunity with India Stephen Jacobi (Spinoff): Belt and Road doesn’t mean anything to most of us. Here’s why it really should Housing Thomas Coughlan (Newsroom): Comment: Our landed Parliament 1News: Thousands of new homes to be built in Auckland’s Mt Roskill as Government strives to tackle housing crisis Herald: Phil Twyford sets out plan for massive housing development in Auckland’s Mt Roskill Newshub: ‘Fantastic outcome’: Mt Roskill to get 10,000 new homes, Housing Minister reveals RNZ: Govt announces 10,000 new homes in Mt Roskill Herald: ASB drops minimum deposit to 5pc for KiwiBuild applicants Gareth Vaughan (Interest): ASB offering 95% mortgages for KiwiBuild homes ODT Editorial: Unrealistic expectations for landlords Dan Satherley (Newshub): Landlords should be banned from renting out bad homes – Greens Stuff: Greens want a mandatory rental WOF, but National says it will force people into sleeping in cars Newshub: Rental WOF could fix ‘power imbalance between tenants and landlords’ Catherine Harris (Stuff): Prefab housing ‘potential game-changer’ for KiwiBuild Tess Brunton (RNZ): Mum’s desperate solution to escape mouldy, rotting Dunedin home David Slack (Stuff): Mining the seam of self-interest Hannah McQueen (Stuff): When renting makes sense – living central Auckland life on south Auckland prices Justice, corrections, police Mei Heron (1News): Government under fire from National over $1.5 million bill for Justice Summit 1News: Simon Bridges criticises Labour for $800k over-budget Justice Summit he labels a ‘PR’ exercise RNZ: Criminal Justice Summit cost balloons out to $1.5m Blair Ensor (Stuff): Disgraced prison boss says dismissal unfair, plans legal action against Corrections Chester Borrows (Whanganui Chronicle): Destiny Church’s heady blend of bikies, bishop and bigotry Peter O’Connor (Newsroom): Why art shouldn’t just be a luxury in prison Laura Tupou (Newshub): ‘I’ve got people batting for me’: Life-long Kiwi criminal on what’s keeping him out of jail Mike Williams (Hawkes Bay Today): Mitchell’s ‘soft on crime’ message disgusting nonsense Edward Gay (RNZ): Prison guards acquitted of assaulting prisoner Isobel Ewing and Wilhelmina Shrimpton (Newshub): Auckland Prison guards found not guilty for role in inmate attack Imran Ali (Northern Advocate): Northland dairy owner threatens hunger strike over youth offending RNZ: Record number of Samoa police recruits sworn in Newshub: Police enthusiast’s replica cop car ordered off Auckland roads 1080 Northern Advocate: 1080 – Damned if you do and damned if you don’t Christine Rose (Daily Blog): Talking about 1080 & dispelling the ignorance of science Matthew Theunissen (RNZ): Brakes put on 1080 programme in Hunua Ranges Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Court delays Hunua 1080 poison drop Herald: Environment Court orders halt to Auckland Council’s 1080 drop in Hunua Ranges RNZ: Court delays 1080 drop in the Hunua Ranges 1News: DOC joins agencies in fight against ‘campaign of disinformation’ over 1080 Maddison Northcott and Christina Persico (Stuff): Protesters make a nationwide stand against 1080 Mānia Clarke (Māori TV): Nationwide silent hīkoi protests held against 108 Newshub: Ban 1080 protesters descend upon Parliament 1News: Sharp rise in threats to DOC as 1080 protesters hold demonstrations Newshub: 1080 protesters continue war for national ban despite public push-back George Block (ODT): Protesters decry use of 1080 Environment and conservation Jamie Morton (Herald): Three of four NZ fish ‘staring extinction in the face’ Rod Oram (Newsroom): Farmers can do much better Jo McKenzie-McLean (Stuff): Wanaka landowner ordered to remediate land after removing protected plants Richard Harman (Politik): National and the Greens get slightly closer together Dominic Harris (Stuff): Bottling company took 10 million litres of water illegally before being caught 1News: Christchurch-based water bottling company snapped illegally taking over 10 million litres from an aquifer Bryan Gould: Who do you trust on climate change? Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Waimea Dam investor that revived project remains a mystery Tracy Neal (RNZ): DOC to manage tourist numbers and cut aircraft noise at parks 1News: Big changes proposed to manage Aoraki Mt Cook National Park’s visitor influx Juliet Speedy (Newshub): Drastic changes proposed for Mt Cook visitors Stacey Bryan (RNZ): Push to cut copper brakes from mainstream use over pollutants Lana Hart (Herald on Sunday): Straw ban: How did it all go so very wrong for straws? Laine Moger (Manukau Courier): Plastic bag ban could create hardship for south Auckland businesses, consumers Financial sector Liam Dann (Herald): What the Lehman Bros crash cost us socially Brian Gaynor (Herald): Who are the real Bonus Bonds winners? Tamsyn Parker (Herald): KiwiSaver funds should be investing more in NZ companies: Grant Robertson John Berry (Stuff): Future murky for KiwiSaver predictions Business, Budget, economy Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Does business confidence foretell a slowdown, or mark a corporate conspiracy Hamish Rutherford (Stuff): Should we care that business confidence is so low Dennis Maga (Stuff): Where’s the Workers Advisory Council? Cameron Bagrie (Herald): Public sector pay the Government’s ‘canary in the coal mine’ Rebecca Stevenson (Stuff): Can Bridges pull off the ultimate confidence trick? Chris Trotter: Bridges’ Message To SMEs Should Be: “Survive Or Die.” Dene Mackenzie (ODT): Small business owners having their say Dene Mackenzie (ODT): Spending, job ads buck confidence trend John McCrone (Press): Reasons to worry about another GFC … and where NZ stands in the global economic order Paul Drum (Herald): What the tax working group has in store for business Interest: Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr on where the global economy has come from, where it’s going, and why there’s a need for longer-term thinking Sophie Boot (BusinessDesk): Adrian Orr’s plea to quit short-term thinking 1News: ‘They’re starting from well behind the startline’ – New crowdfunding platform aims to help Māori grow business Education John Gerritsen (RNZ): Schools use students and admin staff to facilitate classes – PPTA Josephine Franks (Stuff): School a ‘babysitting service’ because of lack of relief teachers, principals say RNZ: Bill requiring primary schools to teach second language drawn from ballot Herald: Primary school principals showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder Zane Small (Newshub): One in three school principals show signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – survey Alex Baird (Newshub): Tauranga primary school educating high need pupils is crippled by debt Rob Stock (Stuff): Teenagers love tax, and other surprises from school money lessons Māori TV): Rangatahi share their stories: Part Four 1News: ‘Signs out, cross now’ – thousands of Kiwi kids help celebrate nearly 90 years of school road patrol Herald: Auckland high school cuts toilet breaks during class time Herld: Pay rise means three jobs down to one Eva Corlett (RNZ): Students have 30 days to save Elam’s Huia house Health and disability Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): ‘No reason why NZ women shouldn’t expect the same quality of life’ – Aus Oncologist Ruth Hill (RNZ): New Zealand falling behind in breast cancer treatment – report Ruby MacAndrew (Stuff): Kiwis dying from stage 4 breast cancer twice as fast as those in similar countries Laura Tupou (Newshub): Breast cancer sufferers dying twice as fast in NZ Megan Sutherland (Newshub): Women in New Zealand die twice as fast of breast cancer than in some other countries 1News: People with advanced breast cancer treated like second-class citizens, breast cancer coalition group says 1News: Ambulance services call for more Government funding for proactive approach to health Laurel Stowell (Whanganui Chronicle): Ohakea residents have blood tested for PFAS compounds Karen Brown (RNZ): Insight: Nurses pay and staffing deal – hospital crisis averted? Oliver Lewis (Stuff): Aged care sector warns ‘we’re now at crisis’ as nurses leave for DHBs RNZ: Pacific the solution for aged care in Australia and NZ – World Bank Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Earned $325 – billed $365 by ACC Laine Moger (Stuff): Privacy commissioner warns against ‘alarmist comments’ that cause anxiety for patients Mike Wesley-Smith and Finn Hogan (Newshub): Govt claims National quietly gutted disability sector Andre Chumko (Stuff): Cannabis oil could help prevent sick girl have seizures, but Pharmac doesn’t fund it Andrew Bydder (Waikato Times): DHB staff need to be accountable RNZ: Group seeks to avoid labour delays at Dunedin hospital build Dan Satherley (Newshub): Vest cameras not a response to increased violence – DHB Bruce Munro (ODT): Going viral Zane Small (Newshub): Disability advocate Esther Woodbury condemns sale of disabled parking permits Mental health, suicide Chris Reed (Herald): NZ’s record high suicide numbers prove need for action, says health minister Herald: World Suicide Prevention Day: Everyday Kiwis reveal their stories of hope and survival Newshub: World Suicide Prevention Day: Call for regular mental health check-ups James Croot (Stuff): Greg Boyed: Why we need to talk about depression Mere McLean (Māori TV): Youth worker encourages more talk around suicide Isaac Davison (Herald):‘If you’re worried about somebody, don’t leave them alone’ – Taranaki shearer John Herlihy Domestic violence Bess Manson (Stuff) Victims of partner violence see death as an escape: report Anna Marie May (RNZ): Study reveals link between domestic violence and suicide attempts Child abuse in the church Chris Morris (ODT): What victims want most: justice Adam Dodds (ODT): Confession, not denial, the way to address wrongdoing Tom O’Connor (Waikato Times): Church must be subject to law of the land Te Reo Māori Dan Satherley (Newshub): Māori a ‘core subject’ by 2025 – but still not compulsory Henry Cooke (Stuff): Green Party starts new push for compulsory te reo Herald: Greens push for compulsory te reo Māori in schools by 2025 Carmen Parahi (Stuff): Why the Government could face legal challenges over te reo Māori RNZ: Watch: Dame Naida Glavish on Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori Ngahiwi Apanui (Stuff): What’s the point in learning te reo Māori, a language spoken only in New Zealand? Matt Rilkoff (Taranaki Daily News): Editorial: Understanding the value of te reo Māori key for language to flourish Mānia Clarke (Māori TV): Te Ataarangi to empower te reo Māori in region Regan Paranihi (Māori TV): Awanuiārangi to launch te reo strategy RNZ: Call for broadcasters to be censured if they butcher Māori words Whanganui Chronicle: Chronicle puts the ‘H’ in Whanganui in time for Māori Language Week Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Mixed emotions as newspaper adopts Māori spelling Patrick Crewdson (Stuff): Why Stuff has become Puna for Māori Language Week Philip Matthews (Press): The borrowers: Why you are speaking more Māori than you think Thomas Manch (Stuff): New Zealand Fire Service to overhaul firetrucks with te reo Māori Michael Neilson (Herald): Learning te reo is a challenge worth taking Michael Neilson (Herald): So you want to learn te reo Māori? A fluent Pākehā shares his inspiring journey Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Tourism is embracing te reo and visitors love it Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Kaua e pukuriri ki te reo – don’t be angry at the language Deena Coster (Stuff): Māori Language Week 2018: Taking on the wero of learning te reo in adulthood Chelsea Manning Newshub: ‘An Evening with Chelsea Manning’ leaves audience frustrated Laura Tupou (Newsroom): Chelsea Manning’s audience deserved better Simon Wilson (Herald): Battle-weary, Chelsea Manning soldiers on Damien Grant (Stuff): Chelsea Manning is on the right side of history John Roughan (Herald): Disgust has not stopped Chelsea Manning speaking here 1News: Chelsea Manning lands in NZ declaring Donald Trump ‘not unusual in American politics’ Newshub: Chelsea Manning touches down in Auckland Racing industry ODT Editorial: Racing industry’s integrity at stake RNZ: Another arrest in race-fixing investigation Herald: Police make another arrest into harness racing investigation, taking the number to 11 Primary industries and animal welfare Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Care of meat chickens must improve: SPCA 1News: Increase in animal abuse complaints due to vigilant Kiwis reporting unacceptable behaviour – SPCA Farah Hancock (Newsroom): A billion trees and a trillion weeds Katy Jones (Nelson Mail): Fears forestry slash poses a ‘catastrophic’ risk to residents along the Maitai River Sally Rae (ODT): Annual results will put Fonterra under microscope Jamie Gray (Herald): Fonterra set for big fall in annual earnings as margin pressure bites Defence Jane Patterson (RNZ): Cabinet to decide soon whether Iraq deployment should continue Kirsty Lawrence (Stuff): Retiring Defence chief says allegations of ‘SAS murders’ in Afghanistan were upsetting to children of serving soldier Andrew McRae (RNZ): NZ’s Vietnam vets shirk support due to stigma – advocates Local government Dominic Harris (Press): Political group puts stake in ground to keep asset sales on the table Rob Stock (Stuff): ‘Mischievous’ data dump reveals 4850 local council employees earn more than $100,000 ODT Editorial: Councils disconnecting with public Charlie Dreaver (RNZ): Huge costs loom for councils as sea levels rise Liu Chen and Todd Niall (Stuff): Chinese voters call for more Howick by-election information in their language Māori TV: Desecration of son’s grave leaves family devastated Transport, petrol prices and road safety Zane Small (Newshub): Government’s belief it can control petrol prices ‘political puffery’ – Road Transport Forum chief Juliet Speedy (Newshub): Calls for Government to incentivise owning electric cars Eva Corlett (RNZ): Electric cars’ use of priority lanes ditched Ben Strang (RNZ): Wellington bus network has become a joke – Labour MP RNZ: Police to target sections of state highways to prevent crashes Matt Rilkoff (Taranaki Daily News): Dying to get there: The avoidable deaths we must start avoiding Leighton Keith (Stuff): Dying to get there: The sister Leighton Keith (Stuff): Dying to get there: The dad who nearly lost a daughter Leighton Keith (Stuff): Dying to get there: Russian Roulette on Raleigh St Leighton Keith (Stuff): Dying to get there: The mayor who wants action Leighton Keith (Stuff): Dying to get there: The cop Leighton Keith (Stuff): Dying to get there: A solution in sight for a notoriously dangerous section of SH3 Heritage, history Patrick Gower (Newshub): Make Tītokowaru a New Zealand hero Māori TV: Te Kooti – Villian of Hero? Ross Meurant: Red Squad Revisited Richard Swainson (Waikato Times): There’s still power in the press Elton Rikihana Smallman and Aaron Leaman (Stuff): Captain Hamilton statue a ‘ratepayer liability’, mayor says James Croot (Stuff): Academic tells Sam Neill Māori not exploited in early European encounters Fire Service Jonathan MIlne (Stuff): We don’t need rah-rah or jingoism – just simple respect for returning heroes Katie Doyle (RNZ): NZ firefighters return home after battling California blazes Alice Wilkins (Newshub): Kiwi firefighters who helped battle US blazes return home 1News: Inspirational volunteer firefighter, 68, proves it’s never too late to give back to the community Other Michael Morrah (Newshub): Company director who underpaid staff is approved as an immigration adviser Michael Hayward (Stuff): EQC settles nearly half its Christchurch quake claims, but almost as many new ones filed Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: Time to cut the cord with the tech titans? Leith Huffadine (Stuff): ‘Five Eyes’ spy network and access to your private data: What it means for you Shamubeel Eaqub (Stuff): The downside of too many tourists loving New Zealand Laura Walters (Newsroom): Who is winning the war on synthetics? Marta Steeman (Stuff): Property owners’ rights are at risk under proposed changes to building law, surveyors warn Cathy Murphy (Herald): Sexism in the law – a note to my younger self Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Conference numbers drop when we’re building big new convention centres Māori TV: Fraudster a family friend to CEO of Waitangi National Trust Kennedy Warne (E-Tangata): Tāmati Kruger: Down that way, glory waits Lloyd Ashton (E-Tangata): Tiki Raumati’s challenge for us Rukuwai Tipene-Allen (Māori TV): Whānau want name change for Tau Henare Marae Adam Dudding (Stuff): National Portrait: Dame Anne Salmond – walking between two worlds Mary-Jo Tohill (Southland Times): Submissions on Clutha Licensing Trust pub sale close today Kirsty Wynn (Herald): Overseas buyer withdraws bid for $20m+ waterfront estate Matt Heath (Herald): New Zealand is open for the apocalypse Tom Dillane (Herald): ‘Very little’ training put into Auckland corporate boxer KO’d after 8 sec Tamsyn Parker (Herald): Mind the gap: Money hurdles for women remain Virginia Larson (North & South): Hey girls, are we there yet? The long wait for equality for women Todd Niall (Stuff): Long-time activist Penny Bright in battle mode with ‘days to live’]]>

A new way to recognise an Indigenous nation in Australia

By The Conversation -

September 10, 2018

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The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Breen, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Melbourne

After years of debate, the process for achieving constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians has reached a crossroads. More than a year has gone by since the Uluru Statement from the Heart, when Indigenous peoples rejected symbolic constitutional reform and asked for more practical changes.

Instead of looking at selected components of the Uluru Statement as a solution, there’s another way forward.

We should examine our existing political system and ask how it can be adapted to meet the aspirations of Indigenous peoples while remaining true to the principles that underpin our constitutional democracy.

In other words, we should look to federalism.

What is a federal model?

Federalism aims to bring disparate entities or groups together through a system of shared-rule in a central or national government and self-rule in a state or region.

Federal systems are usually set up on a territorial basis with two tiers of governments, such as the Commonwealth government and state governments in Australia. Each government exercises self-rule with its own legislative and executive powers and has a direct relationship with the people through elections.

However, there are many different versions. Belgium, for instance, has a type of cultural federalism that isn’t defined by just territorial divisions. Membership of a cultural community is defined according to who you are (in Belgium’s case, what language you speak), rather than where you live.

In this type of federal system, cultural communities have power over language, education and other cultural matters, while regional governments take responsibility for land-based issues, such as infrastructure and the environment.

This approach to cultural autonomy is used in other countries, too. In Estonia, for example, a national cultural autonomy law has been enacted that allows any ethnic group of at least 3,000 people to establish a separate legal identity, levy taxes and take responsibility for education, cultural institutions and youth affairs.

In Scandinavia, separate parliaments have also been established for the Indigenous Sámi population. Norway’s Sámi parliament also doubles as an executive branch of government. It was originally a consultative body, but now has power over most measures to promote Sámi culture and oversees compliance with other relevant administrative orders.

The US and Canada, too, have applied this principle in their Indigenous land settlements and treaties. In this system, sometimes known as “treaty federalism”, rights and benefits are based on membership of a group, not just residence.

Importantly, these agreements recognise a mixture of territorial and non-territorial rights. For example, the Nisga’a Treaty signed by the Nisga’a Nation, the British Columbia government and the Canadian government grants the Nisga’a people authority over education, taxation and environmental protection on their defined lands, as well as control over citizenship and social services for members living both on and off Nisga’a lands.

This is precisely what makes federalism for Indigenous Australians viable and worthy of exploration as an option for reform.

What an Indigenous nation would look like

The government-appointed panel on constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians considered allocating seats in parliament to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but didn’t explore the idea of federalism itself.

Tasmanian Indigenous activist Michael Mansell has called for the establishment of a seventh state comprising Aboriginal lands across Australia. This could be done through legislation, as the constitution permits the parliament to establish new states or territories.

An alternative approach is to follow the non-territorial, cultural model used in Belgium, while at the same time recognising Indigenous rights over traditional lands, such as in the US and Canada.

In this model, an Indigenous “nation” or “nations” would be:

a constituent unit(s) of Australia, equal in status to the states and the Commonwealth
represented (have a voice) in the upper house of parliament
have constitutionally defined executive and legislative powers
have representation on the Council of Australian Governments

Further, an Indigenous nation would be recognised as a sovereign entity within Australia because of its status as a federal unit with powers of self-government.

These powers may be best negotiated in a treaty and could include the responsibility for making laws, delivering services and ensuring compliance on matters like health and education, native title lands and taxation.

Federalism would therefore go quite some way to delivering on three of the four key elements of the Uluru Statement – providing Indigenous peoples with a voice, driving an agreement-making process (a treaty) and recognising sovereignty.

And if an Indigenous nation agreed to unite with Australia’s states “in one dissoluble Federal Constitution”, this could finally give our constitution legitimacy.

Logical next step

Such an approach may seem impractical, but all the elements already exist or are in the works in Australia.

Native title settlements, for all their shortcomings, recognise distinct groups, define membership in those groups, establish rights over areas of land and allow for government-to-government relationships.

Numerous Indigenous nations, such as the Ngarrindjeri in South Australia and the Gunditjmara in Victoria already have in place the equivalent of legislatures and executive branches that are legally recognised. Federalism is the logical next step.

Further, federalism does not mean that Indigenous peoples would have an extra vote. Like the Máori in New Zealand, Australian Indigenous peoples could choose to vote in an Indigenous electorate or a general electorate.

Self-determination has been the one proven approach to addressing Indigenous disadvantage in other parts of the world. It’s time we realise that federalism is the political structure best suited to delivering this in the Australian context.

– A new way to recognise an Indigenous nation in Australia
– http://theconversation.com/a-new-way-to-recognise-an-indigenous-nation-in-australia-101189]]>

Lack of technical knowledge in leadership is a key reason why so many IT projects fail

By The Conversation -

September 10, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darryl Carlton, Industry Fellow, Swinburne University of Technology

Implementing information technology projects in the public sector is challenging. And we seem to experience these challenges with a regularity that is both perplexing and frustrating. Think #censusfail, the myki smartcard fiasco and the Queensland Health payroll debacle, to name just a few.

Indeed, the failure rates of large-scale IT projects are unreasonably high across both the public and private sectors, with costs of failure reported in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Researchers have been studying the causes of this kind of failure for decades – yet this appears to have had no impact on the problems organisations face when they undertake large-scale IT projects.

Only a few of these studies have considered the role played by the technical knowledge of project leaders. With colleagues, my own research finds the technical knowledge of leadership plays a key role.

Understanding the advice being given

We examined previous research alongside a case study of a large-scale public sector IT project failure. Reports on the project and documents obtained through freedom of information requests created a rich pool of data that allowed us to examine the life of the project as it unfolded over many years.

One of our main findings was underpinned by the idea that leaders require more than a passing familiarity with the technical skills required to do the job if they are to identify competence in those carrying out the work. Without this, the projects have a poor chance of success.

Technological competence needs to be specific, not generalised. The most senior executive with day-to-day accountability for the project, and who has a direct and material impact on project outcomes, must have experience with, and knowledge of, the technology being developed.

An inexperienced project leader will be incapable of comprehending the advice being provided if they lack the specific experience in the technical domain being managed. That means that it’s not sufficient to surround an inexperienced manager with experts upon whom they would theoretically turn to for advice.

The research and the case study demonstrate that an inexperienced senior executive defers to inappropriate sources for advice and support, choosing not to trust the advice of their internal experts. Instead, they are apt to treat technical disagreements as personality conflicts, and characterise critiques of the vendors’ performance as interference.

Technical skills on Australian boards

Australian public companies are investing in very large information systems projects and many of these are at risk. When these projects fail it can have a direct material impact on a company and its share price. And when projects are delivered with less than the required functionality, or at an inflated price, they negatively impact upon the performance and effectiveness of those businesses.

Effective oversight requires competence and experience. This means that the boards need some measure of IT knowledge if they expect to provide effective governance, risk management and strategic oversight of IT projects.

We have analysed Australian Stock Exchange publicly available information on the qualifications and experience of Australian directors in order to gain some insight into the digital competence of Australian boards.

After examining 35,000 director positions, with 37,500 reported qualifications, we found that just 6% of directors had qualifications in a STEM-related field, or possessed a PhD.

Most directors have qualifications in finance (18%) or accounting (19%). Lawyers figure strongly on boards with 9% representation, while mining qualifications count for 8% of board membership. Those with arts, business or other qualifications accounted for 40%.

The current composition of Australian boards of directors is heavily weighted towards finance, accounting and legal. While this background is not particularly surprising, it means that the accumulated knowledge and experience of Australian boards is not adequate to provide effective governance and oversight when it comes to the significant challenge of IT projects.

Focus on the problem, not the symptoms

Lots of factors contribute to the success of information systems projects: support from senior management; clear and realistic goals; a strong, detailed plan that’s kept up to date; good communication and feedback; the involvement of both clients and users; suitably qualified and sufficient resources; and effective change management.

But the absence of some or all of these factors are not a cause of project failure. Rather they are consequences of a poorly run project due to the situational incompetence of project leaders who have direct oversight and accountability for the day-to-day workings of the project.

– Lack of technical knowledge in leadership is a key reason why so many IT projects fail
– http://theconversation.com/lack-of-technical-knowledge-in-leadership-is-a-key-reason-why-so-many-it-projects-fail-101889]]>

Health Check: what happens when you hold in a fart?

By The Conversation -

September 10, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle

Ever been in a situation where passing wind is going to be hugely embarrassing and you’ve had to hold in a fart? Let’s face it – we all have.

Trying to hold it in leads to a build up of pressure and major discomfort. A build up of intestinal gas can trigger abdominal distension, with some gas reabsorbed into the circulation and exhaled in your breath. Holding on too long means the build up of intestinal gas will eventually escape via an uncontrollable fart.

The research is not clear on whether the rise in pressure in your rectum increases your chance of developing a condition called diverticulitis, where small pouches develop in the gut lining and become inflamed – or whether it doesn’t matter at all.

What is flatus?

Flatus, farts and breaking wind refer to intestinal gases that enter the rectum due to the body’s usual gastrointestinal processes of digestion and metabolism and then leave via the anus.

As your body digests food in the small intestine, components that can’t be broken down move further along the gastrointestinal track and eventually into the large intestine called the colon.

Intestinal bacteria break down some of the contents by fermentation. This process produces gases and by products called fatty acids that are reabsorbed and used in metabolic pathways related to immunity and preventing disease development.

Gases can either be reabsorbed through the gut wall into the circulation and eventually exhaled through the lungs or excreted via the rectum, as a fart.

How much flatus is normal?

It can be challenging for researchers to get people to sign up for experiments that measure farts. But thankfully, ten healthy adults volunteered to have the amount of gas they passed over a day quantified.

In a 24-hour period all the flatus they expelled was collected via a rectal catheter (ouch). They ate normally but to ensure a boost in gas production they also had to eat 200 grams (half a large can) of baked beans.

The participants produced a median total volume of 705ml of gas in 24 hours, but it ranged from 476ml to 1,490ml per person. Hydrogen gas was produced in the greatest volume (361ml over 24 hours), followed by carbon dioxide (68ml/24 hr). Only three adults produced methane, which ranged from 3ml/24 to 120ml/24 hr. The remaining gases, thought to mostly be nitrogen, contributed about 213ml/24 hr.

Men and women produced about the same amount of gas and averaged eight flatus episodes (individual or a series of farts) over 24 hours. The volume varied between 33 and 125 ml per fart, with bigger amounts of intestinal gas released in the hour after meals.

Gas was also produced while they were asleep, but at half the rate compared to during the day (median 16ml/hr vs 34ml/hr).

Fibre and flatus

In a study on dietary fibre and flatus, researches investigated what happens to intestinal gas production when you put people on a high-fibre diet.

The researchers got ten healthy adult volunteers to eat their usual diet for seven days while consuming 30 grams of psyllium a day as a source of soluble fibre, or not. In the psyllium week, they were asked to add 10 grams – about one heaped tablespoon – to each meal.

Not the best choice if you’ve been holding on. By GoodStudio

At the end of each week, the participants were brought into the lab and, in a carefully controlled experiment, had an intra-rectal catheter inserted to quantify how gas (in terms of gas volume, pressure and number) moved through the intestine over a couple of hours.

They found the high psyllium-fibre diet led to longer initial retention of gas, but the volume stayed the same, meaning fewer but bigger farts.

Where do the gases come from?

Gas in the intestines comes from different sources. It can be from swallowing air. Or from carbon dioxide produced when stomach acid mixes with bicarbonate in the small intestine. Or gasses can be produced by bacteria that are located in the large intestine.

While these gases are thought to perform specific tasks that impact on health, producing excessive intestinal gas can cause bloating, pain, borborygmus (which means rumbling sounds), belching and lots of farts.

The smelliest farts are due to sulphur containing gases. This was confirmed in a study of 16 healthy adults who were fed pinto beans and lactulose, a non-absorbable carbohydrate that gets fermented in the colon. The odour intensity of flatus samples was evaluated by two judges (pity them).

The good news was that in a follow-up experiment, the researchers identified that a charcoal-lined cushion was able to help quash the smell of the sulphur gases.

Finally, some bad news for jet-setters: pressurised cabins on aeroplanes mean you’re more likely to pass flatus due to the gas volume expanding at the lower cabin pressure, compared to being on the ground. With modern noise-reduction features, your fellow passengers are more likely than they used to be to hear you fart.

What should you do?

The next time you feel a large volume of intestinal gas getting ready to do what it does, try to move to a more convenient location. Whether you make it there or not, the best thing for your digestive health is to just let it go.

For some creative ideas (and a chuckle) on how to hold in a fart, check this Wiki How to do anything.

Step 1: Clench your butt-cheeks. Screen shot from wikihow.com

– Health Check: what happens when you hold in a fart?
– http://theconversation.com/health-check-what-happens-when-you-hold-in-a-fart-98310]]>

Can you tell fact from fiction in the news? Most students can’t

By The Conversation -

September 10, 2018

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The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathleen Williams, Head of Journalism, Media and Communications, University of Tasmania

Have you clicked through to this article from your news feed? Are you checking it on your phone? More of us are consuming news online, and increasingly we’re turning to social media for news. Social media platforms are now the main source of news for Australians aged 18 to 24.

The Digital News Report: Australia 2018 shows while Australians’ trust in the media has risen overall, when it comes to online news, 65% of Australians are still concerned about what’s real and what isn’t.

Less than one-quarter of those surveyed said they trusted social media as a source of news. A Roy Morgan poll also found nearly half of young Australians (47%) distrust social media.

Despite the issues with trust, news media is a critical part of keeping up to date and informed for most Australians – particularly young people. It’s crucial we better empower young people to understand our ever-shifting media landscape. This is central to the health of our democracy.

Australia needs dedicated media literacy curricula

Recent studies show young Australians are not confident about spotting false news online. We surveyed 97 primary and secondary school teachers across Catholic, independent and state schools in Tasmania about how they understand the role of contemporary media in the classroom and the challenges they face.

Some 77% of teachers surveyed said they felt equipped to guide students on whether news stories were true and could be trusted, but nearly one-quarter say they couldn’t. Overwhelmingly, teachers viewed critical thinking about media as important, but nearly one-quarter said they rarely turned it into a classroom activity.

Young Australians are not confident in spotting false news. www.shutterstock.com

The data from this research identifies the need for more dedicated curricula, professional development and resources to boost critical thinking about media, in and beyond the classroom. In 2017, just one in five young people said they’d received lessons at school in the past year to help them work out if news stories were true and could be trusted.

Why the mistrust of the media?

Many teachers, particularly those at the secondary level, are deeply worried about students’ reliance on digital and mobile media for news.

The concerns about editorial independence and editorial quality raised by Nine Entertainment’s takeover of Fairfax Media has added to the complexity at national and local levels. There are concerns about the implications for investigative journalism and the future of 160 community, regional, rural and suburban publications in Australia and New Zealand. These concerns centre around a potential lack of media diversity in regional and local areas.

Data from more than 50 million Facebook users was harvested without their consent or knowledge. There are also growing fears about where artificial intelligence on our social networks will take us next. Our verification skills are being constantly tested by new video and audio trickery.

Hint: it’s not Obama, it’s a trick using artificial intelligence!

Given the complexity of misinformation and low levels of public trust, we need to to equip people of all ages to navigate the news. To design better ways of helping all citizens, media organisations, academics and educators need to collaborate more deeply on the issue.

Teachers need better resources

The teachers in our survey were predominantly aged over 35 and tended to trust traditional media such as the ABC, local newspapers, TV and radio.

Teachers report a lack of contemporary teaching resources at their disposal to adequately transform ideas about media literacy into tangible, practical activities. This hinders their ability to truly incorporate media literacy into the classroom. They’re also concerned about students’ increasing reliance on social media to access information.

Teachers need more resources to instruct students how to identify false news. www.shutterstock.com

There appears to be a growing divergence between the practices of teachers and the young people they guide. It’s critical to address how we mediate the gap between the media consumption practices of teachers and young people to ensure a common ground on which to build. Children, teenagers and teachers deserve creative and engaging ways of sifting fact from fiction, with more practical support from their schools and community.

Resources that could be provided in classrooms to boost media literacy include:

age-specific, engaging videos about understanding and making news
interactive quizzes that include fact and source-checking games
current, relevant media news with examples of misinformation with tips for classroom use.

These could give young people insight into the mechanisms of media production, while empowering them to make decisions about what they consume outside the classroom. While resources such as these would be useful for teachers and students, teachers have pointed to the need for in-person and virtual professional development sessions to provide them with strategies and resources for teaching media literacy.

What media and social media organisations can do

As social media is central to how people access news, transparency from platforms and newsrooms is an important way to build trust (or in Facebook’s case, attempt to claw it back). As well as Facebook and Twitter supporting academic research, Facebook recently lifted the veil of secrecy on its news feed algorithm and how its engineering and product teams are tackling the complexity of fighting false news.

But the need for transparency doesn’t stop with international platforms. Australian journalists, while serving as honest and reliable distributors of news, need to become more involved with new ways of helping citizens develop the necessary skills to identify quality information. The emergence of fact-check outlets such as The Conversation and RMIT-ABC Factcheck are a step in the right direction.

One way to broaden the conversation about media literacy is for news outlets to think about building transparency of practice. The Australian’s Behind the Media podcast and ABC Backstory rise to this challenge by providing insight into the journalistic process. Demystifying the process can lead to greater insight into how to check sources and information, which are good skills for all ages.

The concept of media literacy is being approached in new ways at the school level, in the journalism industry and in the community. It’s increasingly viewed by researchers to be one of the best weapons against false news, which in turn provides knowledgeable citizens with a toolkit to bypass incorrect or misleading content.

This article is based on a national conference hosted by the ABC and the University of Tasmania. Navigating the News focuses on transparency and trust in news and media literacy and involves media, academia, educators and youth. You can watch segments from the conference on iView.

– Can you tell fact from fiction in the news? Most students can’t
– http://theconversation.com/can-you-tell-fact-from-fiction-in-the-news-most-students-cant-102580]]>

What Nestlé’s attempt to trademark the shape of a KitKat teaches us about design

By The Conversation -

September 10, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Lee, Lecturer, Faculty of Design and Architecture Building, University of Technology Sydney

For many people there is something irresistible about chocolate. But in the hungry rush to make it part of our bodies there is a missed opportunity to meditate on the different gestural experiences chocolate affords.

We take it for granted that chocolate commonly comes to us in bars – that stereotypical industrial form. But prior to the colonial project and the industrial revolution, the idea of eating chocolate in a bar would have seemed like a radical idea. In Mayan and Aztec cultures, where chocolate was part of the culture for a much longer time, it was consumed in liquid form.

In addition to being pleasurable to eat, chocolate bars are designed to be handled in particular ways. Take the KitKat for example, which has been the focus of a recent trademark protections lawsuit. What do you do with a KitKat before you eat it?

You know the slogan: “Have a break, have a Kitkat.” KitKats are made for breaking. They are not unique in this sense. Cadbury Dairy Milk, Galaxy, Hersheys, Green & Black’s and Toblerone all feature bars with individual little segments that make them easier to break.

But KitKat, as its trademarked slogan testifies, and to a lesser extent Toblerone, have really made a thing of the break – and the poetic possibilities it has in the broader experience of the chocolate.

A Toblerone commercial.

Certain shapes invite particular actions

In 2002, Nestlé applied in the European Union to protect the the four-finger shape associated with KitKat. In July, it lost the case on the basis that consumers don’t primarily rely on this element to distinguish KitKat from other products.

The judge argued that the logo used on the packaging and imprinted on the chocolate were more prominent indicators.

Commentary on the case so far has emphasised the difficulty of protecting shapes under trademark, and the extent to which the form of the chocolate or the symbolic elements are more direct identifying markers.

But something is missed when interpreting a product as either form or as symbol. The experience of a product is also significantly informed by the way specific shapes or forms constrain and invite certain actions.

The concept of “affordances” is used by product designers to capture this sense that an object seems to call for certain kinds of use.

Affordances are the action potentials of different forms: a chair affords sitting, standing, and sometimes stacking. A handle affords holding, a button pressing, and so on.

The concept is meant to be a happy compromise between deterministic notions of form and function, which emphasise the power of objects or technology over human action, and social constructionist approaches, which emphasise the influence of specific histories, socio-cultural factors and differing human abilities.

Designing chocolate

Chocolate bars are mass produced with the help of moulds into which the warm liquid chocolate is poured, and then left to cool and later packed. These moulds are manufactured according to very precise information such as the dimensions of the bar and its surface texture, which is derived from the design of the chocolate bar.

Kit Kat being packed in factory (1940-1950s). Nestlé, CC BY-NC-ND

Designers will consider many aspects ranging from the obvious, such as the overall shape and desired surface texture, to more subtle aspects, such as the manual interaction of breaking off a segment.

The affordance of notches and grooves is derived from the widely shared understanding that if something is considerably thinner in one place than another, it is more likely to break at the thinner place. Chocolate bar manufacturers have been using this affordance for over a century.

But the designers at KitKat and Tobelerone have taken this one step further. They’ve been attempting to allow their chocolate bars to speak to consumers through the affordance of breaking.

KitKat commercial 1988.

There is a multitude of material available online aimed at constructing the relationship between form, affordance, and perhaps most importantly, the experience of eating these chocolates.

The ambiguous role of affordances with regard to trademark law is in tension with the important role they can play in articulating brand identity and the experience of a product. Much blood is spilt in court as a result.

The meaning of a brand

But none of this is to say KitKat should have won the case. The popular Norwegian chocolate Kvikk Lunsj (Norwegian for “Quick Lunch”) is almost exactly the same shape.

Interestingly, while the breaking affordance is present in some of their advertising, they don’t make use of it in their branding, preferring the slogan “Tursjokoladen” – which means “the hiking or trekking chocolate”.

The lesson here is that while important, affordances aren’t necessarily the primary determinants of meaning in the experience of a brand. They can be amplified, distorted and muted to varying degrees when combined with other media.

Nonetheless, there’s a gaping hole in the vocabulary if concepts like affordances, which emphasise the dynamic interaction between objects and action, are missing from discussions about what products mean.

– What Nestlé’s attempt to trademark the shape of a KitKat teaches us about design
– http://theconversation.com/what-nestles-attempt-to-trademark-the-shape-of-a-kitkat-teaches-us-about-design-102487]]>

Five types of food to increase your psychological well-being

By The Conversation -

September 10, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan Lee, Academic Tutor and Lecturer, Southern Cross University

We all know eating “healthy” food is good for our physical health and can decrease our risk of developing diabetes, cancer, obesity and heart disease. What is not as well known is that eating healthy food is also good for our mental health and can decrease our risk of depression and anxiety.

Mental health disorders are increasing at an alarming rate and therapies and medications cost $US2.5 trillion dollars a year globally.

There is now evidence dietary changes can decrease the development of mental health issues and alleviate this growing burden. Australia’s clinical guidelines recommend addressing diet when treating depression.

Recently there have been major advances addressing the influence certain foods have on psychological well-being. Increasing these nutrients could not only increase personal well-being but could also decrease the cost of mental health issues all around the world.

1. Complex carbohydrates

One way to increase psychological well-being is by fuelling brain cells correctly through the carbohydrates in our food. Complex carbohydrates are sugars made up of large molecules contained within fibre and starch. They are found in fruit, vegetables, and wholegrains and are beneficial for brain health as they release glucose slowly into our system. This helps stabilise our mood.

Simple carbohydrates found in sugary snacks and drinks create sugar highs and lows that rapidly increase and decrease feelings of happiness and produce a negative effect on our psychological well-being.

We often use these types of sugary foods to comfort us when we’re feeling down. But this can create an addiction-like response in the brain, similar to illicit drugs that increase mood for the short term but have negative long-term effects.

Increasing intake of complex carbohydrates and decreasing sugary drinks and snacks could be the first step in increased happiness and well-being.

Avoiding sugar highs and lows stabilises our mood. from shutterstock.com.au

2. Antioxidants

Oxidation is a normal process our cells carry out to function. Oxidation produces energy for our body and brain. Unfortunately, this process also creates oxidative stress and more of this happens in the brain than any other part of the body.

Chemicals that promote happiness in the brain such as dopamine and serotonin are reduced due to oxidation and this can contribute to a decrease in mental health. Antioxidants found in brightly coloured foods such as fruit and vegetables act as a defence against oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain and body.

Antioxidants also repair oxidative damage and scavenge free radicals that cause cell damage in the brain. Eating more antioxidant-rich foods can increase the feel-good chemicals in our brain and heighten mood.

Antioxidants can help restore the happy chemicals in the brain. www.shutterstock.com.au

3. Omega 3

Omega 3 are polyunsaturated fatty acids that are involved in the process of converting food into energy. They are important for the health of the brain and the communication of its feel-good chemicals dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine.

Omega 3 fatty acids are commonly found in oily fish, nuts, seeds, leafy vegetables, eggs, and in grass fed meats. Omega 3 has been found to increase brain functioning, can slow down the progression of dementia and may improve symptoms of depression.

Omega 3 are essential nutrients that are not readily produced by the body and can only be found in the foods we eat, so it’s imperative we include more foods high in omega 3 in our everyday diet.

Omega 3 has been found to slow the progress of dementia. from www.shutterstock.com

4. B vitamins

B vitamins play a large role in the production of our brain’s happiness chemicals serotonin and dopamine and can be found in green vegetables, beans, bananas, and beetroot. High amounts of vitamins B6, B12, and folate in the diet have been known to protect against depression and too low amounts to increase the severity of symptoms.

Vitamin B deficiency can result in a reduced production of happiness chemicals in our brain and can lead to the onset of low mood that could lead to mental health issues over a long period. Increasing B vitamins in our diet could increase the production of the feel good chemicals in our brain which promote happiness and well-being.

B vitamins can protect against depression. from www.shutterstock.com

5. Prebiotics and probiotics

The trillions of good and bad bacteria living in our tummies also influence our mood, behaviour and brain health. Chemical messengers produced in our stomach influence our emotions, appetite and our reactions to stressful situations.

Prebiotics and probiotics found in yoghurt, cheese and fermented foods such as kombucha, sauerkraut and kimchi work on the same pathways in the brain as antidepressant medications and studies have found they might have similar effects.

Prebiotics and Probiotics have been found to suppress immune reactions in the body, reduce inflammation in the brain, decrease depressed and anxious states and elevate happy emotions.

Incorporating these foods into our diet will not only increase our physical health but will have beneficial effects on our mental health, including reducing our risk of disorders such as depression and anxiety.

Fermented foods affect the same pathways as anti-depressant medications. from www.shutterstock.com

– Five types of food to increase your psychological well-being
– http://theconversation.com/five-types-of-food-to-increase-your-psychological-well-being-101818]]>

Lack of climate policy threatens to trip up Australian diplomacy this summit season

By The Conversation -

September 10, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Downie, Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow, Australian National University

Australia has navigated a somewhat stormy passage through the Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru. Scott Morrison’s new-look government faced renewed accusations at the summit about the strength of Australia’s resolve on climate policy.

Australia is neither a small nation nor one of the most powerful, but for many years it has been a trusted nation. Historically, Australia has been seen as a good international citizen, a country that stands by its international commitments and works with others to improve the international system, not undermine it.

But in recent years climate change has threatened this reputation. This is especially so among our allies and neighbours in the Pacific region, who attended this week’s Nauru summit.

With Australia’s new foreign minister, Marise Payne, attending instead of the prime minister – not a good look, albeit understandable in the circumstances – the government came under yet more international pressure to state plainly its commitment to the Paris climate agreement.

Pacific nations may be divided on many issues, but climate change is rarely one of them.

Before the meeting, Pacific leaders urged Australia to sign a pledge of support for the agreement and to declare climate change “the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing” of the region.

Australia ultimately signed the pledge, but also reportedly resisted a push for the summit’s communique to include stronger calls for the world to pursue the Paris Agreement’s more ambitious goal of limiting global warming to 1.5℃.

The government now has a chance to catch its breath before international summit season begins in earnest in November with the East Asia Summit in Singapore, followed quickly by APEC in Papua New Guinea and then the G20 summit in Buenos Aires on November 30 and December 1, not to mention the next round of UN climate negotiations in Poland in December.

The G20 is arguably the most important summit, bringing together the leaders of the 20 most powerful nations in the world. It is a forum at which Australia’s position on the climate issue has already suffered significant diplomatic damage under the Coalition government.

When Australia hosted the G20 Brisbane talks in 2014, the then prime minister, Tony Abbott, worked to keep climate change off the formal agenda. Stiff opposition from several of Australia’s allies forced him to back down.

Other nations will be wary of Australia’s stance at the G20 this time around, especially following the leadership turmoil in Canberra.

Indeed, with climate policy continuing to divide the Coalition, there is a significant risk that further missteps on climate change will undermine Australia’s international standing.

A better option

It doesn’t have to be this way. Australia could easily meet its Paris target of cutting emissions to 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2030 with a national climate and energy strategy. But right now Australia is without one, and with Malcolm Turnbull’s passing as prime minister and the demise of the National Energy Guarantee, it looks unlikely to have a strategy in place by the time the G20 rolls around in November.

Australia’s overall greenhouse emissions have been rising for several years now, and many independent projections have Australia overshooting what is in reality a modest target.

But, rather than rectifying the situation, Morrison and his new cabinet have yet to make it completely clear whether Australia will stand by the Paris Agreement at all.

Even if the scenario of a US-style pullout is avoided, Morrison will face mounting pressure from the vocal band of conservatives in his party room not to commit to anything on climate change, be it symbolic or tangible.

What the government chooses to do next could have reputational repercussions for years to come.

Australia may not have the might of other nations, but what it has had at times is a reputation as a constructive international partner. This needs to be restored if Australian diplomats are to successfully navigate a disruptive international landscape.

Climate policy is clearly a threat to our domestic politics and to the job security of Australian prime ministers. With further missteps it could upend our diplomacy as well. Summit season will go a long way towards determining how much of a threat it really is.

– Lack of climate policy threatens to trip up Australian diplomacy this summit season
– http://theconversation.com/lack-of-climate-policy-threatens-to-trip-up-australian-diplomacy-this-summit-season-102845]]>

Melbourne or Sydney? This is how our two biggest cities compare for liveability

By The Conversation -

September 10, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lucy Gunn, Research Fellow, Healthy Liveable Cities Group, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, RMIT University

The question of which city is the most liveable is an annual hot topic. Competition is fierce, especially between Melbourne and Sydney. We have previously highlighted the limitations of The Economist Intelligence Unit Global Liveability Index. In this article we analyse the differences between Sydney and Melbourne using clearly defined liveability indicators based on objective spatial data.

Liveability is an important concept with implications for health and well-being that go beyond promotional material or the prestige of being named number one. As part of our Creating Liveable Cities project, in July we released a scorecard looking at the liveability of Sydney. The scorecard for Melbourne comes out today.

For this research, we mapped policies designed to create liveable cities. We found great variation in these policies. Both cities do well on some but not all aspects of liveability.

We also found inequities in the delivery of infrastructure relating to liveability policies in both cities. Some suburbs do better than others, but in both cities suburbs on the urban fringe are less liveable. These areas often have poor access to the basic amenities needed for daily living.

So, let’s take a closer look at the liveability of Melbourne and Sydney.

Public transport access

Melbourne has an ambitious policy for public transport access. This requires 95% of residences to be within a 400-metre walk to a bus stop, 600m to a tram stop, or 800m to a train station. At present, 69% of residences meet this target.

The policy we measured spatially for Sydney is even more stringent. It requires 100% of residences to be close to public transport – within 400m of a bus stop with a service every 30 minutes, or 800m of a train station with a service every 15 minutes. Only 38% of residences and 2% of suburbs meet this target.

To create a consistent comparison between Sydney and Melbourne, we developed a common national liveability indicator that measures access (within 400m) to frequent public transport (a 30-minute service frequency). Results using this indicator were very similar: 36% of residences in Melbourne achieved this, compared to 35% in Sydney.

In both cities, however, inner and more established suburbs have the best public transport access. Many middle and outer suburbs miss out (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Percentage of residences by suburb within 400m of a public transport stop with a service every 30 minutes. Author provided

Another important liveability indicator measures how people get to work. This is especially important with growing population, increased traffic congestion and longer commuting times. Our research shows cities are healthier, more liveable and sustainable when walking, cycling and public transport are more convenient than driving.

Residents of Sydney are more likely to use public transport (26%) than residents of Melbourne (18%). The proportions who walk or cycle to work in each city are similar (6% Sydney, 5% in Melbourne). Both Melbourne and Sydney are doing well relative to other Australian cities.

By international standards, though, we have a long way to go. For instance, 50% of people (and 63% of MPs!) in Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, commute daily by bike.

Walkability

Coinciding with good access to public transport are walkable areas, which combine somewhere to walk (to local shops and services), population density (to support the services) and a way to get there (connected road network). Walkable neighbourhoods are the backbone of a liveable city.

Figure 2 shows that in both Sydney and Melbourne inner areas have the highest walkability. This declines dramatically towards the urban fringe. Yet neither city has policies in place to achieve walkable neighbourhoods in the suburbs.

Figure 2: Composite walkability indicator* for suburbs within each capital city. Author provided

Walkability is also unlikely to be achieved with population density requirements set at only 15 dwellings per hectare. That’s too low to achieve walkable neighbourhoods.

Higher residential densities ensure there are enough people and the associated demand to support the transport and everyday services that help make cities liveable. Research is now showing that this requires higher densities of at least 25 dwellings per hectare, and even higher around activity centres and transport nodes.

Suburban densities are higher in Sydney, at 19 dwellings per hectare, than in Melbourne, which has only 13 dwellings per hectare.

Better policies create better cities

So to the question: which is the most liveable city? The answer in turn depends on another question: liveable for whom? Both cities have areas performing well on some liveability domains and other areas where more could be done.

The findings of these reports show a need for more ambitious policies, research evidence linking liveability indicators to health and well-being, and investment in infrastructure and spatial planning to improve liveability, health and well-being for all residents of all cities.

– Melbourne or Sydney? This is how our two biggest cities compare for liveability
– http://theconversation.com/melbourne-or-sydney-this-is-how-our-two-biggest-cities-compare-for-liveability-102247]]>

Three things Netflix’s controversial ‘fat-shaming’ series Insatiable gets right

By The Conversation -

September 10, 2018

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Waling, Research fellow, La Trobe University

Netflix’s controversial Insatiable (2018) is the story of a teen who loses weight and competes in beauty pageants. Some people have said the show promotes fat-shaming and disordered eating. Thousands of viewers have called for it to pulled from Netflix. However, despite the show’s problems, it does shed light on other issues facing young women.

Insatiable tells the story of Patty (Debbie Ryan), an overweight teen who has spent her life being relentlessly bullied. After an altercation that causes Patty to have her jaw wired shut for three months, Patty loses the weight, becomes beautiful and vows to seek revenge on those who have hurt her, with the help of Bob Armstrong (Dallas Roberts), her lawyer and beauty pageant coach.

As a plus-size, queer cis-woman living with binge-eating disorder and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), I felt the show provides a clever commentary on issues of disordered eating and body image, gender and sexuality, and representing female pleasure.

Netflix’s Insatiable trailer.

Disordered eating

Insatiable explores aspects of compulsive overeating, binge-eating, bulmia nervosa and BDD. These disorders can go undiagnosed and/or untreated due to sufferers’ feelings of shame and stigma in seeking treatment, and the misconception that individuals must be dangerously thin to have an eating disorder.

What Insatiable captures is the everydayness of binge-eating and compulsive overeating, which hides the severity of these disorders. Patty is in many ways out of control, but seems otherwise. She is often seen eating or about to eat, with other characters both encouraging and reprimanding her. Patty’s binge-eating scene where she eats an entire slab of sheet cake is haunting and, for sufferers like myself, uncomfortably familiar.

Patty’s offhand attitude towards using laxatives and fasting to counteract her binge-eating weight gain may seem glamourised. However, this attitude is common and can become an everyday, routine part of someone with bulimia as they go through binge cycles.

Patty eating outside her local convenience store before she is physically assaulted. Season 1, Episode 1. IMDB

Patty’s anxiety about wearing a bathing suit, and the sheer panic, shame and distress she feels in the change room when confronted with the image of herself, is also common among people with BDD. It is something I have repeatedly experienced.

These scenes are confronting and hit too close to home. They are also realistic for some with lived experiences of binge-eating or compulsive overeating and BDD. They illustrate a need to represent high-functioning experiences of eating disorders rather than just extreme examples of obsession, weight loss, thinness and purging.

Questioning gender and sexuality

Insatiable’s handling of sexuality and gender expression is certainly not as developed as in acclaimed shows like Sense 8. However, it engages with the ever-changing nature of how we might understand and practise our gender, sexuality and relationships. A number of the characters are in a state of questioning, and this is not necessarily resolved.

Nonnie (Kimmy Shields), Patty’s childhood best friend, does not necessarily identify as gay and is frustrated by other characters who are quick to label her based on her androgynous gender expression and her attraction to Patty and Dee.

Nonnie with Donald (Daniel Kang) at the local coffee house, where she confesses that she’s not sure if she’s gay, but does have feelings for Patty. Season 1, Episode 6. IMDB

Bob Armstrong encounters this same frustration when attempting to negotiate polyamory with his wife (Alyssa Milano) and boyfriend (Christopher Gorham). He is repeatedly told he is gay and his previous heterosexual existence is a lie, despite his insistence that he might be bisexual. Bob’s attempt to open a marriage is also refreshingly presented as difficult and clumsy, rather than being perfect from the onset.

Both incidents reflect the social tendency to assume a person’s sexuality, and how both heterosexual and queer people may do this. Representation of that questioning and relationship renegotiation is important. It reminds us that our gender expression, sexuality and relationship style can change, even in adulthood.

Female pleasure

The series’ title Insatiable is not only a reference to Patty’s binge-eating and need for revenge, but also to her emerging sexuality. Patty’s sexual engagements with her high-school crush and first boyfriend, Brick (Michael Provost), and later second boyfriend, resident bad-boy Christian (James Lastovic), have been criticised for promoting the idea that people with fat bodies do not have sexual drives, or can’t have a fulfilling sexual life. This criticism is based on Patty’s statement that she “finally deserves this” after having lost weight.

Patty with Christian before he performs oral sex on her. Season 1, Episode 6. IMDB

However, Patty is representative of those who are perceived to “lack” sexual desirability. In contemporary culture, women with smaller bodies are deemed more worthy of experiencing pleasure.

This message is amplified by Dee (Ashley D. Kelley), a queer, black, plus-size woman who, unlike Patty, is comfortable in her body and her sexuality, and seeks pleasure despite those social expectations. Patty’s “realisation” of her sexual hunger, while attributed to her changed body, is reflective of her own problematic social beliefs around beauty and sexuality.

Insatiable is certainly not perfect. It’s depiction of blatant fat-shaming is quite triggering for some, myself included. We do need more fat-positive characters on TV that don’t rely on revenge weight-loss narratives, bullying, fat-shaming and comedy.

Nevertheless, I urge people and critics to watch the show in its entirety, and pay attention to how the series cleverly comments on what appear to be brazen examples of fat-phobia. While for some the show may feel damaging, for others like myself Insatiable reflects our lived experiences, and this should not be discounted.

Anyone seeking support or information about issues discussed above can contact The Eating Disorders Helpline on 1300 550 236 or (03) 9417 6598; The Butterfly Foundation national helpline on 1800 33 4673 or online chat; SANE helpline on 1800 187 263; QLife on 1800 184 527 or online chat; Lifeline on 13 11 14 or crisis support chat; or Suicide Helpline on 1300 651 251.

– Three things Netflix’s controversial ‘fat-shaming’ series Insatiable gets right
– http://theconversation.com/three-things-netflixs-controversial-fat-shaming-series-insatiable-gets-right-102577]]>

Viewpoints: should universities raise the ATAR required for entrance into teaching degrees?

By The Conversation -

September 8, 2018

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The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne-Marie Morgan, Professor and Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, and Education, University of New England

Shadow education minister Tanya Plibersek has announced a Labor government would raise the ATAR required for entrance into a teaching degree if elected at the next election. Plibersek said:

I don’t want people with ATARs of 35 going into teaching, I just don’t.

The effectiveness of ATAR as an entrance criteria has been heavily debated for some time. Some say to improve teacher quality, we need to raise the entrance criteria. Others argue ATAR doesn’t tell us all we need to know about a person’s suitability for teaching.

So is raising the ATAR for teachers a good idea, or will it simply exclude potentially great teachers?

The case for no minimum ATAR

Tania Aspland, Professor in Teacher Education, Dean, Education Policy and Strategy at Australian Catholic University and President, Australian Council of Deans of Education

We all want to attract and retain the best teachers and move away from the singular focus on ATAR scores. Earlier this year, the Mitchell Institute released a report which stated only one in four domestic undergraduate students was admitted to courses based on an ATAR. This does not match the message reinforced by schools, families and the media that ATAR is everything.

Many students with average or comparatively low senior secondary results also do well once at university. www.shutterstock.com

In 2014, the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group report, which has underpinned the raft of recent reforms in teacher education, found:

research indicates ATAR is a good predictor of success for students entering university with strong secondary school performance, but loses predictive capability for those entering university with lower scores. Many students with average or comparatively low senior secondary results also do well once at university
while rankings are clearly a very good predictor of performance in engineering, agriculture and science, the relationship is low for education.

The argument about ATARs ignores the range of selection methods universities use to choose teacher education students with the right mix of academic and personal traits. These include looking at prior experience, interviews or psychometric tests.

It ignores the clearly defined professional teaching standards and the new numeracy and literacy test teaching students must pass before they graduate.

It also strikes at the heart of whether or not we want to provide multiple pathways to attract a diverse cohort to teach in our increasingly diverse classrooms. This includes those from marginalised and disadvantaged groups, such as students from rural or regional areas and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

Teacher education students accepted with lower ATARs need to be viewed in context. They may be selected because:

they have gained further experience and qualifications that supersede their ATAR, as their ATAR may have been acquired years before their university entry
they’re given special consideration due to personal circumstances (such as the death of a parent) as their low ATAR doesn’t reflect prior academic performance
as a member of a disadvantaged group, they’re granted access to a pathway course during which they would have to prove they’re capable of undertaking teacher education.

Research does not support the move to mandate ATAR entry scores.

The case for setting benchmarks

Anne-Marie Morgan, Professor and Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning at the University of New England

ATARs provide a visible measure of standard to the public, prospective students and their families. They’re also used by politicians as an indicator of confidence in producing quality teachers. But the reliance on ATAR levels as a predictor of success is insufficient on its own, and is tied up with complex equity issues around location (especially for regional and rural students), socioeconomic status, family dynamics and unequal access to educational opportunities.

In the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group report which has guided national education policy on initial teacher education, the relationship between ATARs and student success in education courses was acknowledged to be low, and is the reason why other processes are included for entry, within programs and at graduation.

There is research that indicates an ATAR of 70 supports successful outcomes. It found ATAR scores were significant, but scores on a scale which measured motivation and engagement were a much stronger predictor of first year marks results. This indicates students’ motivation and how they’re taught in their first year are more important than ATAR, but so is setting an appropriate benchmark for ATAR, for students who enter using this pathway.

Setting an ATAR benchmark is prudent, while also allowing for other entry pathways. www.shutterstock.com

UNE currently has an ATAR requirement of 77 for its education courses. Historically, competition for places in our teacher education programs has justified this level. This is higher than most NSW and interstate universities.

We are currently considering lowering this to 70 in line with confidence in our students’ results, the literature, and to open opportunities for teaching to a wider range of students and to compensate for pathways lost through changes such as removal of Principals’ recommendations of year 12 students considered to have the right attributes for teaching.

The Victorian state government currently requires an ATAR of 65 for teaching courses, which will be raised to 70 in 2019. This will be done so teacher education students in Victoria are from the top 30% of year 12 graduates, but there are also opportunities in this policy for entrance pathways other than ATAR.

So, setting an appropriate ATAR benchmark is prudent, while also ensuring there are other entry pathways that uphold our commitment to equity of access. The programs we provide, and how we teach students are other critical factors in ensuring we prepare great teachers.

Tania Aspland

I appreciate that we are both largely on the same page that the best research doesn’t supports the case for minimum ATARs. Setting minimum ATARs may make the public feel more confident, but that confidence stems largely from perceptions based on the narrow focus on ATARs by public figures.

I also appreciate the valuable contributions made by the diverse range of great teachers who have have come into teacher education through different pathways and graduated with high professional academic standards.

Anne-Marie Morgan

We agree on the conclusion that the research to date does not support the obsession with ATARs as the only source for entry to an initial teacher education course. But it will be important to continue to collect data to demonstrate this conclusion, and to show how both other entry pathways and what happens during a student’s preparation to be a teacher influence their chances of success, and suitability to be a great teacher.

As Tania says, governments, communities, parents, teacher educators, and the wider community all want to attract and retain the best teachers.

Our teachers are recognised as some of the best in the world. We should continue to provide opportunities for our teachers to come from diverse communities and backgrounds to work with children who are also diverse. We need to talk about the complexity of the profession and the needs of students in more nuanced terms.

– Viewpoints: should universities raise the ATAR required for entrance into teaching degrees?
– http://theconversation.com/viewpoints-should-universities-raise-the-atar-required-for-entrance-into-teaching-degrees-102841]]>

RSF open letter plea to Suu Kyi for Myanmar journalists’ freedom

By Pacific Media Centre -

September 8, 2018

RSF open letter to Aung San Suu Kyi … “How are we to understand the sentence passed on these two journalists at the start of the week? What credibility can the rule of law and judicial independence have in Myanmar after this farce?” Image: Ye Aung Thu/AFP/RSF

Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

Five days after Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were sentenced to seven years in prison on a trumped-up charge, the Paris-based media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has written to the head of Myanmar’s government asking her to end her deafening silence and to intercede on behalf of the two journalists.

This is the open letter:

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
State Counsellor
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister of the President’s Office
of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar
State Counsellor Office No 8
Naypyitaw, Myanmar

Paris, 6 September 2018

Dear State Counsellor,

-Partners-

An iniquitous sentence of seven years in prison on a trumped-up charge of violating the Official Secrets Acts was passed at the start of this week on Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two reporters with the Reuters news agency who have already spent nearly nine months in detention.

Their only crime was to investigate the September 2017 massacre of 10 Rohingya civilians by members of Myanmar’s army. In the course of shedding light on the terrible reality of the ethnic cleansing carried out by the army and its auxiliaries in the north of Rakhine State, the news agency’s reporters discovered summary executions, mass graves, the torching of villages and systematic efforts to eliminate of all trace of the atrocities.

As you know, the two reporters were crudely framed by the police, as a police captain, Moe Yan Naing, acknowledged in court on 20 April. The thoroughness of their investigative reporting nonetheless forced the Tatmadaw, Myanmar armed forces, to recognise the reality of the Inn Dinn massacre and to sentence seven soldiers to 10 years in prison for their role.

We are deeply saddened by your only statement about the two journalists. In an interview for NHK in June, you simply said that “they were nor arrested for covering the Rakhine issue” but “because they broke the Official Secrets Act” and that it “will be up to judiciary, it is for the judiciary to decide.” Their innocence was nonetheless glaringly obvious.

RSF wrote to you on 7 September 2017 asking you to use your moral authority to ensure that journalists were free to work in Myanmar. Your response was silence. Your response to the appeals of Myanmar’s journalists and foreign journalists was silence. Your response to the international community’s appeals was silence.

How are we to understand the sentence passed on these two journalists at the start of the week? What credibility can the rule of law and judicial independence have in Myanmar after this farce? To those who have tried to raise the issue in your presence, you have responded with “fury,” as in January with former US diplomat Bill Richardson, one of your oldest supporters, who felt obliged to resign from your international panel of advisers after you described Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo as “traitors.”

Were journalists traitors when they covered the military junta’s suppression of the 1988 democracy movement, in which you rose to political prominence? Were journalists traitors when they relayed your calls for democracy during the 15 years you spent under house arrest? Were journalists traitors when they hailed the advent of democracy with your party’s victory in 2015 and your appointment as head of government in 2016?

Awarded the Sakharov Prize in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, you have long been hailed as resolute advocate of democracy and you have defended what is one of its foundations with a great deal of vision. Speaking when you were released in 2010, you said, “the basis of democratic freedom is freedom of speech.” The following year, you assured RSF of your commitment to press freedom.

Since the end of your time under house arrest, you have on several occasions said that you reject the status of icon and that you see yourself as a politician seeking concrete results for her people. We are aware of the political circumstances in Myanmar that force you to seek compromises with the Tatmadaw’s representatives.

But nothing, absolutely nothing, forces you, as the Union of Myanmar’s head of government, to observe this deafening silence. Nothing forces you to refer to journalists’ coverage of Rakhine State as “a huge iceberg of misinformation.” Nothing forces you to go down in history as someone who betrayed the ideals on which she built her reputation.

This is why we urge you to intercede immediately to obtain the release of these two Reuters journalists. One of your closest allies, President Win Myint, has the power to grant them a pardon.

You have the ability to take action today in support of the values that you defended with courage for so long.

Sincerely,

Christophe Deloire
Secretary-General
Reporters sans frontières / Reporters Without Borders / RSF
Paris, France

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Nobel Peace prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi under fire for not condemning the Rohingya’s prosecution in Myanmar. In April 2017, she said: “I don’t think there is ethnic cleansing going on.” She also refused to allow UN investigators access to the region. Video: Al Jazeera

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

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Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Is the public being ripped off by politician spending?

By Bryce Edwards -

September 8, 2018

jacinda-ardern-nauru-680wide-png — Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern.

Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Is the public being ripped off by politician spending?

[caption id="attachment_13635" align="alignright" width="150"]

Dr Bryce Edwards.[/caption] There’s been a renewed focus in recent weeks on how political parties, ministers, and MPs are spending our money, and whether our political representatives are misusing or over-using taxpayer resources. This began with a focus on MP travel and accommodation expenses, Simon Bridges’ “limousine” costs leak, and then the Prime Minister’s popular announcement of a pay freeze for MPs.

The focus on “politician spending” ramped up even further this week with debate over Jacinda Ardern’s separate plane trip to attend the Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru, the release of ministerial expenses, and a new parliamentary report proposing such an increase in funding parliamentary parties that one political commentator claimed it “will make your blood boil.” So, here’s a breakdown of the three main “politician spending” stories of the week. 1) Jacinda Ardern’s Nauru plane trip It’s hard to find many political commentators, or even opposition politicians making serious arguments against the Prime Minister’s decision to fly separately to the Nauru meeting this week. Rightwing political commentator, Matthew Hooton, came to Ardern’s defence over the extra cost of her going later to the meeting: “Ardern is our democratically elected Prime Minister and we pay what it takes for her to fulfil her duties, based on her individual circumstances. This is hardly new. If a Prime Minister lives in Dipton, Ashburton or Te Kuiti, like Bill English, Jenny Shipley and Jim Bolger, their travel costs more than if they live in Parnell or Mt Albert, like John Key, Helen Clark and Ms Ardern. If we are lucky enough to elect a Franklin Roosevelt as our Prime Minister, he will come with the cost of getting his wheelchair on and off the plane” – see his RNZ column, MPs’ travel expenses are a necessary cost, not a scandal. Hooton extended this defence to Opposition leader Simon Bridges’ recent tour of New Zealand, saying the cost of both their travel is just “the cost of them doing their jobs”. Furthermore, “Neither is skylarking. They are working harder than most of us could ever understand.” Plenty of others pointed out that neither Ardern or Bridges were getting any personal benefit out of the extra travel. Newsroom’s Sam Sachdeva argued the politicians are merely doing their job, and that should be encouraged: “There was no suggestion Bridges had been taking his Crown car on personal joy rides, and we should be encouraging politicians to (within reason) leave the Beehive beltway to hear from ordinary New Zealanders” – see: Ardern ‘outrage’ ignores cost of political work. Likewise, “Ardern’s trip to Nauru is not a Pacific holiday: she will leave New Zealand at 2am on Wednesday and return well after midnight the same day.” Sachdeva argues that, in general, the public and media shouldn’t get overly focused on this type of politician spending: “Pearl clutching about politicians gallivanting around home and abroad on the taxpayer purse makes for easy headlines… we shouldn’t fixate on dollars and cents at the expense of the work our MPs are elected to do.” The issue of Ardern’s extra spending was an important gender equality issue, and Sachdeva makes the case for the PM’s situation being perfectly defendable: “Her daughter Neve is too young to receive the vaccinations necessary for a trip to Nauru, and too young to be separated from Ardern for the full length of the forum. If there is some extra cost to balancing parenthood and politics, it is worth paying if we are to set an example for what should be possible in New Zealand society.” Similarly, Tracy Watkins thought the uproar was revealing: “Was it only weeks ago we were celebrating as a country the fact that Jacinda Ardern could be both mum and prime minister at the same time? Yet, at the first sign of a workaround, the critics are out in force” – see: No reason for Jacinda Ardern to stay home from Pacific Forum. Interestingly, the Otago Daily Times took the opposite stance, also on the grounds of gender equality, arguing that Ardern’s shortened trip made it look like a new mother wasn’t capable of properly fulfilling the role: “Spending aside, the real cost of Ms Ardern’s special flight was the lost opportunity to showcase the realistic practicalities of being a new mother and full-time worker at the same time – something she has often spoken about. When the opportunity came for action, what Ms Ardern chose to do must have left many other parents scratching their heads” – see the editorial, PM’s Nauru trip a lost chance. The newspaper lamented that the lesson people would take from the controversy was that a mother had to cut her trip short and have extraordinary help in order to carry out her duties: “for most New Zealand parents such issues are the realities of life with a new baby. Accessing a military aircraft at their leisure is not. The Prime Minister could have used this week’s Nauru trip as a chance to show what a more gender-balanced New Zealand might look like. Instead, the message she sent New Zealand’s stay-at-home dads was not an uplifting one: Yes, you can be a full-time parent, but not for any longer than one day at a time.” 2) Ministerial spending Travel and accommodation expense details were released yesterday, for the three-month period of April to June, and these were mostly good news for the Government, because the level of spending appeared to be down compared to the previous administration. This was best covered by Stuff’s Henry Cooke who noted: The Government’s $1.49m spend compares to $2.02m spent in the same period of 2017, $2.25m spent in the same quarter in 2016, and $2.33m in the same period of 2015″ – see: Ministers spent $1.49m on travel and accommodation in last quarter – less than last Government for same period. Yet it also dished up more bad publicity for the beleaguered (and now former) Broadcasting Minister: “Clare Curran made a $1000 return trip from Brisbane airport to the Gold Coast in a chauffeur driven car. Curran made the trip to Australia in April in her ministerial capacity for ‘a first hand look at what it takes to broadcast a multi-media mega sports event’, according to a statement issued at the time”. The Herald pointed out in its report that “Former Economic Development minister Steven Joyce was roundly criticised when he racked up a $1248 taxi ride during a trip to Australia in 2015” – see: Ministers’ expenses finally released today. Also potentially embarrassing for the Government, this article reported that “Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones spent $1925.36 for a night at the swanky Millbrook Resort with his wife and a staff member”. In terms of travel and accommodation spent around New Zealand, the top three ministerial spenders were (in order): Kelvin Davis, Phil Twyford, and Shane Jones – see Emma Hurley: Ministers’ expenses released: Who were the biggest spenders? One expenditure item had its details redacted by the Government on the basis of national security. Andrew Little had spent $178 on getting a book printed – see Sam Sachdeva’s The curious case of the ‘secret’ state gift. Little explained to the media that the book – given to the UAE Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan – was an unpublished manuscript written by Little’s father, about his time in the UAE working for the former Emir of Abu Dhabi, who is the father of the UAE Foreign Minister. 3) Proposed increase in party funding It’s long been an open secret within Parliament that much of the taxpayer funded resources of MPs are surreptitiously used for electioneering by the parties. This is John Armstrong’s basic point in his column, Simon Bridges’ travel spending ‘was state funding of a political party in drag’. He says that although all this money is meant for “parliamentary business” the politicians have “licence to do just about anything”, essentially converting much of it into effective state subsidies for the political parties. For example, in the case of the National leader, Armstrong says “the nationwide ‘roadshow’ which witnessed Bridges address some 70 public meetings was something else again. It was more accurately a ‘get to know you’ exercise in self-promotion. To be blunt, it was state funding of a political party in drag.” Armstrong says all the parties do this, and they largely get away with the misuse of taxpayer resources because “when it comes to sniping at each other, there is an unspoken pact between the parties in Parliament that this territory is out of bounds. There is a big danger of the pot calling the kettle black”. State funding of political parties was back on the agenda this week with the release of a parliamentary report by former MPs Annette King and Eric Roy, together with an ex-Treasury official. It proposed substantial increases in funding for MPs, and suggested that MPs should take responsibility for ensuring these hundreds of millions of dollars are used appropriately, and not just for electioneering, by putting the Speaker’s Office in charge of the money. Henry Cooke reported that the “overall funding for MP support and offices would increase by about a fifth, or $13m a year – the largest-ever increase” – see: Report suggests $13m in extra funding for MPs’ offices, but Government quickly rejects it. Cooke explains that the report also proposed all funding for political parties should be provided on the basis of a guaranteed minimum level: “That would mean the two major parties would never have their funding drop below what it would be if they each received 38 per cent of the party vote, the minor parties who received more than 5 per cent would get funding as if they received 8 per cent of the vote”. According to David Farrar, much of the proposed increase in MP office funding, would “go on advertising and campaigning”, and “This proposal is a huge rort designed to massively increase funding for Government MPs” – see: Massive increase proposed for MPs expenses. Farrar thinks that the governing parties would unfairly do very well out of the proposal: “Also outrageous is it proposes Ministers get extra staff. Ministers already get totally funded for their staffing needs through Ministerial Services. And the number of staff is already 13% higher than the last Government. This report proposes each Minister also get an additional staffer funded through The Parliamentary Service. So a huge boost of 30 more staff for the Government.” However, although the Labour Party is officially in favour of greater state funding of political parties, this latest proposal is “in effect, dead in the water” according to Leader of the House Chris Hipkins, who has said the report won’t be adopted by the Government. Finally, Matthew Hooton wrote about all of this yesterday in the Herald, going through a history of the Labour Party’s attempts to utilise state funding for partisan gain, suggesting that although the report has been shelved, “taxpayers must remain vigilant” because “rust never sleeps” – see: Eyeing up taxpayers’ pockets.]]>

Why AMP and IOOF went rogue

By The Conversation -

September 8, 2018

]]>

The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Linden, Sessional Lecturer, PhD (Management) Candidate, School of Management, RMIT University

The ‘M’ in AMP stood for Mutual. Like another former mutual, IOOF, it was owned by, and set up to benefit, its members.

Both AMP and IOOF were presented with draft findings that they acted against the interests of their members at the conclusion of the round five hearings of the Royal Commission into Banking and Financial Services.

Although both are now purely commercial organisations, each has marketed itself as different from the others because of its cooperative history and founding ethos.

So what went wrong?

The early twentieth century German sociologist Max Weber argued the culture of an organisation was the product of its history, institutional structure and a consciously held shared ethos of its members. It was a different view to that of mainstream economists who these days assume organisations attempt to maximise profits and that of so-called behavioural economists who assume cognitive biases make decision making less rational.

In his book the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism Weber outlined the ways in which the ascetic sensibilities of the Protestant sects had influenced the growth of commerce in post reformation Northern Europe and 19th century America. They were concerned with thrift as much as with profit.

The ‘P’ in AMP stood for Providence. The AMP was set up to help its members save.

Disengagement, demutalisation and corporatisation changed AMP and IOOF forever

The move away from the government provision of services in the 1970s and Margaret Thatcher’s famous claim in the 1980s that there was “no such thing as society” saw a move away from mutuals and cooperatives in tandem with a move away from thrift.

In the 1990s AMP and IOOF ‘demutualised’, becoming companies listed on the sharemarket. Value that had been accumulated for generations was turned into tradable shares. Members who voted for the change were accused of intergenerational theft. Those who didn’t feel the least bit thrifty cashed-out by selling their shares.

Laws were changed to make it easier.

From a Weberian perspective the current governance problems of AMP and IOOF can in part be attributed to abandoning of the original founding ascetic ideal in favour of an unconstrained focus on profit maximisation for the benefit of shareholders rather than members.

The change in the culture of such organisations in Australia and overseas was accelerated by decisions to put independent directors and executives with “commercial savvy” on boards.

Turning back the clock won’t work

While Weber suggests organisations founded on a particular set of values can be highly disciplined the process of demutalisation/listing can create the conditions for misconduct. Appointing directors and outside managers who have no understanding of the mutual’s ideal allows an aggressive commercial culture to take root. The argument can be extended to former public sector corporations such as the Commonwealth Bank.

Despite calls to wind back the clock very few former cooperatives or public sector entities have. Once they have taken even a half step to corporatisation, as did Telstra, the Commonwealth Bank and the Murray Goulburn Cooperative, the die has been cast. The organisation and its ethos has changed.

Appointing high profile directors and executive directors with CVs that include community involvement is only going to paper over the change.

What might work

Mutual organisations are not misconduct and misstep free. They are vulnerable to ‘groupthink’ in which managers back each other up in order to aviod disharmony.

But commercial organisations that prioritise profits create incentives for managers to rationalise away breaking the law in order to lift short-term profitability or boost share prices and bonuses.

If he were alive today Weber might suggest subjecting such organisations to increased and more effective regulatory scrutiny and increased internal and external democratic accountability would be a necessary first step to improve governance.

Weber might very well argue the Banking Royal Commission itself is helping the community forge a new ethos grounded in community expectations about corporate conduct and purpose, buttressed by strong laws to back them up that will guide individual conduct and organisational governance.

– Why AMP and IOOF went rogue
– http://theconversation.com/why-amp-and-ioof-went-rogue-102569]]>

Pacific Climate Warriors rise for global day of ‘urgent action’

By Pacific Media Centre -

September 7, 2018

West Papua advocates talk about climate change and human rights. Video: Human Rights Watch

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

Pacific Islanders across the Pacific and within Pacific Island diaspora communities in Australia, New Zealand and the United States are joining more than 800 actions in 90 countries under the banner of Rise for Climate to demonstrate the urgency of the climate crisis.

From the September 8-10, these Pacific communities will shine a spotlight on the increasing impacts they are experiencing and demand stronger action to keep fossil fuels in the ground, reports the advocacy group 350 Pacific.

As part of these global mobilisations, the Pacific is leading the charge with creative events and actions that call for a swift and just transition to 100 percent renewable energy for all.

Globally, people are rising to support urgent action before 2020 to accelerate to the rapid phase out of fossil fuels and a just transition to clean and fair energy systems for all.

-Partners-

“There is no time to lose. Climate change is a threat that is already here and now in the Pacific: inundation by sea level rise, the strongest cyclones ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, massive flooding, and droughts are some of the recent impacts of climate change being felt across the region,” says 350 Pacific.

Already this year the world has experienced:

Catastrophic heatwaves in North Africa, Europe, Japan, Pakistan, Australia and Argentina;
Deadly wildfires in Greece, Sweden, the USA and Russia;
Drought in Kenya and Somalia;
Major water shortages in Afghanistan and South Africa;
Extreme storms and flooding in Hawaii, India, Oman and Yemen;
Record melting of the Bering Sea ice; and
the 400th month in a row of above-average global temperatures.

This weekend’s Rise for Climate will demonstrate the growing strength and diversity of the climate movement and the people who will not wait for governments to act, but will lead by example and hold them to account.

Climate change affects the whole of the Pacific, including West Papua. 350 Pacific says:

“On top of dealing with the Indonesian occupation, our brothers and sisters in West Papua are also living with the impacts of climate change.”

West Papua … a struggle over climate change and for human rights. Image: 350 Pacific

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

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Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Clare Curran’s agonising downfall

By Bryce Edwards -

September 7, 2018

Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Clare Curran’s agonising downfall

[caption id="attachment_13635" align="alignright" width="150"]

Dr Bryce Edwards.[/caption] Clare Curran’s last appearance as a minister this week was an all too memorable one. In response to a question about her use of private email for government business she responded: “To the best of my recollection, um, ah, ah, I haven’t, um, I haven’t used my, um I’ve answered um OIA, ah, ah, OIA responses and personal, um and parliamentary questions correctly and to the best of my recollection, um, ah, you know, that, that has, that’s what I’ve done.” [caption id="attachment_16118" align="alignleft" width="354"]

Labour Party MP and former Cabinet Minister, Clare Curran.[/caption] This lack of confidence and murkiness epitomises the Curran controversy. And the fact that it was served up for viewing on TV and online means the public is likely to remember Curran’s painful decline quite vividly. It was uncomfortable viewing. As Audrey Young writes today: “Clare Curran’s agonising performance in the House on Wednesday was hard to watch. Even her opponents privately expressed sympathy for her afterwards” – see: The real reason Clare Curran resigned as a minister. Young goes on to explain that if Curran had stayed on in her job, she would have faced relentless pressure from the Opposition: “In between the hesitations and mental blocks, she opened herself up to dozens more questions from the Opposition over her use of Gmail and her staff’s supposed access to it. There are three more weeks of Parliament in the current session and Curran correctly surmised that there would be questions to her every day over those three weeks. If Curran had been a stronger performer and if she had been unfairly targeted, Curran could have withstood that. But she is neither… She was about to be ground into mincemeat in full technicolour over three weeks.” Prior to Curran’s resignation, National frontbencher Judith Collins commented on the AM Show this morning that Curran’s performance in Parliament “was actually quite painful to watch” – see Newshub’s Judith Collins felt sorry for Clare Curran ‘as a human being’. Collins expressed sympathy for Curran: “I thought this is someone who seriously needs to think about whether or not they want to come back into that environment. I felt quite sorry for her, and even though it’s our job to hold her to account – and Melissa Lee’s done an excellent job – I think we that we all felt a bit sorry for Clare as a human being.” Also sympathetic to Curran’s situation is National Party blogger David Farrar, who has commented on her resignation, saying it “seems to be a genuine decision on her part, rather than Ardern sacking her” – see: Curran resigns. Farrar adds that “she is a good person who is passionate about ICT/Comms and worked hard to make a difference. But her judgement did let her down repeatedly.” Not all commentators have been sympathetic. Leftwing blogger No Right Turn was scathing about the departing minister: “Curran was a disaster as a Minister, a secretive, incompetent control freak who seemed to go out of her way to make herself look suspicious. Lying to Parliament once about a secret meeting with a potential appointee could perhaps be excused as a mistake; doing it twice makes it a clear pattern of behaviour. But I guess that’s what you get from pyramid-climbing party hacks” – see: Good riddance. The focus has now shifted to how well Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has handled the Curran controversies in general, and Curran’s departure today. Many are asking why Ardern went on radio this morning and implied Curran’s job was safe, given that she accepted the minister’s resignation last night. Newstalk ZB’s Chris Lynch asked Ardern, “Are you considering cutting ties with her, firing her?” And she answered: “No, because I think she’s paid a price.” You can listen to the interview: Clare Curran’s job safe despite ‘bad day’, PM says. Henry Cooke elaborates: “But she had rung Ardern to hand in her resignation on Thursday night. The next morning, ahead of the announcement, Ardern was asked by Newstalk ZB whether Curran’s job was in trouble, and Ardern said she was not considering firing the Minister – despite the fact she had already accepted her resignation” – see: Clare Curran resigns as minister, citing ‘intolerable’ pressure. Again, blogger No Right Turn is unimpressed, claiming “the Prime Minister was knowingly lying to us about it on the radio” – see his blog post: Dishonest. He elaborates: “It’s a lie of omission, but it is still a lie. Past Prime Ministers have fired Ministers who have knowingly misled the public in this way. We should expect our Prime Minister to be honest with us. Sadly, this morning, she failed that test.” David Farrar has also blogged again in detail about this issue, and is worth quoting at length: “The Prime Minister told a blatant lie to Chris Lynch. She said Curran’s job was safe despite having accepted Curran’s resignation the night before. This is a different situation to the more general one where a PM will always say they have confidence in a Minister until they don’t. That doesn’t apply once you have actually received or accepted a resignation. Ardern knew when she spoke to Lynch, that she would be announcing Curran’s resignation later today. She misled him and listeners by saying Curran’s job was safe. Not only is it a bad look for the PM to deliberately lie, but it also exposes the poor political management. They should have announced the resignation last night or first thing this morning, before the PM had to do any media” – see: Ardern misleads. All of this begs the question of why the Prime Minister didn’t simply get rid of Curran earlier, especially when the problems over her meeting with Derek Handley arose. RNZ’s Tim Watkin deals with this in his very good analysis: Clare Curran controversy: PM finally rips off the band-aid. Watkin says: “This will be a lesson for a still evolving Prime Minister. Better the Band-Aid is pulled off quickly than the slow, painful tear. The now former Broadcasting Minister Clare Curran could have been shown the door two weeks ago when she admitted to a second failure to properly declare a meeting in her role as minister.” Watkin suggests Ardern must now have regrets: “It was the Band-Aid ripping option that she must now in some way regret not taking. She could have looked strong and decisive. Instead, she’s ended up in the same place but having had to defend a poor performer and looking indecisive.” So why didn’t Ardern move earlier on the problem? Watkin has some possible answers: “Was it Labour’s left-wing base who are especially fond of Curran? Was it the fact Curran and Ardern used to be flatmates together? Was it a feeling that she didn’t want to look like she was presiding over a weak cabinet so early in her first term? All of those things would have crossed her mind, but perhaps the strongest consideration would have been a question of threshold. If you sack someone for bad paperwork (even allowing for the misleading parliament part), what happens the next time a minister errs, but in a less than obviously terrible way?” Looking forward, Newsroom’s Sam Sachdeva discusses what Ardern is going to have to do in terms of attempting to progress gender balance requirements of her government: “Only six of Labour’s 20 ministers are women – and that count includes Meka Whaitiri, whose fate is still in the balance as a Ministerial Services inquiry takes place” – see: Parliament’s pressure cooker claims Curran. Sachdeva survey’s Curran’s possible female replacement: “Looking further down the party’s list, there is a paucity of experienced politicians or safe hands to take on a ministerial role, unsurprising given any heavy hitters mulling a run would have looked at Labour’s pre-Ardern polling numbers and thought twice. There are some first-term MPs with potential, such as Deborah Russell and Kiri Allan, but the step up from learning the ropes in Parliament to Cabinet seems a massive leap to make.” In conclusion, Sachdeva also appropriately deals with Curran’s expressed “intolerable” pressure that led to her resignation: “As much as commentators enjoy likening politics to bloodsport, it is important to remember that MPs are as prone to strains on their mental health as anyone else – if not more so. A little bit of sympathy could go a long way now Curran has succumbed to the inevitable.” Finally, for an idea of how social media has responded to the resignation, see my blog post, Top tweets about the resignation of Clare Curran.]]>

No finding by Nationals in Barnaby Joyce sexual harassment case

By The Conversation -

September 7, 2018

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

The Nationals have been unable to make a finding on the claim by a woman that former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce sexually harassed her.

Catherine Marriott, former West Australian Rural Woman of the Year, made the allegation at the height of the controversy over Joyce’s affair with his former staffer (and now partner), Vikki Campion. He claimed at the time it was the tipping point that led him to quit the Nationals’ leadership, although he has said subsequently when Campion became pregnant, he always knew he would have to go.

Marriott, who made the complaint in confidence, was highly upset when her name was quickly leaked.

She said in a Friday statement expressing her frustration at the inconclusive result of the eight months investigation that “the outcome simply isn’t good enough”.

She had been told by email on Thursday that the NSW National Party “has been unable to make a determination … due to insufficient evidence”.

“This is despite the investigation finding I was ‘forthright, believable, open and genuinely upset’ by the incident.

“The result of this investigation has underpinned what is wrong with the process and the absolute dire need for change”, she said.

Joyce on Friday had no comment beyond standing by what he had said initially, when he described the accusation as “spurious and defamatory”.

Marriott said she was “extremely disappointed that after eight months of waiting, three trips to the east coast at my own expense to meet with the party, my name and confidential complaint being leaked to the national media, and my personal and professional life being upended, the National Party have reached a ‘no conclusion’ verdict.”

But she said she wasn’t surprised because the party hadn’t had an external process in place to deal with such a complaint “My complaint was handled internally by the NSW National Party executive with no professional external expert brought in at any stage.”

She said the only positive outcome from a “harrowing experience” had been “the development of much improved policy by the party”, which she had encouraged. She was heartened that people who found themselves in similar situations in future “will have a robust policy in place to assist them”.

The outcome of the investigation comes as the Liberal party has been rocked by allegations of bullying during the leadership battle. Several Liberal women have spoken out strongly against the bad behaviour, and MPs are waiting to see whether individuals are named in parliament next week.

– No finding by Nationals in Barnaby Joyce sexual harassment case
– http://theconversation.com/no-finding-by-nationals-in-barnaby-joyce-sexual-harassment-case-102850]]>

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