It’s well established that unsustainable human activity is damaging the health of the planet. The way we use Earth threatens our future and that of many animals and plants. Species extinction is an inevitable end point.
It’s important that the loss of Australian nature be quantified accurately. To date, putting an exact figure on the number of extinct species has been challenging. But in the most comprehensive assessment of its kind, our research has confirmed that 100 endemic Australian species living in 1788 are now validly listed as extinct.
Alarmingly, this tally confirms that the number of extinct Australian species is much higher than previously thought.
A southern black-throated finch, which conservationists say is threatened by the Adani coal mine.ERIC VANDERDUYS/BirdLife Australia
The most precise tally yet
Counts of extinct Australian species vary. The federal government’s list of extinct plants and animals totals 92. However 20 of these are subspecies, five are now known to still exist in Australia and seven survive overseas – reducing the figure to 60.
The states and territories also hold their own extinction lists, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature keeps a global database, the Red List.
An endangered Manning River turtle.AUSTRALIAN REPTILE PARK
Our research collated these separate listings. We excluded species that still exist overseas, such as the water tassel-fern. We also excluded some species that, happily, have been rediscovered since being listed as extinct, or which are no longer recognised as valid species (such as the obscure snail Fluvidona dulvertonensis).
We concluded that exactly 100 plant and animal species are validly listed as having become extinct in the 230 years since Europeans colonised Australia:
4 frogs, including two species of the bizarre gastric-brooding frog which used its stomach as a womb
3 reptiles including the Christmas Island forest skink
1 fish, the Pedder galaxias.
A 19th century illustration of the Pig-footed bandicoot.Wikimedia
Our tally includes three species listed as extinct in the wild, with two of these still existing in captivity.
The mammal toll represents 10% of the species present in 1788. This loss rate is far higher than for any other continent over this period.
The 100 extinctions are drawn from formal lists. But many extinctions have not been officially registered. Other species disappeared before their existence was recorded. More have not been seen for decades, and are suspected lost by scientists or Indigenous groups who knew them best. We speculate that the actual tally of extinct Australian species since 1788 is likely to be about ten times greater than we derived from official lists.
And biodiversity loss is more than extinctions alone. Many more Australian species have disappeared from all but a vestige of their former ranges, or persist in populations far smaller than in the past.
The geographical spread of extinctions across Australia. Darker shading represents a higher extinction tally.
Dating the losses
Dating of extinctions is not straightforward. For a few Australian species, such as the Christmas Island forest skink, we know the day the last known individual died. But many species disappeared without us realising at the time.
Our estimation of extinction dates reveals a largely continuous rate of loss – averaging about four species per decade.
Continuing this trend, in the past decade, three Australian species have become extinct – the Christmas Island forest skink, Christmas Island pipistrelle and Bramble Cay melomys – and two others became extinct in the wild.
Cumulative tally of Australian extinctions since 1788.
The extinctions occurred over most of the continent. However 21 occurred only on islands smaller than Tasmania, which comprise less than 0.5% of Australia’s land mass.
This trend, repeated around the world, is largely due to small population sizes and vulnerability to newly introduced predators.
We must learn from the past
The 100 recognised extinctions followed the loss of Indigenous land management, its replacement with entirely new land uses and new settlers introducing species with little regard to detrimental impacts.
Introduced cats and foxes are implicated in most mammal extinctions; vegetation clearing and habitat degradation caused most plant extinctions. Disease caused the loss of frogs and the accidental introduction of an Asian snake caused the recent loss of three reptile species on Christmas Island.
The causes have changed over time. Hunting contributed to several early extinctions, but not recent ones. In the last decade, climate change contributed to the extinction of the Bramble Cay melomys, which lived only on one Queensland island.
The prospects for some species are helped by legal protection, Australia’s fine national reserve system and threat management. But these gains are subverted by the legacy of previous habitat loss and fragmentation, and the ongoing damage caused by introduced species.
Our own population increase is causing further habitat loss, and new threats such as climate change bring more frequent and intense droughts and bushfires.
But now is not the time to weaken environment laws further. The creation of modern Australia has come at a great cost to nature – we are not living well in this land.
The study on which this article is based was also co-authored by Andrew Burbidge, David Coates, Rod Fensham and Norm McKenzie.
What many are wondering about the results tomorrow include
where does Australia’s education system sit internationally?
which countries are doing better than we are and which are doing worse?
how are we doing internally – across states and territories, between girls and boys, or children from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds?
The last PISA 2015 report, published in 2016, showed Australia was behind countries such as Singapore, Canada and China in maths and science, and below Singapore, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland in reading.
The first PISA test was in 2000. The three assessment domains are rotated every three years, so one domain is the major focus (the major domain). A larger amount of the assessment time is devoted to this domain compared to the other two (the minor domains).
Reading was the major domain in 2000 and 2009, and again in PISA 2018. This means Australia will now have PISA reading results from three different time points. This allows us to investigate trends in average performance (up or down or flat) as well as look at reading in greater detail.
The last results showed Australia had been slipping in maths, science and reading since 2012.from shutterstock.com
The last cycle showed Australia had slipped in each domain since 2012, which means we were getting worse at preparing students for the everyday challenges of adult life. All eyes with be on this report to see whether these declines have been arrested.
What is PISA?
PISA is a two-hour test to see how well students in secondary schools across all 36 OECD countries, and 43 other countries or economies, can apply reading, maths, science and other skills to real-life situations.
Rather than focusing on a particular grade or year level, PISA tests 15 year olds – or more specifically, students who are between 15 years and three months and 16 years and two months at the beginning of the testing period and are enrolled in an educational institution, either full-time or part-time.
This is because, in many of the countries that participated in PISA in the early years, students of this age are usually nearing the end of their compulsory schooling.
The assessment takes place every three years and students are tested in the three areas each cycle. Assessments areas such as financial and computer literacy, or collaborative problem-solving, change from cycle to cycle.
It would be hugely costly and time-consuming to test every 15 year old in the more than 70 participating countries. So a representative random sample of schools is drawn from all schools in each system being tested. Then, a representative sample of students is drawn from within each of those schools.
PISA was not designed to provide scores for individual students or schools – students don’t even complete the same test as the other students in the room. In PISA 2018, for example, there were more than 36 different test forms, covering different parts of the assessment.
In Australia, 740 schools and just over 14,200 students participated in PISA 2018.
What the test looks like
There is major difference between PISA and some other international student assessments such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). This focuses on how well students have learned the content of a defined curriculum.
PISA questions are designed to test students’ applied knowledge in reading, mathematics or science.
For instance, a science question (below) in the last cycle concerned bird migration.
Most migratory birds gather in one area and then migrate in large groups rather than individually. This behaviour is a result of evolution. Which of the following is the best scientific explanation for the evolution of this behaviour in most migratory birds?
birds that migrated individually or in small groups were less likely to survive and have offspring
birds that migrated individually or in small groups were more likely to find adequate food
flying in large groups allowed other bird species to join the migration
flying in large groups allowed each bird to have a better chance of finding a nesting site.
The next question asks students to identify a factor that might make the volunteers’ counts of migrating birds inaccurate, and explain how that will affect the count.
The type of testing has also changed in line with the way our societies have changed in the two decades PISA has been around. Students now take the assessments using computers, for instance.
The nature of reading has changed too, drastically. In the past, reading was mainly about extracting knowledge from linear texts in established sources. When students did not know the answer to a question, teachers could direct them to look in an encyclopaedia and the answer would be trustworthy.
Today, digital search engines provide students with millions of answers, and it is up to students to figure out what is accurate and what is misleading and potentially dangerous. PISA is now testing how students navigate multiple-source texts, deal with ambiguity, distinguish between fact, opinion and sensationalism, and triangulate different sources to construct knowledge.
Why we need PISA
There are many criticisms of PISA. From the fact the OECD allows some countries to test just regions – like B-S-J-Z (China) – to criticisms of the argument an increase in a country’s PISA scores will result in an increase in that country’s economic wealth.
Despite these criticisms, PISA is robust, and provides an idea of how countries are performing comparative to each other. It provides a birds-eye view of a country’s average student performance, or a state’s average student performance.
This allows us to look deeply and identify groups that might not be performing as well as we hope, or skill areas students aren’t grasping well.
And by the way, the answer to the bird question is option one.
In the 1990s, central Dandenong in Melbourne’s southeast was in decline. But, over the past decade and a half, this trend has been halted and in some areas reversed. Our research has identified key elements in this revitalisation, including strong roles for both public sector and non-government participants.
Importantly, the approach has delivered new opportunities for the culturally diverse local community.
At the time these efforts began, a shrinking manufacturing sector and poor urban planning decisions had drained vitality from the centre. New shopping malls and suburban estates enticed people to live and shop elsewhere. Public spaces were dilapidated. Many retail buildings were vacant.
Unsurprisingly, local population levels were stagnating. Affordable rents and a community with strong networks of support attracted some new residents, most from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. However, once settled, many people faced barriers to employment, training and adequate public facilities.
Who is behind the project?
The Victorian government and the City of Greater Dandenong were keen to reverse these trends. They wanted to reinstate the neighbourhood as Melbourne’s second-most-important urban centre. The state government funded the Revitalising Central Dandenong project from 2006.
Since then, and particularly since 2011, the process has also been propelled by local government action and the coordinated efforts of local leaders. They represent business, education, faith communities and social services. These interlinked activities across sectors have arguably been effective in kick-starting the project.
However, some important shortcomings have limited the potential for revitalisation. In particular, the benefits have not reached all of the community.
For example, many female migrants have not had access to suitable employment opportunities. Services are lacking for some marginalised community members, including asylum seekers.
Other concerns include persistent barriers to retail activation (including rising rents and parking costs), emergent threats of gentrification and a lack of major private investment in residential and office development.
Our research briefing explains our findings in detail, including some of these problems.
The development of central Dandenong is continuing.Photo: Hayley Henderson, Author provided
What are the key elements that work?
1. A commitment to redistributive policy
A significant one-off Victorian government investment of A$290 million was the cornerstone of the project, and it has been carefully designed. Experienced professionals appointed to the government development agency, then known as VicUrban, crafted the program.
The early focus was on catalyst projects and the removal of roadblocks to the considered development to follow. These actions included:
special zoning
transferring planning powers to the state government
acquiring about 150 sites for reconfiguration and development.
Given the entrenched decline, revitalisation was unlikely to occur without significant public commitment.
Following the state government’s energetic program start, the local government has taken the reins since 2011. The council gave priority to revitalising works in the centre (see the table of major project spending below) and to covering gaps in the original strategy. This included a housing strategy in response to emerging gentrification.
Data source: City of Greater Dandenong annual reports, 1999-2016, Author provided
Because macro-policy in urban planning often fluctuates, local communities cannot depend on secure, long-term funding for discretionary renewal projects. To achieve revitalisation through redistribution, local government leadership is vital for maintaining focus on one area over others.
Refined skills in urban planning strategy and financial management have also been indispensable to the project.
2. Strong local networks
The public program was enhanced because community leaders already knew each other and were predisposed to work together. They ranged from education providers (such as Chisholm TAFE and Deakin University) and faith groups (such as Interfaith Network) to trade associations (such as South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance) and private sector groups (such as the Committee for Dandenong). These groups worked both together with and separately from the publicly funded program.
Active and organised local leaders provided vital input on strategy design, partnered or led delivery of specific initiatives and put their organisations to work on gaps in the program. They also powerfully advocated for governments to remain focused on revitalisation.
Overall, these strong local networks enabled smoother policy development and delivery. Having an organised and receptive community to engage with was important.
Our research underscores the value of acknowledging the effectiveness of existing local strategies and community capacities. It highlights the need to work collaboratively. This includes a focus on the “soft side” of practice – that is, building relationships.
Enhanced opportunities have been created for many culturally and linguistically diverse communities. How so?
Policies generally support cultural pluralism, as diversity is accommodated and promoted.
Affordability across diverse housing types has been maintained. This supports social mixing between people and a place identity based on cultural diversity.
Diversity in housing types in Dandenong and Greater Melbourne
Changes in housing diversity in Dandenong and Melbourne (% houses versus units/terraces), 2001-2016.Source: developed from ABS Census data 2001, 2006, 2011 & 2016, Author provided
The well-curated mix of land uses in the centre brings in many people and activates public spaces. This approach supports safety, casual encounters and understanding between people.
Dandenong Market has been refurbished by the City of Greater Dandenong.Photo take by Hayley Henderson, Author provided
We found some local services also provided opportunities for people to make lasting connections – for example, language courses run by churches and neighbourhood houses.
Many migrants took up local education, training and employment opportunities (with some important exceptions, especially female migrants).
Our forthcoming analysis on Policy Forum further explains the ethic of cultural pluralism in policy and society.
Overall, urban centres cannot avoid fallout from broader economic restructuring, nor are they immune to poor strategic planning decisions or funding cuts that affect their prospects. Central Dandenong shows revitalisation can occur despite significant disadvantage. It has been achieved through a combination of public sector leadership and an interconnected and active local community.
Productivity growth matters. In advanced economies over the past 15 years it has fallen by half.
Which is why it doesn’t make much sense to risk damaging one of the most important potential sources for future growth in productivity: the rollout of 5G.
5G is the next generation of wireless technology. Download speeds will be many times faster than what is possible under 4G.
And it’s not just speed. It’ll cut latency, which is the time it takes for signals to start travelling – something that will be critically important for the Internet of Things.
Nurtured well, 5G has the potential to become a “general-purpose technology”, analogous to electricity.
It holds open he possibility of creating new markets for goods and services that we can’t yet imagine.
The best suppliers of the gear required for 5G are in China, most notably Huawei, which has made the heaviest investments in the relevant technology but the problem is that Huawei caught up in security concerns.
There is a risk that the rejection of Huawei by some will end up, in the longer term, dividing the world into zones committed to different standards, limiting interconnection.
One estimate suggests that banning Huawei could push up costs 30%.
Huawei poses risks…
In announcing what amounted to bans on Huawei (and also China’s ZTE), the Australian government said 5G required a change in the way the networks operate compared to previous mobile technologies.
These changes will increase the potential for threats to our telecommunications networks, and these threats will increase over time as more services come online.
The government had found “no combination of technical security controls that sufficiently mitigate the risks”.
Vendors likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from foreign governments risked failure to adequately protect 5G networks from unauthorised access or interference.
Southeast Asian economies are considering degrees of engagement with Huawei.
Worth continuing attention by Australia is what former US defence secretary Robert Gates calls the “small yard, high fence” approach.
It means defining exactly where the risks lie and intervening directly to manage them, something Europe is working on.
The US appeared to be struggling after Trump’s May order. The Commerce Department was given 150 days to come up with regulations to implement it. It released a draft only last week.
There were reports of tension in the US between those who would take the risk-based approach and others who would simply keep Huawei on the banned provider list.
Commerce has, finally, proposed a case by case approach, and has not named any particular provider. But the Federal Communications Commission has banned Huawei from access to its universal services subsidies.
International cooperation could give us room to solve the problem. It could include cooperation with China. China and Australia share concerns about cybersecurity and could together in the same way as we do over other standards to facilitate trade.
Attempting to completely eliminate risk could lumber us with big costs. Some would be financial, others might come from stunting the next technological revolution.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanna Mendelssohn, Principal Fellow (Hon), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, University of Melbourne
Review: Hugh Ramsay, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Hugh Ramsay’s Two girls in white, known for many years as The sisters, is one of my first memories of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
I was intrigued by these women wearing fancy clothes, who were interesting rather than pretty.
Later I came to appreciate how Ramsay used obvious strokes of paint to imply texture, as well as the many different colours that were white. When I studied art history, I realised the painting was in part an homage to the virtuoso treatment of fabric by John Singer Sargent and the tonality of James McNeil Whistler.
However, the faces don’t fit the model of fashionable Edwardian portraiture. There is no flattery here. Their strong, raw features imply honesty and strength of character. Who were they, and why were they staring so intently?
The answer lies in the date, 1904, two years before Ramsay died of tuberculosis at the age of 28.
Two girls in white is a composite study of three of Ramsay’s sisters, looking at the brother who has been told that the decision to paint them will shorten his life. And those red flushed cheeks on one of the two? The figure on the right is a combination of the elegant Madge and Jessie, who nursed the acutely ill Ramsay when he returned from Paris. Jessie died four years later from the same illness. Rosy cheeks are one symptom of the disease.
The Ramsay exhibition is a visual record of the pathways leading to this work.
It opens with the rigorous but dull teachings of Bernard Hall at Melbourne’s National Gallery School. Ramsay excelled in painting the precise backs of nudes so valued by his teacher, but he recognised the limitations of Hall’s pedagogy.
Instead, he sought the company of artists recently returned from Paris, befriending the older John Longstaff, who would become a lifelong mentor.
Self-portrait in white jacket (1901-1902).National Gallery of Victoria
Ramsay’s father, who had brought the family from Scotland when the artist was a baby, objected to his career choice. He had some financial help from an older brother but the young artist raised most of his own money to travel to Paris. The cold and malnutrition he experienced as a result of poverty was one of the triggers for his final illness.
With the exception of some commissions, most of Ramsay’s subjects were his sisters, his friends, and himself. One advantage of such a limited repertoire is that it is easier to track how his art developed in Paris.
There is a liberation of paint, but a continuance of the muted palette first seen in Melbourne. He ventured into fashionable decorative symbolism, but for the most part he placed himself in the academic tradition of Velázquez, with a nod to Whistler and sometimes Sargent with his virtuoso frills and furbelows.
At NGA, a series of self-portraits dominates one wall, each giving subtly different approaches to tone, using his body as an element in the overall composition.
Interior of artist’s studio (1901)National Gallery of Victoria
There is no figure in Interior of an artist’s studio, but this exquisite small study, balancing forms and shapes in tonal harmony, gives an idea of one direction his art may have taken if illness had not intervened.
Then there is the deliberately angular Jeanne, a Whistler inspired portrait of his concierge’s daughter. The muted tones of the thinly applied paint are lifted by the red bow in the little girl’s hair.
The grandest of patrons was Patterson’s relative by marriage, Nellie Melba. The exhibition includes a small study for the grand portrait that Ramsay planned to paint of her. He travelled to London for the commission but just as his talents were being noticed, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis.
Melba lent him money to return to Australia, where she hosted a solo exhibition at her house in Toorak. She continued her support him with commissions to paint a portrait of her ailing father and her niece, Nellie Patterson.
It seems Ramsay was determined to leave a legacy that would endure. After he was told painting would exacerbate his illness, Ramsay painted his largest work, An equestrian portrait, a study of his doctor’s son.
An equestrian portrait (1903).National Gallery of Victoria
He painted portraits of his sisters, culminating in Two girls in white, which he completed in 1904. It is not his final painting. There was another, incomplete, self-portrait, focusing on his solemn face, looking at the underlying structure of his bones, painted just months before his death.
Ramsay was perhaps luckier in his afterlife than in his life. For well over a century, his family have worked to ensure his place in Australian art history. As well as donating many works to public collections, they have endowed the Hugh Ramsay Chair of Australian Art History.
If he were not such an outstanding artist this familial devotion to his memory would be awkward. As it is, the Ramsay family have done us all a service in keeping Ramsay’s name alive in the narrative of Australia’s art history.
Hugh Ramsay is showing at the National Gallery of Australia until March 2020
Whether or not this would “modernise” the law, these are media-friendly reforms that will make it harder for people to succeed in suing a news organisation in defamation. The campaign for media freedom by Australia’s news organisations has paid off.
A new public interest defence
Perhaps the most significant aspect of this proposal is a new defence of “responsible communication in the public interest” – a version of a defence developed in New Zealand.
The defence protects certain communications made by the person being sued, like a newspaper or a journalist. It requires the defendant to prove, firstly, that the matter is of public interest, and secondly, that its publication is responsible.
The defence will probably become the focus of a lot of litigation.
For example, if an issue is interesting to the public, does that mean that reporting on it is in the public interest? The public may be interested in what happened to the Prime Minister at Engadine Maccas in 1997, but that doesn’t mean reporting on it is in the public interest.
When is a publication “responsible”? The proposed changes set out a list of relevant factors, which include
the extent to which the matter published relates to the performance of the public functions or activities of the person.
In other words, reporting on politicians is more likely to be “responsible” than reporting on what your neighbour is up to.
Another factor relevant to whether reporting is “responsible” is the sources of the information in the matter published, including the source’s integrity.
This is a good addition. It means journalists won’t have a defence if they engage in dodgy journalism.
We do already have a version of this public interest defence called “qualified privilege”. This defence remains, with some tweaks, under the proposed reforms. But the new public interest defence is stronger.
A key difference between qualified privilege and the new defence is qualified privilege is defeated if the publication was made with malice.
Inspired by UK legislation, it means a person cannot even sue unless they have actually suffered, or are likely to suffer, serious harm.
Although this will stop petty stuff clogging up the courts, it may create a whole new source of work for defamation lawyers, such as mini fights, called interlocutory disputes, over whether the harm caused by a publication is “serious” enough.
On the other hand, this change may deter some people from suing at all.
Less money for defamation plaintiffs
Other proposed reforms include tweaks to the cap on damages for non-economic loss. There is already an upper limit on the amount of damages that may be awarded for defamation which does not cause measurable economic loss but still harms the plaintiff’s reputation.
The cap can be exceeded if the defendant was particularly dodgy, where “aggravated damages” are justified. In cases like that brought by Geoffrey Rush, courts have interpreted the legislation to mean massive awards are available if the defendant has done something to “aggravate” the plaintiff’s suffering.
The proposed change clarifies that the cap applies even if aggravated damages are justified. But aggravated damages may then be awarded on top of the capped amount in serious cases.
Basically, this means we’ll probably see smaller sums of money being awarded to winners of defamation cases.
A single publication rule
Under legislation called Limitation Acts, a person wronged by another only has a certain amount of time they can sue.
For defamation, time starts running out when “publication” occurs.
But under existing laws, there is a new publication each time something is downloaded from the internet. This is called the “multiple publication rule”. It means online publishers, like news organisations, are under perpetual threat of being sued.
Under the proposed changes, there will be a “single publication rule”. Time starts running when the matter is first posted or uploaded, and then “runs out” after one year, or after three years in certain cases. It’s another significant improvement for the media.
A big win for the media
These proposed reforms adjust the balance between freedom of speech and protection of reputation struck by defamation law, expanding freedom of speech and enhancing media freedom.
Is that a good thing? It cuts both ways.
Freedom of speech is great until a smear campaign ruins your life. We should not buy into the far-right dogma that “freedom good” no matter what.
Media freedom is good, but absolute media freedom will lead to a nastier, more brutish public discourse. I worry these changes will embolden some sections of the media to engage in more aggressive political take-downs – more “gotcha” journalism.
This is not much of a victory for mainstream Australia. More than anyone else, this is a win for the lucky few who hold they keys to Australia’s media, whose support is essential to the political survival of those proposing these changes.
What next?
These proposed reforms are just that: proposed. Those in charge of the reform process are inviting submissions.
If the reforms are carried out in mid-2020, they will be “stage one”. A second stage of reforms will look at the liability of digital platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
If traditional media companies have their way, these companies eating into their advertising revenue could also be sued in defamation law. That would be great for media barons, journalists with insecure employment, and defamation lawyers like me.
Many remember Clive James as the wry television presenter, but long before his small screen success, he honed his performing and writing skills at the University of Sydney.
As James himself recognised, they were the lucky beneficiaries of a generous Commonwealth Scholarship Scheme:
Menzies educated the whole generation that would later on vilify his memory. That made all the difference as we were all at university.
It was right time, right place, and these students revitalised drama on campus, drawing the attention of mainstream critics with their stylish productions of the classics, and some of the most innovative contemporary drama from England and Europe, in addition to the irreverent, political and satirical annual university revues they themselves wrote and staged.
Sydney University’s season of three plays.Author provided (No reuse)
In revues
James was a prolific writer, contributing a steady stream of articles, poems and reviews to the student newspaper, Honi Soit. He documented the torrent of productions, including the world stage premiere of Beckett’s radio play All That Fall, Leo Schofield’s somewhat subversive production of HMS Pinafore, and he especially loved Ken Horler’s direction of Capek’s satirical Insect World, singling out Rosaleen Smyth as “a star” in the making.
“I can think of no other thing to say about her that could convey the way I see this actress,” wrote James, although as he was well known to be smitten with Smyth, his journalistic objectivity was shaky at best.
By 1958 he had launched himself into writing for the university revues: his skits were so good that they were recycled in revues for years to come.
His funny take on the Helen of Troy myth featured in the 1960 revue. In it actor Jenny Towndrow burst onto the stage (“like a nuclear explosion” according to Honi Soit), as Cassandra, singing:
Zippy de do dah
Zippy de eh
I’ve had a hint of a horrible day
Hordes of destruction heading our way
Zippy de do dah
Zippy de eh…
Having completed her calamitous prophesy she skipped off again, and Priam and Hecuba deadpanned:
Priam: She’s a gloomy girl.
Hecuba: Never liked to play with the other children.
Inherent vice
In 1961, James not only directed the revue, Wet Blankets, but also wrote eight of its 14 skits. He had, according to his contemporaries, very clear ideas on how his work should be performed – indeed, some believed he wanted to perform all his own work himself.
Clive James and Brian Sommers co-directed Wet Blankets.Author provided (No reuse)
James was keenly aware of the powerful lure of the stage. The previous year the Sydney University Players staged an ambitious season of plays, with profits being donated to the Sydney Opera House Building Fund.
Schofield directed the Australian premiere of Brecht’s Good Woman of Setzuan, and Horler (later one of the founders, along with Bell, of the Nimrod Theatre) created a highly acclaimed production of Twelfth Night, starring Bell as Malvolio and Gaden as Sir Toby Belch. But the season kicked off in a city theatre, with Lysistrata.
In this classic Greek comedy, set in the Trojan Wars, the womenfolk deny their fighting men sex as a strategy to end the wars. This “sex theme” attracted the attention of the state censor, who two years later would ban one of Bruce Beresford’s early student films, It Droppeth As the Gentle Rain, for obscenity.
Two policemen dutifully attended the first performance of Lysistrata but no further action was taken. On the second night of the season, with the vice squad safely out of the way, James bounced on stage as a Spartan herald – with a large, rolled scroll strategically angled under his very short Grecian tunic. James revelled in the audience’s delighted reaction.
One-time girlfriend Jill Kitson (who became an ABC broadcaster), was also in the cast, and vows this was the moment from which James set out to publicly perform as part of his brilliant career. Writing decades later, Schofield reflected that those who had seen the production “recognised early two … of Clive’s ruling passions, sex and showbiz”.
James was among the Brilliant Creatures who led the cultural revolution of the 1960s.
Lasting legacy
The friendships and collaborations formed while television was in its infancy have flourished for over six decades and enriched cultural life in Australia and beyond.
In an interview for our book The Ripples Before the New Wave: Drama at the University of Sydney 1957-63, James modestly told Robyn Dalton and myself he was convinced:
One day we’ll all be remembered, if we are, because we once knew Madeleine St John. She was the genius; we didn’t know it at the time.
St John, the first Australian nominated for the Booker Prize, wrote a series of sparkling novels James loved. Her book Women in Black follows the lives of a group of department store employees in 1959 Sydney and includes a main character based on another of James’ university friends. James recommended it to Beresford who optioned the film rights.
The character of Lisa (Angourie Rice) in Ladies in Black was based on Colleen Olliffe (Chesternan) – a university friend of James, Beresford and St John.IMDB
Beresford’s acclaimed 2018 film, Ladies in Black, is a loving tribute to the era when this group of young people were taking their first steps in their adult lives.
James’ contributions then, and since, will ensure that he too, will be long and fondly remembered.
We all want to reduce drug-related harm and ensure young people don’t take unnecessary risks. But decades of research shows fear isn’t an effective way to do this.
This week, Newscorp Australia released The Ripple Effect, a series of articles and accompanying videos about party drugs, aimed at parents of young people.
Rather than drawing on the science about reducing harm, the series overstates the nation’s drug problem and the likelihood of problems from taking MDMA (ecstasy). And it’s likely to scare the wits out of parents of teens.
So, what do parents really need to know about party drugs?
Most young people don’t use drugs
Illicit drug use among teens is low and has been in decline for nearly a decade.
Although Australians overall have a relatively high rate of MDMA use compared to similar countries, only a small proportion of teenagers (around 3%) and young adults (7%) have used MDMA in the last year. Among high school students, the overwhelming majority (94%) have never tried MDMA.
Normalising the idea that drug use isn’t that common is a key prevention strategy in drug education. If young people think “everyone” is using drugs, they are more likely to want to do it too.
Scare tactics don’t work
As the Ripple Effect notes, NSW Health decided to drop a “shock campaign” on MDMA. The evidence shows scare tactics don’t help reduce young people’s drug use.
Fatal overdoses are relatively rare. Most people who use party drugs have no adverse consequences. So when young people see messages suggesting all drug use is dangerous, they know it’s not true and may switch off, ignoring effective harm reduction messages.
Describing drugs as “deadly” or “dangerous” can actually make them more appealing, encouraging some people to seek out more of the potent product.
The idea we can eliminate drugs from society by telling young people to “just say no” is, at best, misguided. Campaigns with a prohibition approach are not effective.
These interventions fail for many reasons. They don’t teach teens the interpersonal skills needed to refuse drugs; they don’t address internal motivation to experiment or take risks; and they don’t take into account the “forbidden fruit” effect in which restricted or banned activities become more desirable.
Young people who use drugs say the threat of police and drug dogs does not deter them from taking drugs. The NSW Coroner recently noted that some police practices at festivals, such as strip searches and sniffer dogs, can result in young people making more dangerous decisions about drug use, such as taking multiple doses at once.
The reality is that a small percentage of people will experiment with drugs and some will continue to use them. Harm reduction accepts that reality and seeks to keep those who choose to use drugs as safe as possible. Most people who use drugs do so only occasionally and for a short time in their lives.
While all drug use carries risks, most drug-related problems, including fatal overdoses, are preventable. This is because drug-related harms are heavily dependent on a range of factors such as temperature, knowledge of what you are taking, and how you take a drug.
How events such as music festivals are regulated impacts the kinds of harms that arise. Freely available water, medical staff who understand drug use, peer support and education can greatly reduce risks.
Data from a dance festival pill testing initiative in Portugal found 74% of participants would not use the tested drug after receiving unanticipated results; they said they were concerned about the “unknown” nature of the adulterants or potential harms of known adulterants.
Talk early, openly and often to young people about drugs
Remember, few young people use recreational drugs. And if they do, their drug use is most likely to be occasional. More than half the people who use MDMA use only once or twice a year.
Preventing drug use and reducing harms can start at an early age, even before school. Early and age-appropriate education about medicines, tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs means a young person already has well-formed attitudes before the influence of their peers kicks in.
Children are strongly influenced by their parents’ attitudes when it comes to alcohol and other drug use. For example, exposure to parents’ drinking or drug use can increase risk of teens drinking and using drugs; an inattentive approach to monitoring children’s activities is associated with teen alcohol and other drug use; and openness to discussing drugs is associated with lower rates of substance use.
Young people with parents who keep an open and honest dialogue about drugs are more likely to discuss difficult issues with them.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Webber, Research Fellow in Human-Computer Interaction and Animal-Computer Interaction, University of Melbourne
Earlier this week, Russian farmers announced they are testing virtual reality (VR) for dairy cows.
Conducted at the RusMoloko farm near Moscow, the trials supposedly use specially adapted goggles to show the animals a view of a pleasant field in summer. The idea is to make the cows happier, which in turn could make them produce more milk.
Some have doubts over whether the tests are real, and it wouldn’t be the first time pictures of animals in VR headsets have been used to capture public attention. Similar images of CatVR and “virtual free range” chickens have appeared in the past.
But to take the idea seriously, at least for a moment: can animals perceive virtual reality the same way we do? And would it do them any good?
The grass may be greener in virtual reality, but you can’t eat it.Moscow Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Virtual entertainment for animals
Unfortunately for the emerging VR industry, there is little to suggest that gazing on a virtual landscape will make cattle happier.
Could virtual reality for animals ever be a good idea? Cognition researchers working with chimpanzees have given the animals access to a virtual maze environment to study their spatial cognition abilities.
In this research the chimps were given food rewards when they successfully located objects in the maze. There’s no evidence they enjoyed the VR experience for its own sake. And the chimps didn’t wear VR headsets; the virtual world was displayed on a computer screen and the animals navigated using a joystick.
A visual VR experience might be appealing to humans, but would likely have less inherent value for animals. Humans can understand symbolic imagery, complex language-based events, and the written word. So visual technologies such as television, smartphones and VR can provide us with long-lasting entertainment, intellectual stimulation, and social connection.
This is not so for other species. While some dogs might watch TV, their interest is usually short-lived unless it has a meaningful outcome, such as the opportunity to chase and bark at animals on the screen. Similarly, some cats play with iPads and digital toys for short periods, but usually only keep up the behaviour if they are intermittently given a reward when they catch the “prey”.
At the same time, there is interest in providing cattle with “environmental enrichment”. This takes the form of objects and activities to provide physical and mental stimulation, in the same vein as toys and puzzles for pets and zoo animals. As well as improving the animals’ well-being, it seems to improve dairy production outcomes.
Good animal enrichment addresses the physical and behavioural needs of different species that are not already met in their existing environment. Good enrichment can also give animals more agency – more control over their lives and their environment. For cows, enrichment might look more like a sophisticated brush than a VR headset.
Cows can choose how and when to use the brushing machine.
In our research, we have investigated approaches to designing technology-based enrichment that responds to animals’ real needs. In 2016 we trialled digital enrichment for orangutans at Melbourne Zoo, offering the animals a range of games and apps that could be made more complex as animals learn.
How tech for animals can change humans
There seems to be something inherently fascinating in seeing animals using technology that is “meant for humans”.
When we provided digital games for orangutans at Melbourne Zoo, we investigated the effect on visitors’ perceptions of the primates. We found that seeing the animals using technology influenced people’s empathy for the orangutans. Others have also proposed that digital games for pigs might encourage people to reflect on the needs of farm animals.
So while VR for cows may not directly improve their well-being, it just might encourage people to think more about what animals need.
University of Canberra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Leigh Sullivan and Michelle Grattan discuss the “unexpected” loss of the government’s union legislation. They also talk about the ongoing saga with Angus Taylor’s letter to the Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore. They then look towards the last parliamentary sitting week of the year, where the government will have another challenging legislation to pass through the Senate – the repeal of the Medevac bill.
There has been little real debate on an important Government announcement made last weekend. Justice Minister Andrew Little said the Government had decided to give the right to vote back to prisoners with sentences of three years or less.
Perhaps it’s appropriate that there was no great reaction. After all, the change affects so few prisoners – about 1900 – and is likely to have no real electoral impact. And, in fact, the Government was probably keen for as little publicity as possible, given their fear of any negativity from conservative voters about being too liberal on crime.
The National Party sought to create a backlash over the issue, with leader Simon Bridges calling the decision “soft on crime” and promising to reverse the decision once in government. But, despite the rhetoric, there isn’t actually a huge difference between the major parties on the issue, as Labour has decided to retain the voting ban on prisoners with longer sentences. Essentially, they’ve agreed to revert to the pre-2010 situation in which only those prisoners with sentences of more than three years are prohibited from voting.
I’ve written about this today in the Guardian, arguing that this amounts to a half-measure, and is the bare minimum the Government could get away with given recent declarations against the ban from the Waitangi Tribunal and the Supreme Court – see: Ardern’s prisoner voting compromise exposes the cynicism of NZ politics.
I argue this compromise “solution” falls short of what progressives might really want: “Progressives – and possibly even most Labour MPs – support all prisoners being given the right to vote. But the government fears this would be too unpopular and so has compromised, hoping to appease progressive voters with an improvement, but not scare conservatives by retaining the voting ban for the worst criminals.”
Essentially the Labour-led Government is allowing the National Party to set the agenda on law and order issues, and it “doesn’t augur well for next year’s election campaign, which could descend into an auction of awfulness on crime and punishment.”
Other commentators have also lamented that the Government hasn’t been braver. Blogger No Right Turn says the decision “raises a number of questions. Most obviously, why they’re not going the whole way, and restoring voting rights to every prisoner, rather than just going back to the status quo ante? Because the arguments for short-term prisoners being able to vote apply just as powerfully to long-term ones. But Labour is the government of half-measures, so I guess that’s all we’ll ever get from them” – see: Erasing the infamy.
Former Alliance MP Liz Gordon has challenged the decision to re-introduce the three-year prison sentence as the threshold for voting rights: “While National can be criticised for its essentially nonsensical position, the Labour coalition really are not much better. What the government has done is applied exactly the same test as National but simply drawn the line higher. Those people sentenced to more than three years in prison are beyond the pale. They should not be allowed to vote. Really? Why three years, and not two or four?” – see: Votes for all.
Gordon ponders whether Labour’s argument for excluding some prisoners from voting amounts to some sort of slippery slope: “Are ‘prisoners’ the only category we may want to exclude? How about ‘white supremacists’, for example, or men who watch child pornography. That’s the tricky thing about values – they are a slippery slope down which the principles of a universal suffrage can quickly disappear.”
Similarly, Gordon Campbell puts the case against the three-year “arbitrary” threshold for human rights: “Usually when the state imposes subsequent restrictions on rights in the wake of criminal sentences being served – eg on the future ability to own weapons, or to drive vehicles – there is a direct connection between the original offence and this subsequent restriction of rights. Cancelling the right to vote though, bears no such connection to the original offence. It seems utterly gratuitous” – see: On restoring prisoners’ right to vote.
A moderate path had to be found, because “the Labour Party again finds itself in a halfway house pleasing no one between the ‘hard on crime’ coalition partner New Zealand First and the ‘soft on crime’ confidence and supply partner in the Greens.”
Elaborating on this, the Otago Daily Times pointed out earlier that liberalising too much would be seen as “soft on law and order” and would not be “a winning strategy” – see the editorial, Prisoners and the right to vote.
The newspaper endorsed a compromise solution: “The middle road, that established before 2010, might not satisfy the purists on each end of the debate. But sometimes such approaches are pragmatic and as just as possible.”
But is the issue even that important? Not according to talkback radio host Andrew Dickens, who says Anger over prisoner voting rights is a lot of hot air. He says both sides of the debate are engaging in “hollow virtue signalling” over something of little consequence – especially as few prisoners are likely to take up the opportunity to vote anyhow.
Similarly, columnist Martin van Beynen thinks it’s a non-issue: “The kerfuffle reflects a trend where a minor issue distracts from more important problems much more deserving of attention. Those relatively trivial issues then become like a scout badge for the bleeding heart left, another box to tick to prove their empathy with the oppressed” – see: Prisoners have forfeited the right to vote.
Van Beynen also succinctly explains why prisoners shouldn’t be allowed to vote: “Some have asked what purpose the disfranchisement serves. Pretty obvious, I would have thought. A prison sentence is essentially treating adults like naughty and sometimes dangerous toddlers.”
Liam Hehir gives a more theoretical explanation: “The basic premise of the social contract is that people exchange total freedom of action for the protection the rules the legitimate government. If you are found unwilling to adhere to those rules, being stripped of your right to influence them for the period of your ostracisation. After all, what is prison but a period of suspended freedom? When the prisoner is restored to the community, he or she is then, of course, permitted to participate in the act of governing once more. The return full democratic and civil rights is mark of the former prisoner’s restoration to society” – see: Prisoner voting ban: Not required; not not required.
But what does the public think about the issue? According to a recent Colmar Brunton survey, there’s a majority in favour of liberalisation: “The poll found 26 per cent of people believed all prisoners should vote and 28 per cent wanted just prisoners serving sentences with three years or less to be able to vote – pulling total support for sentences three years or less to 53 per cent. Forty-four per cent were against any prisoner voting” – see 1News’ Pressure to reinstate prisoner voting rights grows as 1News poll reveals over 50 per cent public backing.
One prisoner is quoted, making the case against the prisoner voting ban: “I’ve voted in every other election prior to coming to jail and I had hoped that my human rights would have been upheld… It raises the concern that if they’re willing to overlook our human rights, who’s next? People in the community – the disabled, mental health facilities – who else is at risk of losing their vote?”
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Olver, Professorial Research Fellow. School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide
Clive James has left a valuable legacy of astute observation and witty interpretation of his world through his writing. He has also left another legacy. He has increased public awareness of leukaemia by sharing his cancer diagnosis over the decade before his recent death.
I’m getting near the end. I’m a man who is approaching his terminus.
So, many people may be surprised to hear he died nine years after this diagnosis.
What is leukaemia?
Leukaemia is a cancer in the bone marrow where the white blood cells are formed. This results in the production of greatly increased numbers of abnormal white cells in the blood. These crowd out the production of normal blood cells.
The condition is called acute leukaemia if it develops rapidly, or chronic leukaemia if it progresses slowly.
The type of leukaemia is defined by what type of white cells are affected. For example, lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that help the body fight infection by producing antibodies. If they become cancerous, lymphocytic leukaemia results.
Leukaemia develops when the genes which help control the growth of the lymphocytes become altered. What causes this damage is not clear but there can be an increased risk in some families.
Clive James had chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Around 1,000 Australians each year are diagnosed with this type. It’s most common in people over 60, and more common in men than women.
People can go to their doctor looking pale, and complaining of tiredness and breathlessness when exercising. They are anaemic (have low levels of red blood cells), and have high levels of white blood cells.
They may bruise easily and are prone to infections. Glands in the neck, the armpits and the groin may be swollen or there may be discomfort under the left rib cage because of a swollen spleen. They may have lost weight and have started to sweat at night.
Some people do not have any symptoms. They find out they have chronic lymphocytic leukaemia after having a blood test for some other reason.from www.shutterstock.com
Many of these symptoms could be due to other causes such as a viral infection. But a diagnosis of leukaemia is made with a blood test showing increased numbers of white blood cells or a bone marrow biopsy (a sample taken of the bone marrow), which reveals the overgrowth of the abnormal white blood cells.
Some people do not have any symptoms. They find out they have chronic lymphocytic leukaemia after having a blood test for some other reason.
People with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia don’t need to be treated until they have symptoms. So it may be several years before treatment starts.
Then, the treatment is chemotherapy, commonly with the drugs fludarabine and cyclophosphamide. These are often combined with an antibody, rituximab, which targets the abnormal white cells.
These treatments will not cure the disease, but can help control it for long periods of time. Further drugs are also being developed.
People with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia are also advised to avoid infections, which may overwhelm a vulnerable or weakened immune system. Avoiding contact with people who are unwell, maintaining good personal hygiene and having flu shots are among what’s recommended.
What’s the life expectancy?
The life expectancy of a person diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia can range from a few months to several decades. The mid-range is around ten years, as it was with Clive James.
Just over 80 out of 100 adults diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia will still be alive after five years.
This shows the type of leukaemia is vital to determining the time-course of the disease. Adults with chronic leukaemias survive much longer than those with acute leukaemias, where only a quarter of those diagnosed are expected to be alive five years after diagnosis.
About just under half of people with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia die when the disease progresses. Others die of infections because their immune system is not working as well as normal, and one-fifth of people die of other cancers. One-quarter die of illnesses unrelated to their leukaemia.
People can become very unwell when multiple illnesses add to their symptoms, reducing their quality of life.
An example is emphysema, permanent damage to the lungs often associated with heavy smoking. This restricted Clive James from flying and therefore returning to visit his Australian birthplace in his last years.
Although unrelated to chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, emphysema could increase the likelihood of lung infections when paired with it. Other illnesses can also make a person too weak to tolerate the side effects of their leukaemia drugs.
Clive James entertained and informed us as he shared his observations on his life through decades of writing. So it is fitting he should be publicly sharing the health issues that resulted in his death. As such, he provided one last opportunity to educate his readers — in this instance about leukaemia.
Christmas is a stressful time for many, so not surprisingly it’s also known as the season for arguments.
Some assume it’s because we share the time with family members, who we’re more likely to argue with because of bottled-up resentment or some other annoyance we’ve been secretly nurturing. Others put it down to alcohol.
But, in either case, under normal circumstances people are usually adept at keeping potentially hurtful comments to themselves. So why is it that we’re more likely to say things we might later regret during Christmas?
Over the past three years we’ve been studying why people say things they later regret. Released this week in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, our research discovered in eight experiments over three years the same variable consistently explains why people disclose things that cause them anguish.
From innocuous faux pas to more serious disclosures of secretive information, in each experiment we found “arousal” explains tendencies to disclose information that probably should have been concealed.
Christmas is stressful, and stress leads to chronic arousal. When people are aroused, they’re more likely to say things they probably shouldn’t.
So what is arousal? And why does it cause people to say things they later regret?
Essentially, arousal is the degree to which an individual is awake and alert. You might assume being awake and alert would increase rather than decrease the accuracy of what we say – but this appears not to be the case.
The reason is because arousal uses up so-called “cognitive resources” — basically brain power. Because there are less conscious cognitive resources available for controlling what comes out of our mouths, our minds default to more automatic, and seemingly less considered, responses. When we lose conscious control over what we say, it becomes more likely we’ll disclose information that we would otherwise keep to ourselves.
Our research finds that information we’re usually careful about concealing, such as secrets and very personal information, is more likely to be disclosed when we default to more automatic responses. We found arousal makes people reveal more personal information, disclose secrets, reveal incriminating information and share frowned-upon experiences with strangers.
In our first experiment, we asked participants to write dating profiles. We evoked arousal with half the participants. They disclosed more embarrassing, emotional, intimate and even incriminating information on their dating profiles than those who were relatively relaxed.
A post-hoc study found those people who disclosed such information were less likely to be chosen for a date. The study suggests people who aren’t chilled out are viewed as less ideal partners.
In our second experiment, we found people were more likely to disclose times when they said mean or malicious things to others online, suggesting that arousal increases the disclosure of information that people do not normally like to disclose. Relaxed people, it seems, are better at concealing information and keeping secrets.
In our third study, we evoked arousal by getting people to jog on the spot for 60 seconds. The results found participants were more likely to share embarrassing stories (open up to others) after physical exercise. Usually people might disclose personal information like this to friends and family, but it seems people are more likely to open up to strangers when aroused. This finding suggests that doing physical exercise together might be a better way of getting to know someone than more docile pursuits such as sitting around.
It seems that lowering arousal is the key to gaining more control over what we say. The problem is that the times when we ought to be careful — such as job interviews, media engagements, important work meetings, or romantic encounters — are often arousing, and it is not easy to remain calm and relaxed.
So what are some things people can do to minimise unintended disclosures and save the family from a memorable Christmas for the wrong reasons?
Some techniques are known to reduce daily stress levels and are useful for situations when we’re most riled up. These approaches include consciously controlling your breathing and listening to chilled music. Other techniques for longer-term benefits mirror the advice of health professionals – reduce how much coffee you drink, eat a balanced diet and get enough sleep.
Not only do these steps make you healthier, they also reduce your stress levels and ultimately your control over what you say.
So when you’re opening your pressies or digging into your turkey this Christmas, try to chill out and relax. Turn on the music, breath deeply, and reduce the chance of saying something you might later regret.
Twenty years ago, a group of Australian activists invented open source online publishing, by creating a website that went on to be pivotal in the Battle of Seattle protests.
The violent clash, which took place on November 30, 1999, between anti-globalisation activists and Seattle police, caught the world’s attention. It was also the first large-scale use of technology that allowed anyone to upload stories, photos, and video in a live feed to a website.
Today, online publishing allows multiple people to post text and multimedia content simultaneously to websites in real time, and have others comment on posts.
But this format, used on sites like Facebook and Twitter, was first conceptualised, coded and adopted by a handful of Sydney-based activists back in the 1990s.
These individuals were pioneers in kickstarting the digital disruption of mainstream media, and their actions enabled the world to openly and easily share content online.
Street-based activism
Just days before the events in Seattle, two software programmers, Matthew Arnison in Sydney and Manse Jacobi in Colorado, posted a message on indymedia.org, a new website they had developed.
It read:
The resistance is global… a trans-pacific collaboration has brought this web site into existence. The web dramatically alters the balance between multinational and activist media.
The Seattle Independent Media Centre (Indymedia) website coordinated the protest and allowed reporters to share events to the world, live.
The original Indymedia logo used on the website in 1999, in all its 90s low-pixel glory.Matthew Arnison
The site received 1.5 million hits that week. Arnison had created a movement.
The lead-up
Indymedia’s model was developed by activists in Sydney, several months before it went live on November 30 from a small shopfront in Seattle.
A Reclaim the Streets protest on November 6, 1999, at the corner of King and Wilson streets at Newtown, Sydney.(Private collection)
It was the protest-related needs of these collectives that spurred coders’ efforts to find solutions. Programmers including Arnison began writing code that allowed the sharing of stories, images, and live webcasting.
They built a website (j18.cat.org.au/) to allow global coordination and sharing of live video – what Arnison at the time called “frozen media nuggets”.
When the adapted and fine-tuned model went live in Seattle on November 30, word got out.
Arnison told me that before then, “it was very difficult to share photos and post text and stories online, it was impossible to do in real time and without technical skill and special type of access”.
Imagine a world where sharing a photo or a story online required complex computer skills and often took up to a day. And a “Kids Guide to the Internet” (in VHS) was required for “all that cybernet stuff”.
The start of Active Sydney
Arnison was also part of the groups Community Activist Technology (CAT) and Active Sydney, which prompted the development of software code that let people upload multimedia media stories, links, photos, video or sound material anywhere, anytime, to go live.
In January 1999, the Active Sydney website was launched.
Active Sydney inspired the Seattle site in the way it created an online space for activists to share information about events and actions, using open source code that Arnison made available to anyone around the world wishing to do the same.
Sydney resident and cofounder Gabrielle Kuiper described the site at an Amsterdam conference in March that year as:
…an online interactive forum for information and inspiration about social change in Sydney… It’s the only website which is linked to an email list operating at a city scale.
Political motives
These days we’re used to the idea of information as a commodity owned and exploited by global online corporations.
In the pioneering days of the internet, the beginnings of data commercialisation existed alongside the notion that “information wants to be free”. Hackers and cyberpunks created open source software that enabled the free flow of online content.
In a post written just two months after Wikipedia went live in 2001, Arnison said:
Open publishing is the same as free software. They’re both (r)evolutionary responses to the privatisation of information by multinational monopolies.
Looking back today, this seems ironic. But in 1999 there was a feeling that information and self-expression would tip the scales towards protesters.
Arnison notes there’s “a different type of asymmetry” at play now. He echoed theorist McKenzie Wark by saying that in today’s world, political economies rely on the asymmetry of information as a form of control.
Twenty years after the Seattle clashes, the roles of protester and politician are reversed.
In 1999, protesters used new online tools to challenge free trade. They deployed a form of citizen journalism that countered mainstream reporting, in a bid to share and obtain authentic messages.
Today, populist politicians want to be perceived as authentic, so they use live platforms like Twitter to get messages out directly and avoid the filter of mainstream media.
Back then, protesters challenged world leaders beholden to the decision-making power of multinational free trading bodies. Now, some leaders seek to exit large trading blocks and pursue nationalist trade wars.
What we didn’t see coming
When Arnison spoke to me, he noted that one thing early activist communities didn’t predict was the proliferation of online trolling and hate speech.
Hateful and toxic posts were rare in those eventful early days, when a core activity drove content sharing.
Kuiper said at the time they “had no problems with people writing inappropriate or even boring news”.
“Twenty years ago we didn’t envisage how (the internet) could be corporatised or how personal data could be monetised,” she said.
Perhaps the internet will continue to mature and flip on its head yet again.
Arnison hopes so: “I am hoping … there will be a third stage … where we figure out how to manage that toxic behaviour which made this network so wonderful in the first place.”
As the world struggles to keep tabs on biodiversity decline, conservation largely relies on a single international database to track life on Earth. It is a mammoth and impressive undertaking – but a glaring omission from the list may be frustrating conservation efforts.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List aims to be a “complete barometer of life”. But non-native wildlife is excluded from the list.
Our study, published today in the journal Conservation Biology, questions the wisdom of this omission. It means, for example, vulnerable species facing existential threats in their “home country” may be exterminated freely in another. Excluding these animals, such as wild camels in Australia, and rare Australian frogs living overseas, distorts conservation science.
What counts as ‘native’?
The concept of “native” draws a sharp line between species that count and those that don’t. It is essentially an ethical choice, and a disputed one at that. Regardless of whether one defends or disputes the concept, it is problematic to use a moral term to filter a critical source of scientific data.
Trash Animals: How We Live with Nature’s Filthy, Feral, Invasive, and Unwanted Species.
The invisible components of biodiversity – those populations excluded from conservation’s definition of life – can be found in trash lists, where they are described as invasive, aliens, pests, and feral.
So what does the world look like if we include all wildlife in biodiversity assessments? We rummaged around in the “trash piles” to find out.
When all life counts
By focusing on Australian non-native vertebrate species – amphibians, birds, fishes, mammals, and reptiles – we did something many conservationists would find unthinkable. We added unloved species such as feral cats, cane toads, the Indian myna, and carp to Australia’s biodiversity counts.
We created maps showing the range of 87 species whose ancestors were introduced into Australia, and 47 species native to Australia that were introduced elsewhere, since European colonisation.
Many of these so-called invasive species are at risk of extinction in their native ranges; 32% are assessed as threatened or decreasing in the Red List. For 15 of them, non-native ranges provide a lifeline.
Australia’s vertebrate species that are threatened or near threatened in their native ranges with significant populations overseas. From left-to-right: Indian hog deer, banteng, wild cattle, wild water buffalo, wild camel; wild goat, carp, wild donkey, brumby, Mozambique tilapia; European rabbit, Javan rusa, sambar deer, and (emigrants) green and golden bell frog, growling grass frog.Arian Wallach et al
Not only does Australia contribute to the survival and flourishing of these species, but immigrant vertebrates have also added 52 species to the number of vertebrate species in Australia (after accounting for extinctions).
This number in no way indicates that non-native species replace or make up for those that have been lost. And it does not exonerate humans of their role in causing extinctions. But the current data do not even allow us to acknowledge that these species exist.
Because they are not counted in conservation, these non-native populations are subjected to mass eradication programs. Paradoxically, in assessing how such programs are justified, we found conservation is the most frequently cited reason for killing these wild animals.
Dromedary camels were extinct in the wild for some 5,000 years until they “went feral” in Australia, where they are now endemic. Rather than celebrating what is arguably the most extraordinary rewilding event in the world, wild camels were declared a pest. Between 2009 and 2013, Australia spent A$19 million to gun down 160,000 individuals of a species found nowhere else on Earth in the wild.
Likewise, 89% of the global distribution of Javan rusa, a deer species vulnerable to extinction, is in Australia. As pest, they are culled and hunted for sport.
Stated motivations for killing Australia’s immigrant vertebrate wildlife, shown as percentages of species targeted per taxonomic group. Numbers above bars indicate absolute number of species targeted.
Mass killing of non-native species, if questioned at all, is generally explained as protecting native species. But ecology is complex. But one cannot simply assume that all non-native populations, in all contexts, do nothing but harm.
Where non-native species do contribute to the loss of native species, humans need to confront the ethical complexities and shoulder real responsibility, rather than simply reach for a gun as a first solution.
In many situations changing harmful human behaviours, like persecuting apex predators such as dingoes, can solve problems that appear to be caused solely by non-native species.
Irrespective of whether we value non-native species or not, there is no scientific justification for expunging large swaths of the living world from conservation data. Smuggling ethically dubious distinctions into data harms conservation science, and has grave repercussions.
Persisting with the assumption that we have the right to pick and choose which species “count” looks like playing God. By now, we should have learned we must not.
More than half of year 10 music students in NSW dropped the subject by the time they reached year 12. Their teachers said this was so they could choose subjects that would help them get a higher ATAR.
These are the findings of my PhD study where I looked at data across NSW schools and conducted interviews with music teachers.
An average of 56% of students in year 10 music courses dropped out by the time they reached year 12 between 2008 and 2016. This comes to an average of around 7,200 music students lost between year 10 and 12.
Interviews with 50 teachers at 23 schools around NSW – including comprehensive, selective, independent and Catholic – suggest many of their best music students opt for subjects that will perform better when it comes to their ATAR.
I took figures from every school across NSW that offered music at the Higher School Certificate (HSC) level.
There were 13,005 students taking year 10 music in 2014. This dropped to 7,001 by year 11, in 2015. By the time year 12 rolled around in 2016, only 5,294 of the student cohort were enrolled in an HSC music subject.
That’s an average loss of 58.6% of music students.
The numbers are similar for every year 12 graduating cohort from 2007 to 2015.
Music is often scaled down
Students starting year 11 must choose the subjects they want to study for the next two years. These choices can be made for a range of reasons: what they’re good at, what they’re interested in and what may help them in the future.
But a student may also be aiming to get into a university degree with a particular ATAR cut-off. Then, it may be reasonable, and even somewhat responsible, for that student to consider both what they may be good at and what has historically scaled well, to maximise their chance of getting the ATAR they’re hoping for.
Scaling is the process by which all student marks in HSC courses are adjusted to become “the marks the students would have received if all courses had the same candidature and the same mark distribution”.
This means a mark in one subject, such as music, can be scaled lower than the same mark in another subject, such as physics. For instance, in 2018 in NSW, a total mark of 93 in Music 1 (one of the two senior music courses available) was scaled down to 72.2. While a total mark of 89 in physics was scaled to 84.4.
The Universities Admission Centre’s report on scaling in HSC recommends students don’t “choose courses on the basis of what you believe is the likely effect of scaling”.
But students also have access to online ATAR calculators where they can put their predicted marks in for their subjects to determine where their ATAR will most likely lie, and to see how those marks have scaled in previous years.
It’s reasonable then, for a student to use such information to decide which subjects they should pursue for their HSC.
Several of the teachers I interviewed acknowledged the ATAR effect on music enrolments.
One said music was a “negative drag on the ATAR”. Another said Music 1 is “just going to lower your ATAR”. One teacher told me music was “not rated very highly among the ATAR”.
One teacher said a particular student was advised by her curriculum co-ordinator to drop music so she could get the ATAR to become a doctor. And another teacher was constantly losing music students at his school because of the perception of scaling.
The teacher said
I’ve lost a lot of very good musicians to science and maths, because they’ve decided to drop the subject, which has been pretty devastating at times.
Teachers should consider allowing their high performing music students to complete their HSC music course early, in Year 11. This is known as acceleration.
As one teacher put it, accelerating high-achieving music students allows them to get their Band 6 (meaning they’ve received a mark from 90-100) for music so they can focus on other subjects in year 12. A student’s ATAR in NSW is calculated from their best ten units, including English. Going into year 12 with two units already completed can alleviate study time and boost confidence.
Some schools in NSW already use the acceleration option for music students. It allows their musically gifted students to still keep music as a HSC subject, and helps maintain healthy senior music cohorts at their school.
According to my analysis, around 20% of schools in NSW offer accelerated courses in the HSC for courses including modern history, studies of religion, physics, economics and, most commonly, mathematics.
Given this prevalence of acceleration, particularly in the HSC, teachers and schools should consider this a reasonable and achievable strategy to accommodate their musically gifted students.
One reaction is it’s not that big a deal – along the lines of now-ousted chief executive Brian Hartzer reportedly telling senior executives “this is no Enron” and “for people in mainstream Australia going about their daily lives this is not a major issue, so we don’t need to overcook this”.
A second reaction is this is a massive failure of management that typifies a culture of arrogance and greed that requires wholesale change. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton encapsulated this sentiment when he told parliament: “Westpac banking bosses, through their negligence, have given a free pass to paedophiles and there is a price to pay for that and that price will be paid and we have been very clear about it.”
A third is to blame the board of directors for inadequate oversight of the bank’s management.
While there is little support for Hartzer’s nothing to see here and sorry for cancelling the boozy Christmas party view, there is probably some truth to the other two positions.
Indeed, two board members are on their way out – chairperson Lindsay Maxsted and Ewen Crouch, who has chaired the board’s risk & compliance committee – along with Hartzer for his leadership failures. There are calls for other directors to follow.
But it is worth reflecting on how the board might have done better and what tools could have helped them do their jobs more effectively.
It’s not easy being a director
I don’t expect many readers to weep for the plight of directors who earn north of A$250,000 per board on which they sit. But let’s consider what the job entails.
A company like Westpac is large and complex. It has nearly a trillion dollars in assets, earns about A$10 billion a year in profit before tax, operates in complicated financial markets, and is subject to requirements from multiple regulators both in Australia and around the world.
The board papers – the reading directors are given to prepare themselves for each meeting of the board – often run to more than 900 pages.
Those 900 pages aren’t the intellectual equivalent of a romance novel. They’re not even Tolstoy. They’re about credit default swaps and the effect of US monetary policy on funding costs in the wholesale market. They’re about demographic shifts driving consumer preferences for multi-platform product offerings. And, yes, they’re about regulatory compliance to prevent facilitating paedophilia or terrorism.
We could simply expect more of these well-paid folks. But it might be more constructive to look for ways to help them do their jobs better.
Analyst support for independent directors
One old idea that should definitely be new again is to give independent directors their own analytic support.
It would be the counsel of wisdom and in the interest of shareholders and the public to provide outside directors with the means whereby they could discharge their fiduciary responsibilities in the conduct of corporate affairs.
Goldberg’s terminology is a little out of date but the issue he identified is all too current.
Boards are supposed to oversee management on behalf of shareholders. The interests of managers aren’t always aligned with those of shareholders; they understandably care more than shareholders about their own remuneration and their career prospects. They may want to make big acquisitions or expand internationally because it gives them a larger and more impressive business to run, even if it is not in the interests of shareholders.
Managers also have a big edge over directors. They are the ones running the business day to day, so have superior information. On top of that, they have a whole team of people to do analysis and run numbers for them.
A board member who wanted to challenge the financial analysis of an acquisition proposed by management would have to do their own valuation supported by swathes of analysis about market conditions, financing arrangements, synergies from combining the businesses, and so on.
That’s an impossible load for one person, no matter how smart or well-paid.
Better boards
There has been a lot of focus in recent times on diversity of company boards, and the pros and cons of quotas.
These are very important issues. But so too is equipping board members, whoever they may be, with the tools and resources to be effective.
A pool of five well-qualified financial analysts for a large public company board (for instance in the ASX 100) might cost $750,000 a year.
That’s peanuts in the scheme of things.
The smallest of the ASX 100 companies has a market capitalisation of A$2.3 billion. Those in the top 10 are all more than A$45 billion. Fourth-placed Westpac’s market cap was about A$98 billion at the start of November.
That’s a lot of shareholder value to protect – and due to compulsory superannuation a lot of it is our money.
So, yes, we should expect much of the directors of our public companies. But we should also ensure they have tools they need to succeed.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aaron Corn, Professor of Music · Director, Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM) · Director, National Centre for Aboriginal Language and Music Studies (NCALMS), University of Adelaide
In 1983, the prolific Yolŋu (Yolngu) educator and musician, Mandawuy Yunupiŋu, composed his first ever popular song, Djäpana: Sunset Dreaming. A decade later, this song would become an iconic Australian hit as Yunupiŋu’s band, Yothu Yindi, rose to stardom in the early 1990s.
At a time when other Yolŋu popular bands were emulating imported country and gospel styles, the composition of Djäpana: Sunset Dreaming changed music history. It drew on the Manikay tradition, the vast body of public ceremonial songs that were bestowed on Yolŋu clans of northeast Arnhem Land countless generations ago by the original ancestors who named, shaped and populated their homelands.
This revolutionary artistic act initiated an entirely new genre of popular music from Arnhem Land, with Yothu Yindi at its vanguard, which would build new bridges with audiences worldwide. Yet, unknown to most listeners is that this song echoes long histories of early engagements with Southeast Asian visitors that remain integral to Yolŋu ceremonial law to this day.
Music video for Djäpana: Sunset Dreaming (Radio Mix) performed by Yothu Yindi (1992)
A song of homesickness
While other early hit songs by Yothu Yindi like Treaty and Mainstream inspire hope for a better future, the mood of Djäpana: Sunset Dreaming is sorrowful. It was composed when Yunupiŋu was working away from home as an Assistant Principal at Shepherdson College in Galiwin’ku on Elcho Island in Arnhem Land, while his wife and young children remained on the mainland some 150 kms to the east on the Gove Peninsula.
After work one evening, Yunupiŋu sat with his guitar and, in the fading light of the setting sun, channelled his homesickness into song. The lyrics that came to him reminded him of home: warwu (sorrow), djäpana (coral sunset), rräma rrämani (coral sunset clouds), dhurulaŋala galaŋgarri (fading coral sunset).
They affirmed Yunupiŋu’s own deep ancestry through the Gumatj Yolŋu clan and drew on a Gumatj Manikay series of distinct song subjects for the clan’s country of Bawaka on Port Bradshaw. The series remembers early Southeast Asian visitors. Specifically, the lyrics were drawn from a terminal song subject from this Manikay series, Djäpana (Coral Sunset).
A Gumatj clan Manikay item on subject on the Rräma (Coral Sunset Clouds) performed by Yothu Yindi in 1999.
Before the first wave
The long histories of trade between commercial trepang (sea cucumber) harvesters from the port of Makassar in the pre-Indonesian Sultanate of Gowa on Sulawesi, and Indigenous Australian peoples of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land coastlines have been widely discussed by scholars since the release of Campbell Macknight’s seminal 1976 book, The Voyage to Marege’. Articles about this contact in magazines such as Walkabout appeared as early as 1934.
A trepang feeding on gravel in Sydney Aquarium.Erin Silversmith
Based on Dutch colonial records from Jakarta dating from 1754, the Makassan trepang industry gained momentum in the 1750s. The trade with trepang harvesters predated British colonial contacts with most local Indigenous Australians by more than 50 years.
This is not a history of British exploration and conquest from the first wave of colonial expansion in Australia. Rather, it is one of lengthy exchanges with Southeast Asian neighbours in Australia’s north that predate the founding of New South Wales as a British Crown Colony in 1788. The exchanges left an enduring legacy that continues to influence language, culture and memory among Indigenous peoples of north Australia.
Trepang was a lucrative commodity, and is still sold at a premium throughout East and Southeast Asia. Used in Chinese cooking since the 17th century, it was coveted by Chinese buyers in Makassar both as a culinary delicacy and as a medicinal enhancer of male virility.
Dried trepang in an Asian market.Bare Dreamer
For at least 150 years, Makassan vessels known as perahu sailed to north Australia to harvest trepang from its warm coast waters. They arrived on the northwest monsoon each January, and returned home with hulls full of trepang, pearl shell, beeswax and ironwood around April.
The crews of these vessels were mostly speakers of the Makassan and Bugis languages, but also likely included people of Sama (Bajau), Butonese and other ethnicities. They knew the Kimberley by the name of Kayu Jawa and Arnhem Land as Marege’.
Macknight estimated that at the height of this trade, some 30–60 Makassan vessels carried at least 1,000 sailors from Sulawesi to Arnhem Land each year. In 1803, during their voyage on the HMS Investigator, Matthew Flinders and Robert Brown met a fleet of 60 Makassan vessels off Arnhem Land’s coast and spoke at length with one of their captains, Pobassoo.
Harvesting trepang in Arnhem Land for Asian markets began to ebb in 1884 following the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa and the imposition of new taxes upon Makassan vessels landing in the Northern Territory. One final Makassan perahu captained by Otching Daeng Rangka, the Bunga Ejaya, sailed to Arnhem Land in 1906 and its departure in 1907 brought the exchanges to an end.
Trade and autonomy
Long before the first Methodist missionaries arrived in northeast Arnhem Land at Milingimbi in 1923, the Yolŋu held extensive knowledge of their Southeast Asian neighbours. Some Yolŋu people even travelled to Makassar and made families with shared Makassan ancestry.
Makassan religion, culture, goods and seacraft are recorded in many Yolŋu ceremonies still practised today. In return for rights to harvest their resources, the Yolŋu received goods imported by the Makassans including rice, tamarind, tobacco, alcohol, cloth, axes and knives.
Consequently, Yolŋu languages still retain hundreds of Makassar and Bugis words including rrupiya (money), bandirra (flag), buthulu (bottle), lipalipa (canoe), and baŋ’kulu (axe). Many Yolŋu Manikay series also refer to these historical visitations extensively.
Accordingly, most Manikay series for the Dhalwaŋu clan homeland of Gurrumuru sing of Makassan exchanges through song subjects including yiki’ (knife), ŋarali’ (tobacco), manydjarrka (cloth), dhamburru (drum), djuliŋ (flute), dopulu (playing cards), ŋänitji (alcohol), barrundhu (drunken fighting), parrurru (flag), berratha (rice) and watjpalŋa (rooster). Other subjects sung by the Warramiri and Gumatj clans include wurramu (a ghost Makassan captain), djakura ga lanytja (kickboxing), waraliny (pipe smoking), wayathul’ (scrub fowl), Luŋgurrma (northerly trade wind) and djäpana (coral sunset).
The Yolŋu elder, David Burrumarra MBE, explained that the Makassans’ god was absorbed into Yolŋu ceremonial law as a kind of ancestral mokuy (ghost) called Walitha’walitha after the devotional Islamic recitation, Lā ʾilāha ʾillā llāh (There is no god but God). The purpose of Walitha’walitha in Yolŋu law is to provide an ancestral basis for the existence of foreign peoples beyond Australia’s shores.
Makassan captains were also immortalised in Yolŋu law as ancestral ghosts with the potential for malevolence. This reflected the reality that, while Makassan seafarers imported goods that were useful and desirable to the Yolŋu, their presence could also bring conflict.
The Yolŋu developed an elaborate system of colour-coded flags made from imported cloth that marked beaches owned by different clans where Makassan visitors could land. Used prominently in public ceremonies, these flags remain strongly linked to Yolŋu clan identities to this day.
Yet, Yolŋu ceremonies also record that, whenever Makassan visitors failed to observe Yolŋu law, the country itself would expel them. Many are remembered for meeting unfortunate ends including being chased by swarming bees into a boiling cauldron for cooking trepang, and having their vessels capsized amid torrents of seawater and entrails projected by the trepang themselves.
Music video for Djiliwirri by Joe Gumbula and Fred Dhamarrandji performed by Soft Sands (1997).
In the Daygurrgurr Gupapuyŋu clan homeland of Djiliwirri, the trespassing Makassan captain, Nuwa, was repelled with such great force that sparks flew down the escarpment creating fires and termite mounds at the wellspring, Buŋu. Gupapuyŋu ceremonies also recount how the ancestor, Djunranydjura (Dingo), refused Makassan offers of trade to remain free from foreign influence.
Women who travelled with foreign crews were also observed. For instance, in the Birrkili Gupapuyŋu clan homeland of Luŋgutja, a trespassing vessel captained by Bäpa-djambaŋ was unable to weigh anchor and devoured whole by the ancestor, Mundukul (Water Python), in the form of a thunder storm.
Its wreckage is now a coral reef. A young girl who was kept chained in its hold, Wurrathithi, also remains there as an ancestral ghost, watching over Luŋgutja’s waters as she tends to the Gupapuyŋu clan’s recently deceased.
The Birrkili Gupapuyŋu clan homeland of L̲uŋgutja.Aaron Corn
Reenactment and revival
In 1986, 10 Aboriginal students from Batchelor Institute accompanied the historian Peter Spillet to Makassar. They were amazed to find many words and images that their own languages and traditional designs had absorbed. Since then, several initiatives have commemorated the long history of Makassan exchanges with Yolŋu communities.
For the Australian Bicentenary of 1988, Spillet commissioned a replica perahu called the Hati Marege’ (Heart of Arnhem Land) to reenact the old sea voyage from Makassar to Galiwin’ku. Its captain was Mansjur Muhayang, whose late father had been the last surviving crewman to have sailed to Arnhem Land on the Bunga Ejaya in 1906.
In Sydney, the Bicentenary’s reenactment of the 1788 landing of the British First Fleet was met by more than 40,000 protesters for Indigenous rights. Yet, the landing of the Hati Marege’ in Galiwin’ku returned Makassan mariners to Arnhem Land for the first time in 82 years.
The Hati Marege’s crew were greeted by their Yolŋu hosts as family through ceremony. Witnessing their moving arrival even inspired the prolific local band, Soft Sands, to compose a new rock ballad, Land, Our Mother, which captured the warmth of the Hati Marege’s welcome to Galiwin’ku, while simultaneously asserting the enduring rights of the Yolŋu in their ancestral homelands.
Land, Our Mother by Joe Gumbula and Frank Garawirrtja (1988) performed by Soft Sands (2006).
In 1993, the celebrated Yolŋu artist, John Bulunbulun, led an ensuing visit from Maningrida to Makassar, where he directed a three-night Marayarr Murrukundja diplomacy ceremony. It involved the creation of an elaborate ceremonial pole that represents the mast and rigging of a Makassan perahu.
Two subsequent initiatives were championed by the noted Indigenous anthropologist, Marcia Langton. The first, Trepang: An Indigenous Opera, premiered in Makassar in 1997, and reunited an intermarried Yolŋu–Makassan family who had been separated since the Bunga Ejaya’s departure from Arnhem Land in 1907.
The second, the Trepang exhibition, opened at the Capital Museum in Beijing in 2011 and explored the historical sale of Australian trepang into China. I was honoured to play yidaki (didjeridu) for Bulunbulun’s stepson, Paul Pascoe, as he sang Manikay to launch this exhibition.
Ochre and Ink (2011) documents the Trepang exhibition.
Such initiatives continue to widen public awareness of the most recent wave of Makassan trade in Arnhem Land (1750–1907). However, the prominence of Southeast Asian contact histories in Yolŋu ceremonies still practised today has never waned, and retains intriguing allusions to even earlier waves of international exchange.
How far back?
While we know Southeast Asian trade in northeast Arnhem Land ended in 1907, we do not know when it began or how many different foreign peoples sailed to Australia before 1750. Recent radiocarbon dating in Arnhem Land tells us that a Southeast Asian pottery shard from Groote Eylandt was made as early as 1107, that rock art depicting a perahu in Wellington Range was painted before 1664, and that a person of Southeast Asian origin perished at Anuru Bay before 1730.
It is difficult to know who these early Southeast Asian visitors might have been or why they visited Arnhem Land. Yolŋu ceremonial law is a heterogeneous system incorporating dozens of different clans across northeast Arnhem Land, who maintain their own unique ancestral traditions of ceremonial names, songs, dances and designs.
These traditions encode knowledge in ways that necessitate interpretation by ceremonial leaders and through firsthand experience of specific sacred sites on country. Consequentially, Yolŋu Manikay series that address contact histories typically reference earlier waves of seafaring visitors in cryptic and multilayered ways.
Burrumarra recalled that the first wave of foreign visitors were whale, dugong and turtle hunters, who the Yolŋu saw as equals. Unlike the commercially motivated Makassans who arrived much later, they shared the Yolŋu’s dark skin, and came from north(east) of Arnhem Land in dugout sailing canoes.
A humpback whale in Australian waters.Skeeze
These hunters were followers of Allah. But, like the Yolŋu, they also held ceremonial law for Whale and Octopus, and possessed a colour-coded flag of their own with two horizontal bands of black over white representing their camp at Motatj in the Wessel Islands.
They remain known to the Yolŋu by various names including the Bäpayili, Wurramala, Gelurru and Dhurrutjini. This latter name suggests a Sama origin, as Turijene is a Makassan moniker for the Sama clans who settled in Sulawesi and Kalimantan in the 16th century, and later spread to nearby islands including Lesser Sunda, Maluku and Raja Ampat.
Coral Sunset
Burrumarra also mentioned an ensuing wave of visitors with distinctive golden skin, who did not harvest trepang, and instead built boats, made pottery, grew rice, dug wells and loomed cloth. They mostly respected the Yolŋu and participated in their ceremonies, yet kept their technological secrets to themselves, which led to conflict and their eventual departure.
The Yolŋu associate this intermediate wave of seafarers with a class of women ancestors known as the Bayini. The Bayini presence at Bawaka informs the sorrowful mood of Gumatj clan Manikay for Djäpana (Coral Sunset), which later imbued Yunupiŋu’s composition of Djäpana: Sunset Dreaming and sparked the creative impetus towards his band, Yothu Yindi.
At Bawaka, there was a beautiful Bayini woman named Djotarra, who was enslaved by a foreign captain, Gurrumulŋa, in his vessel, the Mätjala. In a recurring theme found in various Yolŋu Manikay series, Djotarra was chained in the Mätjala’s hold and, as it set sail from Bawaka into the djäpana sunset, it stuck a submerged rock in the shallows drowning all aboard.
The island of Binanhaŋay in the waters of Bawaka.Photo: Aaron Corn, Author provided
The Mätjala’s wreckage remains in Port Bradshaw’s waters as the island of Binanhaŋay, while the tragedy of Djotarra serves as another Yolŋu exemplar for exercising caution in dealings with foreigners. This wariness of foreign motivations would also imbue Yunupiŋu’s composition of Djäpana: Sunset Dreaming, which warns, “Don’t be fooled by the Balanda [European] ways”.
Such assertions remain an intrinsic trait of how the Yolŋu understand and negotiate the otherness of foreigners in the contemporary world. They stem from an enduring legacy of extensive engagements with Southeast Asia that long predate the 1788 landing of the British First Fleet in Sydney and continue to affirm the ancestral rights of Indigenous peoples in Australia.
The strange affair of Angus Taylor and the allegedly doctored document of dubious provenance he used to try to discredit Sydney’s lord mayor Clover Moore and her council over climate change is replete with lessons for political players.
One: avoid gratuitous point scoring, but if you must do it, make sure your facts are correct.
Two: when you are caught out in a mistake, make a clean breast of things, and as quickly as possible – don’t dally with your apology.
Three: if you are the prime minister, and your embattled minister is facing a police investigation, do nothing that might suggest, even if wrongly, that you are intervening in the course of justice.
Four: when, as PM, you are defending your man or woman in parliament, make sure the material you use has been triple checked.
Failure to observe these obvious and sensible practices has created a distracting issue for the government and then damagingly escalated it. In the process, Taylor has been discredited, and Scott Morrison has been embroiled and embarrassed – or embarrassed himself. Every twist and turn has been entirely self-created by the government. The whole thing was avoidable.
Taylor’s self-image and the political reality of his career have sharply diverged since he was elected to parliament in 2013, with the hope, indeed the expectation in his own mind, of eventually becoming prime minister.
It did not seem at the time an unreasonable aspiration. A Rhodes scholar, a McKinsey man who became a director at Port Jackson Partners, Taylor presented well and looked the part.
He identified with the conservative wing of the Liberals (supporting Peter Dutton’s leadership bid and criticising Malcolm Turnbull), although certain people who knew him well and worked with him in his previous career are surprised at some of the positions he takes today including on issues related to climate change.
Belying his early promise, Taylor has been embroiled in controversies (including over his interest in a family company investigated about land clearing), and since becoming energy minister under Morrison he has performed poorly in what’s admittedly a very challenging portfolio.
In general, Taylor has fallen victim to a combination of hubris and stubbornness.
His response to the City of Sydney’s declaration of a climate emergency was to point to what he claimed were the councillors’ huge travel costs – and thus large carbon footprint – with the imputation of hypocrisy. His letter to Moore was given to the Daily Telegraph just to hype his attack.
But the figures he used were wrong – so wrong it is amazing Taylor, with a background dealing with numbers, did not immediately spot a problem.
When the error was inevitably revealed, Taylor insisted the document providing the basis for his claim “was drawn directly from the City of Sydney website”. He said his office on September 9 accessed a report on that site. Taylor sticks by this story publicly, and reportedly says the same thing privately to Morrison.
But the council report on the site contained the correct figures, and the evidence so far – notably the City of Sydney metadata – indicates that report was not altered.
So where did Taylor’s allegedly doctored and certainly inaccurate document come from?
The most likely explanation appears to be the Taylor office somehow accessed a draft, and then a staffer misread that draft, inflating the very modest travel costs into millions of dollars that Taylor claimed.
But why, if something like that is what happened, Taylor did not ‘fess up with the full story immediately is inexplicable.
This week’s announcement of a NSW Police investigation took the affair to a new level, raising the question of whether Taylor should be stood aside while that proceeds. This can be argued both ways: in my view there’s a reasonable case for not standing him aside. There are precedents, and anyway the probe will be finished quickly.
What was not reasonable was for Morrison to ring NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller to ask about the investigation. Not least because he and Fuller are well acquainted personally – they previously lived near each other.
(As a side point, Fuller was caught out in relation to this neighbourliness. A while ago he told 2GB Morrison used to take in his, Fuller’s, rubbish bin. This week, playing down his closeness to Morrison, Fuller said that never happened.)
Apart from the proprieties, a leader with any appreciation of process should know that by directly contacting the commissioner he was opening himself to attack.
To do so was a misjudgement. Then Morrison added carelessness when, raising Labor examples of people not standing aside while under police investigation, he attributed the words of radio presenter Ben Fordham to a Victorian detective.
This was another instance of somebody being sloppy. While many journalists will identify with mixing up a quote – there but for the grace of god, etc – if you’re a prime minister doing it in the middle of a stoush, the political fallout is nasty.
With one week of the parliamentary year remaining, Labor has decided to deny Taylor a pair next Wednesday and Thursday for him to go to the International Energy Agency conference in Paris. It could be another rough few days for the minister, unless he gets a very quick all-clear from the the NSW police.
By late Thursday the government was hoping its very difficult week would finish with an important win – the passage of its Ensuring Integrity legislation to crack down on recalcitrant unions and union officials. But there things went horribly wrong.
Pauline Hanson, despite securing concessions, voted with Labor and the legislation was lost on a tie.
The government was visibly shocked, with attorney-general Christian Porter saying it would seek to reintroduce the legislation “at an appropriate time” – whenever that might be.
Hanson said she was firing a warning shot across the bows of both union bosses and the government – the former should get their act together and the latter should clean up white collar crime.
“What I pick up from the public is a crystal-clear view that this government, and past governments, have one rule for white-collar crime and a much harsher rule for blue-collar crime,” she had said earlier. The shocking revelations about Westpac came at a very bad time for a government pressing its case for cracking down on unions.
As it looks to the final sitting week, the government is desperately trying to wrangle Jacqui Lambie, who’s playing hardball, into voting for the repeal of medevac.
Another rebuff on what it regards as critical legislation would be deeply humiliating.
After several months of hearings, and many harrowing stories painting a picture of a system in dire need of reform, the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System has today released its interim report.
The report contains a number of recommendations as to how the state should go about improving its approach to mental health care.
These include providing additional hospital beds, boosting the mental health workforce, increasing supports for people who have attempted suicide, and creating a dedicated Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing Centre. The commissioners have also recommended Victorians pay a new tax to enable increased funding for mental health.
Each of these recommendations responds to pressing problems, including difficulties in accessing services (even for people with severe mental health problems), a high suicide rate among people in contact with services, and the greater prevalence of mental health problems among Aboriginal Victorians compared to Victorians overall.
Given Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has committed to implementing all the commission’s recommendations, this is a major opportunity for sweeping reform.
But achieving broad system change will require streamlining state and Commonwealth responsibilities, away from the current model where blurred lines see many people falling through the cracks.
The state versus Commonwealth divide
Historically, the states had total responsibility for health. But over time, the Commonwealth has taken on progressively more responsibility, and so we find ourselves with a hybrid system.
The report notes Victoria provides A$1.7 billion worth of mental health services each year, covering specialist clinical care, community support services, emergency departments and ambulance.
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth provides A$1.3 billion for services in Victoria annually. This covers medical and psychological services subsidised through Medicare, medications subsidised through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Headspace centres, support for various non-government organisations, and support for people with severe mental illness under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Broadly speaking, Victoria supports people with more severe mental illness, while the Commonwealth provides services for people with mild to moderate mental health problems.
The challenge of adequately resourcing the mental health workforce is complicated by the state/Commonwealth divide.From shutterstock.com
‘Patchworked and fragmented’ services
Many of the problems the commission has identified relate to this state/Commonwealth divide. The interim report refers to “patchworked and fragmented” services, noting it’s “hard for people to know what services might be suitable and to navigate between different services”.
For example, the commission received complaints about the “missing middle”. These are people whose needs are too complex for the Commonwealth-funded primary care services, but not considered severe enough for the state-funded specialist mental health services.
The report recognises “A major contributor to the system’s complexity is the fact that no one entity has complete oversight or control of the mental health system”.
Another example relates to the mental health workforce. The report notes the poorer access to services in rural and regional areas compared to metropolitan Victoria. However, this inequity partly relates to the Commonwealth’s Medicare-funded services, which allow private medical and allied health practitioners to choose where they wish to work. Most choose to work in the city and the Medicare funding system offers them no incentive to choose otherwise.
Similarly, the commission heard Victoria has an adequate supply of psychologists. However, it’s difficult to retain them in state-funded services because of the attraction of private practice, which is supported by Medicare.
The state/Commonwealth split in responsibility for mental health services in Australia represents a significant roadblock to truly reforming the system.
Is there a solution?
The commission has emphasised its recommendations are only interim measures, and that its ultimate aim is major system redesign, which will be outlined in its final report in October 2020.
While these initial measures will help many Victorians who experience mental illness in the future to receive better care than those who have gone before them, Victoria cannot achieve major system redesign alone. The state will need to work with the federal government if we want to see substantial and sustained change moving forward.
One solution is to transition to a completely Commonwealth controlled mental health system. However, this is unlikely to be accepted in Australia’s federal system, as it would substantially erode the role of the states and territories. Nevertheless, the Commonwealth is likely to play a progressively greater role over time.
A more likely solution is to move to a system based on local regions. This already exists in part through the Commonwealth’s Primary Health Networks, which were formed in 2015 to coordinate primary care services. We now need to see an integration of control for mental health services at this regional level, so one regional authority can have complete responsibility for all services in that area. This would make for a less fragmented system for consumers to navigate.
The Royal Commission has committed to creating a new mental health system for Victoria. It has recognised this requires an examination of the adequacy of services across the state, whatever the funding source.
If the recommendations in the commission’s final report can bridge the state/Commonwealth divide, this will have implications beyond Victoria and could potentially set the stage for major reform nationally.
New Zealand National Party leader, Simon Bridges. Image: Wikimedia Commons.
New Zealand National Party leader, Simon Bridges. Image: Wikimedia Commons.
A thorn in the side of National, former MP Chester Borrows punctured his party’s “law and order week” before it even started, by framing its new crime and punishment stances as ignorant and dangerous. Appearing in the media early in the week, he painted National’s discussion document as populist, opportunist, and a knee-jerk response where a more sophisticated one is desperately needed.
On Monday Borrows published a must-read opinion piece, lamenting that “Kiwis are addicted to punishment” and suggesting politicians keep feeding this by trying to outbid each other on nonsensical crackdowns on crime – see: ‘Tough on crime’ rhetoric is cheap, easy and terrifyingly effective.
Chester Borrows, former National Party MP and Minister of Courts (2011–2014).
Borrows, who is a former Minister of Corrections, is advocating that political parties take an evidence-based approach to law and order solutions. Of course, he’s the head of the Government’s Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group. He says his invitation to the launch of National’s new discussion document must have been lost in the post: “Funnily enough, even though I am a card-carrying member of that organisation, and my subscription has been banked, I have not received my flyer or invitation for this event.”
He suggests National’s stances on law and order issues, such as opposing the Government giving some prisoners the right to vote, are based on an electoral strategy of sinking NZ First: “National Party leader Simon Bridges has vowed to reverse the law. Not based on evidence, of course, other than the evidence that these policies buy votes and probably votes National already holds. But they will also buy votes from New Zealand First and those votes are gold.”
Here’s Bridges key point: “I hope Chester takes the opportunity to read the law and order policy document I released today because he might just be pleasantly surprised. Chester listed nine things he wanted to see. We have five of them in our document. Five more than Labour has plausibly come up with, despite being in government.”
Borrows said: “We need to take a sensible approach to this. The tough on crime stuff hasn’t worked… We need to ask ourselves the question whether we want to have policy that’s evidence-based or policy that just tickles the ears of those who might vote for us.”
When asked if National was dog-whistling on these problems, Borrows said: “it’s sad to see the go back to the rhetoric because I think in Government there was a bit more understanding about that… We have to be less reactive and far more innovative and concentrate on what we know works instead of being so afraid of our own shadow that we’re going to stop ourselves from doing anything that looks like innovative or looks like it could be successful.”
The National Party document contained 43 proposals the party is considering adopting as policy for the next election – you can read these here: National is the Party of law and order. This explains the various policies including banning gang patches in public, making prison work compulsory, refusing parole for murderers who don’t give the location of a body and, most controversially, creating an elite police unit to crack down hard on gangs.
Reactions from commentators have been quite scathing. Richard Harman claimed the party was making a major shift to the right: “National Leader Simon Bridges yesterday broke with years of liberal traditions in his Party and swung it sharply to the right with a new hardline law and order policy. This follows on an increasing shift to the right under Bridges with policies like his promise to pull New Zealand out of the UN Compact on Migration” see: Simon: That’s not what English, Joyce and even Collins said.
He pointed out that previous senior National figures had been noticeably less gung-ho about policies that would lead to higher incarceration rates, citing examples such as Bill English’s statement that prisons were “a moral and fiscal failure”. And he pointed out that “National has not provided an estimate of how much their crackdown would increase the prison population by, nor the cost of building new facilities.”
Barry Soper also sees the new proposals as fairly cynical, saying “We’ve heard it all before – smash the gangs, dismantle their fortresses, ban the patches – and we’ll no doubt hear it all again in three years’ time as we enter another election year” – see: Simon Bridges takes ‘tough on crime’ to a new level.
He points to some of the potential civil liberties issues with the suggested clampdown on gangs: “This country has a Bill of Rights – and that means no matter how unpopular the organisation you belong to might be, or even if you have broken the law, everyone is entitled to be treated the same under the law. You are innocent until you are proven guilty.”
Soper suggests a different target: “Consider this: more than half a billion dollars a year is generated by organised crime in this country – and many of those who generate it prefer a Pierre Cardin suit to a patch. It might not be as electorally popular, but perhaps it’s time to cast the law-and-order net wider.”
Similarly, Heather du Plessis-Allan argues a more sophisticated approach is necessary to combat the real reasons people are joining gangs: “The only way you stop kids from wanting to join up is if you give them an alternative. A chance to be good at sport, a job to earn cash, anything other than this nonsense” – see: National’s gang plan is welcome, but will it work?
Nonetheless, in lieu of such progressive policies, she considers National’s proposals “a welcome idea”. Also, “it’ll play well with voters”.
The idea of creating an elite anti-gang policing unit modelled on an Australia version has received the most criticism. For the most comprehensive critique, see Laura Walters’ Strike Force Raptor unit won’t stop organised crime. According to this, “an Australian gang expert says a lot of resources go into the unit’s work, with little reward”.
An even harsher evaluation came from an Australia academic who previously worked as an undercover detective dealing with the gangs. Mike Kennedy calls the Australian experience a “disaster” and says Bridges “needs to pull his head out of whatever it’s stuck in because … [gangs] exist. They’re always going to exist. They just go underground” – see Craig McCulloch’s Australian ex-cop blasts National’s ‘Strike Force Raptor’ plan.
Perhaps the most even-handed evaluation came from the Herald’s Derek Cheng who points to the mix of liberal and conservative policy in the document, but concludes: “the overwhelming impression is one of an election-year document that seems to make no apology for populism” – see: Populism alive and well in National’s law and order proposals (paywalled).
Cheng points to some of the more liberal or evidence-based policies in the new document: “These include having mental health nurses at police watch houses and attending incidents alongside police and paramedics. Social Investment attempts to use data to find those most at risk from an early age and intervene accordingly. More and earlier treatment for remand prisoners and more education, training and work to help keep prisoners from re-offending seems to be one area where National and Labour can agree. Such proposals show National’s document attempting to appeal to the evidence as well as the voter.”
Here’s his key point: “The discussion document, running across thousands of words and dozens of pages, is not as repulsive as some commentators describe. Despite pandering to ‘tough on crime’ platitudes, references to law and order being in ‘National’s DNA’, and occasional unself-conscious bluster, the party has published some nuanced proposals. These include concessions a ‘social investment’ approach is needed to save at-risk youth and help first-time offenders. The ‘no body no parole’ idea will thankfully not affect many people, but is hard to oppose.”
The most notable of these was from University of Auckland Criminologist Ron Kramer, who labelled them “transparently pathetic” and “overblown propaganda”. On the Strike Force Raptor proposal, he said: “It’s just rhetoric. It’s completely empty… it’s a completely erroneous way of thinking about the problem… In fact, it’s probably going to make life more miserable for a lot of people. This kind of criminalisation just stigmatises and creates a permanently excluded group of individuals from society.”
On the gang patch ban, Kramer stated: “It’s not evidence based. It’s not about what actually works. It’s just pure political rhetoric and the public should demand better… I don’t think it’s going to do anything. I think all this law and order discourse is just all about political posturing to win votes… It’s all just stupid policies to appease popular anger and resentment… I’m surprised people aren’t so sick and tired of this political bulls…”.
Simon Bridges responded to the article on Twitter, saying “So who are the ‘experts’ plural who know so much about criminology in this piece? Some sweary bear Ron Kramer, gang apologist Denis O’Rielly, Chester Borrows & Mob Pres Sonny Fatupaito. Really?”
Kramer’s university hit back on Twitter: “for the record, the ‘Sweary Bear’ you refer to is Dr Ronald Kramer, a senior lecturer in criminology at the university. Dr Kramer has a PhD in sociology from Yale, has been published in the British Journal of Criminology and elsewhere and is a respected commentator. #expertbear” – see 1News’ Auckland University retaliates after Simon Bridges calls academic ‘sweary bear’.
Bridges also hit out at a tweet from Newsroom editor Tim Murphy, who wrote: “Is there anything more unimaginative in opposition policy-making than ‘work for the dole’ ‘get the gangs’ or ‘hard labour for prisoners’?” Bridges’ response was: “Is there anything more unimaginative than a middle-class journalist sneering predictably about a centre-right political party arguing for policies in line with its long-held principles?”
Maria Exposto, a Sydney grandmother who fell victim to a romance scam and became an unwitting drug mule, couldn’t have known what was before her when she left Australia to sign documents for her fiancé so he could retire and marry her.
At 50-years-old, Exposto had fallen for a widowed special forces soldier doing his bit for his country.
They have never met, which was easily explained – he was deployed in Afghanistan. She described being “blindly in love” with a man who wooed her online, serenading her with love songs and long, deep conversations.
Exposto recently walked free after facing a death sentence in Malaysia for attempting to smuggle a kilogram of ice five years ago. Since she was caught, she has maintained she was a victim of a romance scam.
Sadly, Exposto’s story is not unique. Like Exposto, victims of romance scams tend to be between 45 to 54-years-old, impulsive, respond to elaborate stories and are well-educated.
Romance scammers prey on people to build a relationship and defraud their victims. They are clever, well organised and have a number of tried techniques that make them highly successful.
The extreme emotional ties formed can make victims easy to manipulate and leave them vulnerable to knowingly or unknowingly engaging in criminal activity.
More than 10 million Australians are exposed to at least one personal fraud scam each year.
And with more than 3.5 million Australians using Tinder alone, the opportunities for romance scammers is growing rapidly. In fact, online dating fraud rose by 150% in a year from 2011, with criminals recognising the opportunities to exploit those looking for a partner.
Scammers are in for the long haul
In Exposto’s case, the “relationship” had been ongoing for more than a year. This is not surprising, as romance scammers are in for the long haul and see the process as a long term investment to establish intimacy and trust. They often use teams of people to “hook” and “woo” the victim.
Scammers typically fake profiles with stolen photographs, often mimicking army officers, and frequently create a story of tragic or desperate circumstances. Armed force identities are common, as it easily explains their inability to meet in person.
Could the handsome military officer’s picture actually come from a stock image website? It’s a good idea to reverse image search the photo of your online partner.Shutterstock
It’s this willingness of the scammer to engage in a prolonged, sustained interaction that creates the belief the relationship is “real” and leading to something more permanent.
Eventually, the scammer has ensnared a person who has heavily invested in the relationship, has a strong emotional attachment and has been groomed to believe they “know and understand” their partner.
After the bond is established, scammers frequently request money to pay fictitious medical bills, help partners out of dangerous situations or pay for tickets.
Money mules
In some cases, victims can become involved in illegal activities including money laundering and bank fraud, and are at risk of being charged. These types of victims are often referred to as “money mules”.
And “mule recruitment” is when the scammer attempts to get a person to receive stolen funds and then transfer those funds to criminals overseas.
Many victims of fraud related crimes can also suffer their own financial loss, on top of facing the sudden loss of, what was to them, an important and significant intimate relationship – a “double hit”.
Victims have described the loss of the relationship as more devastating than their financial loss.
Shame and humiliation
Their experience is more psychologically damaging than other types of fraud, and is often compounded by a total lack of understanding from family and friends.
Some victims remain in denial and are unable to accept the scam or separate the fake identity with a criminal. Some realise they’ve exposed themselves or performed sexual acts online, and feel humiliated and violated. They report feeling depressed, and even suicidal.
And victims have said they lost trust in others, severed social ties, and suffered a lower sense of self-worth and confidence.
This social withdrawal and isolation can make victims vulnerable to a second wave of the scam, believing their online partners excuses or explanations that they really are “real”.
But victims don’t often receive social support, reporting that family, friends and colleagues thought they were stupid, or were angry with them because of the financial loss, such as losing inheritance.
Many victims keep their experience a secret or don’t disclose the entire story for fear of these types of reactions.
How can you avoid being duped?
There are ways you can avoid being scammed by a one-sided romance.
Read and take heed of the instructions on dating websites. Most have clear guidelines of how to avoid online fraud, such as being suspicious about early declarations of love, requesting or receiving money.
It’s also a good idea to use their photos to do some sleuthing online, and see what information pops up when you do a reverse image search on Google. Look for any inconsistencies, see if what they’ve told you about themselves adds up.
You can also run their email address through RomanceScams.org which lists names of known scammers.
And if you become aware a friend or family member has been victimised, remember it’s a time to provide support and understanding to break the isolation, allowing the victim to grieve over the lost relationship, rebuild their self-esteem, and try again.
A few weeks ago, the Federal Court of Australia ordered a farmer in New South Wales to pay A$290,000 to a blueberry-producing company because he had grown and sold a proprietary variety of the fruit without permission.
At issue in the blueberry case were questions of intellectual property. Who owns the plant varieties that are commercialised in Australia and other countries? Who can grow them? If you are the owner of a particular variety, how can you prove someone else has grown it without your permission, and what can you do about it?
The case is an important one in an area of law that may affect how we develop new varieties of plants. This type of work is important to address challenges such as food security and climate change adaptation.
Australia’s intellectual property law was changed last February to give courts more options to protect plant breeders’ rights. This case is one of the first to take those revisions into account, which give courts more options to impose sanctions for infringements.
The plant breeders’ rights system works like a patent or trademark for plant varieties: when breeders create a new variety, they can register it and obtain exclusive rights to grow and sell it.
The system is designed to encourage breeders – who may include scientists, companies, or growers themselves – to develop innovative plant varieties. In other words, the possibility of commercial exclusivity functions as a profit incentive.
The case of Ridley 1111
The recent case (Mountain Blue Orchards v. Chellew) was about a blueberry variety named Ridley 1111. It has appealing characteristics for growers and consumers alike: the berries ripen early and have a notable dark blue colour and firmness.
The NSW-based growers Mountain Blue Orchards obtained plant breeders’ rights for Ridley 1111 in September 2010.
This March, Mountain Blue filed a claim before the Federal Court. They alleged that a grower based near Grafton in NSW named Jason Chellew had obtained, grown, and sold Ridley 1111 blueberries without authorisation.
Earlier this month, the Federal Court found in Mountain Blue’s favour. The court ordered Chellew to destroy the infringing plants and pay Mountain Blue A$290,000 in damages. This sum included compensatory damages, additional damages, interest, and litigation costs.
How do you prove someone has pirated your plants?
Establishing infringement for plant varieties is more difficult than for products protected with other kinds of intellectual property.
If someone is using your trademarked brand name, or is selling a widget that you patented, it is relatively straightforward to show infringement by deconstructing these things into their component elements.
In contrast, plants are complex living organisms that change based on human and non-human influences alike.
DNA testing played a role in the Ridley 1111 case, but this alone may not be enough to prove infringement. A protected variety may have only minor genetic differences from other varieties. Likewise, two individual plants of the same variety may have tiny genetic differences due to random mutations.
Furthermore, plant breeders’ rights infringement may occur at a small scale over diffuse areas, making it difficult for rights owners to enforce their rights.
Finally, it is difficult to collect evidence of possible infringement. If plants are grown on private property they can be hard to see, and third parties may be reluctant to help. Rights owners may also be wary of possible adverse business or public image consequences from pursuing a case.
A new kind of damages
Another difficulty in plant breeders’ rights infringement cases relates to the limits of how much impact even a successful case might have.
Until last February, courts could only award damages based on a calculation of the actual loss suffered by the rights owner. It can be difficult to put a number on this loss, which meant that many in the agricultural industry saw plant breeders’ rights infringement as having few practical consequences.
The Ridley 1111 case is a sign that this may be changing, however. It is one of the first the Federal Court has considered since February’s comprehensive amendments to Australian intellectual property law, which now allows judges to award additional damages.
Courts can now consider several factors when setting damages in an infringement case, including how flagrant the infringement is and the need to deter future infringements. This brings plant breeders’ rights into line with other forms of intellectual property law such as patents and trademarks.
The resulting penalties can now be much higher. This could encourage growers to pursue licensing deals with the owners of protected varieties, when in the past they might have risked a lawsuit to save on royalty payments.
However, this assumes growers are aware of the possibility of heightened penalties, and that rights owners can prove that infringement actually occurred.
What effect will these changes have on the ground? It is probably too ambitious to argue that these changes alone will lead to increased innovation in plant breeding, as some industry groups have claimed.
The development of new plant varieties involves significant investments of time and other resources. What’s more, breeding often relies on substantial collaborations between the private sector and public or academic research institutions.
So while the possibility of obtaining additional damages in an infringement action may have some effect, other factors will continue to affect the development of new plant varieties.
These include the ongoing need for governmental support of plant breeding initiatives, the development of effective partnerships between the public and private sectors, and an accurate understanding of the kinds of crops that would be best suited to Australia’s climatic and agronomic peculiarities and to the desires of Australian consumers.
Three years after legal experts laid out their reasons why robodebt was wrong in law and wrong in maths, the government has folded its tent, conceding all points just before trial of the test case conducted in the name of 33 year old local government employee Deanne Amato.
Deanna Amato found out about her alleged robodebt in January when her full tax return was intercepted and taken from her, all $1709.87 of it. Centrelink said she owed a debt of $2,754 for Austudy support it said she was overpaid while studying in 2012.
A week before court orders were finalised on Wednesday, a Centrelink internal email dated November 19 advised that debts would no longer be asserted on the basis of overpayments suggested by data-matched estimates of averaged fortnightly earnings, but only by overpayments calculated on the basis of actual earnings in the relevant fortnights.
All past debts would be “methodically” reviewed, starting with those where people had not previously made contact.
Wednesday’s court order makes clear why the government folded.
It confirms that averages provide no evidence at all, and that Centrelink cannot “reverse the onus of proof” to require people to prove they do not have a debt. It must itself establish that there is a debt.
There are no acceptable half measures on either point, so this should mean that robodebt has ended and all 300,000 or so alleged debts collected on this basis should be refunded with interest, and perhaps also an apology for distress caused by acting unlawfully.
With as much as A$660 million of ill-gotten (if not all yet collected) revenue is at stake, there are indications that government is yet properly to understand what the law requires of it.**
It is talking as if it hasn’t understood
Instead of accepting that Wednesday’s court ruling requires that any future or past debt be based on earnings in each and every fortnight, the minister, Stuart Robert, speaks only of needing “additional proof points”, of there being “no change” to the construct of the onus of proof and of this being just another “refinement” which affects a “small cohort”.
He has even talked about “continuing to use income averaging as part of a range of options to ask a welfare recipient to engage with the department of human services if there is a discrepancy”.
The initial script issued to Centrelink call centre staff when fielding calls from people enquiring about past debts in light of the changes brought about by the Federal court test case are also worryingly similar to “business as usual”. They simply invite people to collect payslips and other documents to “prepare for a reassessment,” leaving the very clear impression that is is still up to the person to disprove the debt.
It acted without outside advice
It appears from press reports that the attorney general has confirmed that for over three years the government failed to obtain other than in-house legal advice before belatedly obtaining the external advice that revealed that robodebt was the proverbial Emperor without (legal) clothes.
It is to be hoped that it gets it now as it works out what is required to bring debt recovery into compliance with the law.
There is an old legal saying that the lawyer who advises and represents themselves “has a fool for a client”.
Unfortunately on this occasion robodebt has not only made the government look foolish – the kind of failures of program design, basic mathematical reasoning and legal research that would leave a failed third world state feeling embarrassed – but in the course of its life has imposed untold hardship on and trauma on some hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable members of Australia’s community.
Less than six weeks ago the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights (the expat Australian Philip Alston), in a report to the UN General Assembly, warned of the risk of a “digital welfare dystopia,” citing robodebt as one of the leading examples of how much human and reputational damage can be caused by bad design.
The Amato ruling exposes the flagrant breach of the rule of law at the heart of the welfare dystopia that robodebt created.
Government must as a matter of urgency establish an open and fully representative oversight body to ensure justice is fully and quickly delivered to its past victims and that no future debts are asserted other than in proper compliance with Centrelink’s legal obligations, now so clearly laid out for all to see.
Summer is likely to start off hot and dry, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s summer outlook, released today.
Much of eastern Australia is likely to be hotter and drier than average, driven by the same climate influences that gave us a warmer and drier than average spring.
But these patterns will break down over summer, meaning these conditions may ease for some areas in the second half of the season. Despite this, we’re still likely to see more fires, heatwaves, and dust across eastern Australia in the coming months.
Rainfall outlook for December 2019.BOM
What drove the climate in 2019
Our current weather comes in the context of a changing climate, which is driving a drying trend across southern Australia and general warming across the country.
In southern Australia, rain during the April to October “cool season” is crucial to fill dams and grow crops and pasture. However, like 17 of the previous 20 cool seasons, 2019 was well below average, meaning a dry landscape leading into the summer months.
The frequency of high temperatures has also increased at all times of year, with the greatest increase in spring.
But summer, like spring, will also be influenced by two other significant climate drivers: a change in ocean temperatures in the Indian Ocean, and warm winds above Antarctica pushing our weather systems north.
Indian Ocean
The first driver is a near-record strong positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). A positive IOD occurs when warmer than average water develops near the Horn of Africa, and cooler waters emerge off Indonesia.
This pattern draws moisture towards Africa – where in recent weeks they have seen flooding and landslides – and produces higher pressures over central and southern Australia. This means less rain for Australia in winter and spring.
Usually the IOD events break down by early summer, when the monsoon arrives in the southern hemisphere. However, this year the monsoon has been very sluggish moving south – in fact it was the latest retreat on record from India – and international climate models suggests the positive IOD may not end until January.
Rainfall outlook for summer 2019-20.BOM
Southern Ocean
The other unusually persistent climate driver is a negative Southern Annular Mode (SAM), which means weather systems over the Southern Ocean – the fronts and lows and wild winds – are further north than usual. This means more days of westerly winds for Australia.
In western Tasmania, where those winds are coming off the ocean, it means cooler and wetter weather. In contrast, in southeast Queensland and New South Wales, where westerlies blow across long fetches of land, this air is dry and hot.
Models suggest the negative SAM will decay in December. This means the second half of summer is less likely to be influenced by as many periods of these strong westerlies.
But while both these dry climate drivers are expected to be gone by midsummer, their legacy will take some time to fade.
And while the drying influences are likely to ease, the temperature outlook indicates that days are very likely to remain warmer than average.
We also know that any delay in the monsoon will keep air drier for longer across Australia, and potentially aid in heating up the continent.
Maximum temperature outlook for summer 2019-20.BOM
What about the wet season?
For areas of southern Queensland and northeastern NSW, the wet season will eventually bring seasonal rains, although heatwaves are likely to continue through summer.
So, while the outlook for below average rainfall may ease over summer months for some areas, the lead-up to summer means Australia’s landscape is already very dry. Even a normal summer in the south will mean little easing of the dry until at least autumn.
With dry and hot conditions looking likely this summer, it’s important to stay safe, have an emergency plan in place, look after your friends and neighbours in the hot times, and always listen to advice from your local emergency services.
Australian writer and broadcaster Clive James has died at 80 years of age after a long illness.
Along with Germaine Greer, Barry Humphries and Robert Hughes, he was known as part of an elite group of “brilliant creatures” that emerged out of Australia at a cultural moment of change in the mid twentieth century.
He will be remembered for his dry wit, distinctive voice and his unlikely yet hugely appealing screen presence.
There was much to admire about the proud kid from Kogarah in Sydney’s south, not least the breadth and energy of his writing. His collections about growing up, Unreliable Memoirs, began in that small and apparently unremarkable spot of suburbia, continuing on into future volumes to cover young adulthood, university, the big trip to Blighty, and beyond.
There was always something so distinct about James’ Australianness. Although he’d been away much longer than he’d been here, his connection to the culture of his birthplace remained.
In an interview with the Australian Women’s Weekly in 1980, James explained the appeal:
Australians have made me laugh all my life. I don’t mean the crude jokes. It’s a blend of two things, that marvellous low voice you keep hearing and the language. It’s a combination of strength and sexiness. It’s a good combination.
The marvellous low voice of Australia serves as an excellent euphemism for defiance and dignity. James embodied it when as young Vivian James, as he was born in 1939, renamed himself Clive and began to question, observe and ultimately argue for a different way to see the world.
The difficulty of leaving Australia was more the fear of returning and finding the country you left had left you behind, said James in 1983.
A hugely prolific writer who continued to publish books, essays, columns, poems and opinions until the end (including a forthcoming anthology The Fire of Joy to be released next year), one of his greatest strengths was finding the beauty in television.
Watching with love and nuance
As the television critic for The Observer from 1972 to 1982, he took what many then (and still now) consider to be the lowest form of public entertainment and gave it a good seeing to.
Following the academic and commentator Raymond Williams, who James called “the most responsible of television critics”, he reviewed everything from drama to talent and talk shows, always with his steady “low voice” that never quite let on what he loved and loathed.
Margarita Pracatan tweeted a heartfelt tribute to James, with whom she shared the screen.Margarita Pracatan/Twitter
In his 1972 review of the BBC’s broadcast of Miss World called Liberating Miss World, James noted that the pageant participants “find host [Michael Aspel] wonderful because they’ve been told to” – leaving just enough ambiguity to make us wonder who the real butt of the competition was. He continued to play with the concept of power and influence as part of his television work throughout his life.
Clive James on Television vowed not to do too much deep cultural analysis – but sometimes French adverts with topless women demanded wry interrogation.
Soon James left the page to take on the screen directly, and his own show Clive James on Television set a stage for critic-turned-presenter that produced a wonderful legacy. As Black Mirror and Screen Wipe writer Charlie Brooker wrote “Thank God for Clive James”:
He has a way of gliding through sentences, effortlessly ironing a series of complex points into a single easily-navigable line, illuminating here and cogitating there, before leading you face-first into an unexpected punchline that makes your brain yelp with delight.
The power of a commentator like James putting his money where his mouth (or pen) was inspired many. It’s a style that has also given us wonders like Sarah Millican and Working Dog’s Have You Been Paying Attention.
No showpony
James’ ease with superstar guests allowed them room to shine, while also asking questions just far enough off the press release to resonate with the viewer at home.
When Clive sat down with Billy Connolly and David Attenborough hilarity ensued as the comedian confessed his love of the hairy-nosed wombat.
What made James appealing on screen was his apparent unsuitedness to it. He didn’t have the devastating visual appeal of some of the greats – in fact he was perhaps as far away as possible from the Arnold Schwarzenegger style “condom full of walnuts” that screen seems to adore. Of course though, words were all he needed.
Behind a desk, championing the otherwise overlooked or unchallenged, he drew our attention to the absurdity of apparently small scale story telling with a genuine energy and charm. It was just enough to make your ears prick up, but subtle enough to let the viewer also come to their own conclusions.
Before today’s internet age, when culture from almost every corner of the globe is available to us for us to consume and critique, he championed the Japanese game show Endurance. In doing so, he taught us about the comic tension between content as guilty pleasure or the beginning of the end. He seemed to say: You, dear remote control holder, can decide. More “low voice” to draw us in.
Carers’ advocates are urging a rethink of the way we support middle-aged Australians caring for ageing parents.
Sydney-based organisation Your Side, which supports older people and their carers, has called for a new type of leave – similar to paid parental leave – to ease the burden on carers and help them stay in the workforce.
While the details are yet to be fleshed out, the idea has merit and could alleviate some of the problems with our current system, which relies on informal carers, many of whom are stressed and struggling financially.
Australia has 2.65 million informal carers who provide unpaid help or supervision to people with a chronic condition, disability, or those aged 65 or older. About 57% of informal carers are women and more than two-thirds are 45 or older. In 2015, almost half a million informal carers in Australia were of working age.
While caring can be fulfilling, it can significantly impact workforce engagement and career trajectories. The most common impacts are reduced working hours and leaving employment altogether. This can reduce the carer’s income, assets and superannuation, placing them at risk of financial hardship and poverty.
Women are disproportionately impacted by caring responsibilities.Myibean/Shutterstock
Lost income and taxes
When otherwise productive Australians drop out of the workforce, this costs the government through lost taxes and increases in welfare payments.
A recent study by GenIMPACT at Macquarie University estimated that nationally, the income lost to informal carers leaving the workforce was A$3.58 billion in 2015. This is projected to grow by 49%, to A$5.33 billion, in 2030.
The difference in income between those working full-time and those out of the workforce due to informal caring was estimated at A$936 per week in 2015 (A$48,000 a year), rising to A$1,137 (or A$59,000 a year) in 2030.
And carers who leave their jobs are unlikely to return after their care-giving period ends.
Carers’ leave would enable longer workforce participation, increasing both income and taxes paid, one of the federal treasurer’s goals.
What are the psychological impacts on carers?
Many informal carers, particularly those out of the workforce, experience isolation, increased mental stress and high levels of psychological distress.
Carers’ leave could improve not only carers’ financial stability, but also their mental health, reducing isolation.
Isn’t carers’ leave already available?
Employed carers are already entitled to some carers’ leave. This allows them to take time off work to care for a family or household member. But this often comes out of an employee’s sick leave, which is taken a day at a time.
Many workers are only able to take the carers’ leave that comes out of their sick leave to look after ageing parents.Toa55/Shutterstock
Some large organisations, including universities, already have carers’ leave, in addition to sick leave. This allows staff to take time off (days or weeks) to care for family members and then return to work, without needing to leave the workforce. This is the model an expanded carers’ leave scheme should emulate.
What are the solutions?
Multiple strategies are needed to solve problems of workforce participation for informal carers. These include:
2) expanding these provisions to accommodate longer periods of leave, either with government or employer support, using the parental leave model. The details of such a scheme, including eligibility and the amount of leave, would need to be developed
3) improving funding and access to aged care services, including home care packages and
Introducing longer periods of carers’ leave, similar to parental leave, could better support people with ongoing caring responsibilities to stay in the workforce in the longer term.
This could allow informal carers to support the older person to transition into residential aged care, to recover from a hospital admission due to an age-related illness or fall, or to set up longer-term caring arrangements within the family.
Caring for an ageing parent could therefore result in a relatively short break from a long and productive career, rather than being a trigger for leaving the workforce.
Last Friday, a New Zealand jury returned a guilty verdict in the Grace Millane murder trial. The 21-year-old British woman was killed by a 26-year-old man in his Auckland apartment in December 2018.
I attended the trial and argue that bold misunderstandings about gender, power, sex, and violence were allowed to shape a defence case in ways that disrespected Millane, likely harmed courtroom witnesses and may have come close to thwarting justice.
The murder trial for Grace Millane’s killer poignantly demonstrated it is still possible to question a woman’s behaviour without understanding the specifically gendered nature of violence against women. I observed many ways this happened, as defence lawyers crafted a case that was heavy on the myth of egalitarian sexual adventure and light on the reality of gendered power that still shapes the contemporary heterosexual landscape.
Contrary to the picture they painted, study after study shows that both young men and young women still expect that men will pressure women to have sex when they don’t want it, and to engage in sexual acts they are not keen on.
Failing to understand these dynamics of men’s violence against women makes the path to courtroom justice unnecessarily rocky. It makes it potentially traumatic for surviving women who take the witness stand, and in a high profile case like this it feeds into social attitudes that misrepresent and minimise gendered violence.
A month before he killed Grace Millane, the man convicted of her murder non-fatally suffocated another woman. With his knees on the side of the bed, facing her feet, he pinned down her forearms with all his weight and sat on her face with so much force that she could not breathe. She was terrified she was going to die.
This woman was cross-examined relentlessly by the defence lawyer, who dissected her behaviour during and immediately after the attack, and in the month afterwards. He told her she had “exaggerated” what happened and asked her repeatedly why she did not leave earlier. He interrogated her about why she maintained regular text message contact with him over the following month.
The woman on the witness stand was impressive, articulate and bold. At one point, after being told yet again that she was not a reliable witness to her own experience, she told the lawyer, “You can’t minimise what happened to me. It happened.”
As the lawyer persevered with this line of questioning, it became clear just how little he understood about the dynamics of men’s violence against women. He judged her experience from his own masculine point of view, perhaps imagining what he would have done in that situation.
He failed to understand how threat manifests differently for a woman who has been violently assaulted by a man. He appeared not to comprehend that a woman might behave differently in assessing danger, safety and risk.
Modern forms of risk and self defence
As this woman pointed out through her evidence, the defendant knew a lot about her and her movements. She knew he would be able to find her, and she worried that if she cut him off cold he would show up in her life. As a New Zealand Law Commissionreport notes, strangulation or suffocation “is a uniquely effective form of intimidation, coercion and control”, as it demonstrates “he can kill”.
Encountering a violent man on a Tinder date is a modern form of risk. We need to better understand what survival skills would look like in that particular kind of relationship, formed in isolation from off-line social networks and through communication technologies that can leave a person exposed through the trails of their online activity.
As this woman later worked to placate the man who attacked her, keeping him at a safe distance, while managing to avoid him in person, she was able to diffuse or delay the risk of him stalking her or turning up in person. These actions make perfect sense as a modern form of self-defence for our technology-mediated social world.
What other choices did she have? Keeping in mind that, as we now know, she had accurately assessed the defendant as a tinderbox man, prone to unpredictable, explosive, and as it turned out deadly, violence.
Improving knowledge about men’s violence against women
Moving forward, we have the opportunity to learn from this case and work for improvements. Many voices are calling for a rethink of the rules of evidence that place no limits on publicly airing deeply personal private information about the victim in a murder trial.
We also need to insist that lawyers and judges get up to date with the current state of knowledge about the nature and impact of men’s violence against women.
While defence lawyers have a duty to zealously defend their clients’ legal rights, we must debate the ethical questions about how far that can reasonably be pushed, and at what cost to justice for innocent and victimised others.
This is very surprising for astronomers like me. The black hole seems too big to be the product of a single star collapsing, which poses questions for our theories of how black holes form.
Our team, led by Professor Jifeng Liu at the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has dubbed the mysterious object LB-1.
What’s normal for a black hole?
Astronomers estimate that our galaxy alone contains about 100 million black holes, created when massive stars have collapsed over the past 13 billion years.
Most of them are inactive and invisible. A relatively small number are sucking in gas from a companion star in orbit around them. This gas releases energy in the form of radiation we can see with telescopes (mostly X-rays), often accompanied by winds and jets.
Until a few years ago, the only way to spot a potential black hole was to look for these X-rays, coming from a bright point-like source.
About two dozen black holes in our galaxy have been identified and measured with this method. They are different sizes, but all between about five and 20 times as heavy as the Sun.
We generally assumed this was the typical mass of all the black hole population in the Milky Way. However, this may be incorrect; active black holes may not be representative of the whole population.
The unusual black hole was spotted using the LAMOST telescope at Xinglong Observatory in China.NAOC, Chinese Academy of Sciences
New tools bring an old idea to life
For our black hole search, we used a different technique.
We surveyed the sky with the Large sky Area Multi-Object fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) in north-east China, looking for bright stars that move around an invisible object. This let us detect the gravitational effect of the black hole, regardless of whether any gas moves from the star to its dark companion.
This technique was proposed by the British astronomer John Michell in 1783, when he first suggested the existence of dark, compact stars orbiting in a binary system with a normal star.
However, it has become practically feasible only with the recent development of large telescopes which let astronomers monitor the motion of thousands of stars at once.
John Michell (1724–1793) was the first scientist to predict the existence of compact stars from which light cannot escape. In 1783 he explained how to find them.Public domain / Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London
How we spotted LB-1
LB-1 is the first major result of our search with LAMOST. We saw a star eight times bigger than the Sun, orbiting a dark companion about 70 times as heavy as the Sun. Each orbit took 79 days, and the pair are about one and a half times as far away from each other as Earth and the Sun.
We measured the star’s motion by slight changes in the frequency of the light we detected coming from it, caused by a Doppler shift as the star was moving towards Earth and away from it at different times in its orbit.
We also did the same for a faint glow coming from hydrogen gas around the black hole itself.
How was LB-1 formed? It is unlikely that it came from the collapse of a single massive star: we think that any big star would lose more mass via stellar winds before it collapsed into a black hole.
One possibility is that two smaller black holes may have formed independently from two stars and then merged (or they may still be orbiting each other).
Another more plausible scenario is that one “ordinary” stellar black hole became engulfed by a massive companion star. The black hole would then swallow most of the host star like a wasp larva inside a caterpillar.
The discovery of LB-1 fits nicely with recent results from the LIGO-Virgo gravitational wave detectors, which catch the ripples in spacetime caused when stellar black holes in distant galaxies collide.
The black holes involved in such collisions are also significantly heavier (up to about 50 solar masses) than the sample of active black holes in the Milky Way. Our direct sighting of LB-1 proves that these overweight stellar black holes also exist in our galaxy.
Neutron stars (yellow) are as heavy as 1 to 2 Suns. Black holes discovered from X-ray radiation (purple) have masses between 5 and 20 Suns. Colliding black holes detected from gravitational waves each weigh up to about 50 Suns. LB-1, detected from its orbital motion, has a mass of about 70.LIGO-Virgo / Frank Elavsky / Northwestern / Universita Statale Milano, Author provided
The black hole family
Astronomers are still trying to quantify the distribution of black holes across their full range of sizes.
Black holes weighing between 1,000 and 100,000 Suns (so-called intermediate-mass black holes) may reside at the heart of small galaxies or in big star clusters. The space-based Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) gravitational wave detector (scheduled for launch in 2034) will try to catch their collisions.
Black holes weighing a million to a few billion solar masses are already well known, in the nuclei of larger galaxies and quasars, but their origin is actively debated. We are still a long way away from a complete understanding of how black holes form, grow, and affect their environments, but we are making fast progress.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University
When children are unable to live safely at home with their parents, they may enter out-of-home care. Most of these children are in foster or kinship care and many are able safely to go home after a period of time.
But for more than 23,000 children in out-of-home care in Australia, the courts have determined they cannot ever safely return home.
Adoption is one way these children can be given permanency and avoid moving from placement to placement in foster care.
But the adoption of children from out-of-home care is extremely contentious. This is partly because adoption laws in all Australian states and territories require children to be legally severed from their birth family when they’re adopted. This is called “plenary adoption”.
Our new research, launched this week in parliament in Canberra, found Australians with personal or professional experience of out-of-home care or adoption want a new form of adoption legislated in Australia. One which would allow children to have legal ties to both their adoptive family and their birth family at the same time. This is called “simple adoption”.
As one adopted person in our study described:
Simple adoption seems to protect everyone, the child is not displaced, does not feel like an item trafficked between two worlds, the child belongs to everyone but is safest with the adoptive parents.
To me, this option protects the child’s right to identity, family and safety, the right to flourish.
Outdated legislation
The current requirement to cut the legal relationship with birth family is a legacy of Australia’s history, with legislation across all states and territories derived from laws enacted in the 1960s.
Despite this, legal severance from birth family and identity erasure has remained in plenary adoption and adopted children are no longer legally related to their birth parents, birth siblings or extended birth family.
Australian adoption laws were first drafted in the 1960s.Kevin Gent/Unsplash
Plenary adoption creates a new legal identity for the child and erases their first legal identity. This means their original birth certificate is no longer a legal identity document.
Instead, a new birth certificate is made that replaces the names of their birth parents with their adoptive parents’ names.
This legal separation and the erasure of identity is extremely painful for many adopted people. Some of whom have, as adults, even gone to the extreme of having their adoption discharged to regain their legal connections and identity.
As one adopted person said:
Loss of identity, heritage and false birth certificates are huge issues for adoptees. Forever into the future my genealogy has changed. I can never be legally related to my family.
It’s also extremely difficult for birth parents and extended birth family, who, while they may not be able to care for their children, generally still love them dearly.
An additive adoption
Our research gathered the views of a range of people with connection to foster care and adoption. This included adopted people, former foster children and their birth parents, foster carers, adoptive parents and child welfare professionals.
We asked participants to rank aspects of the potential permanency options, including long term foster care, guardianship, plenary adoption and simple adoption.
Overwhelmingly, the more than 1,000 participants scored simple adoption as their most preferred.
Simple adoption means children are full legal members of both their adoptive and birth families at the same time, creating a new legal identity for children without legally severing them from their birth family or erasing birth identity.
While children are still related to their birth family, parental rights are held by the adoptive parents in simple adoption. This means legal authority and decision making is the responsibility of the adoptive parents.
Simple adoption is not a new concept, and is currently in place in countries as diverse as France, Brazil, Thailand and Ethiopia. But we have never had simple adoption in Australia.
Many study participants had never heard of simple adoption, but were enthusiastic about its possibilities. Among the excited responses were: “sounds too good to be true! In a perfect world… MAKE IT HAPPEN!” and “simple open adoption sounds fabulous! Please bring it to Australia”.
The legal belonging in two families that simple adoption provides was linked to emotional well-being and was a central reason why it was viewed positively.
This research suggests it’s again time for legislative reform so children are able to remain a legal member of their birth family when they’re adopted, and have their identity preserved.
It’s important to remember that regardless of any improvements made to adoption, supporting birth families so they’re able to care for their children must have the highest priority.
But for when it’s not possible for children to safely live in their birth families, the research is clear: simple adoption should be an option.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carmel Nottle, Lecturer – Human Movement / Clinical Exercise Physiology, University of South Australia
How do guide dogs know where their owners want to go? – Mia, age 6.
Mia, thank you for your question. I know a bit about this topic because I have some experience training and using an assistance dog myself. Also, as part of my job teaching at a university, I’m working with a number of students doing research projects on assistance dogs.
The answer to your great question is actually quite simple. Guide dogs, which are assistance dogs for people who are blind or vision impaired, know where to go because they practise.
Practice makes perfect – just like how you might learn to walk from home to school, or how adults know how to drive to different places without getting lost.
As part of their training a guide dog will practise getting around to some of the most common places the person they will guide needs to go. This may include the shops near their home, or from their home to the bus stop.
So, in simple terms, guide dogs only know how to get to and from familiar places they have practised the routes for.
What most people don’t realise, though, is the person the dog is guiding still needs to know where they are going too.
Just like people train for their jobs, dogs have to do special training to become guide dogs.From shutterstock.com
Identifying obstacles
There is a lot of training a guide dog will do before they are taught familiar places. This is because making sure they guide a person safely is much more than knowing where to go.
Say you are walking to school and the branch of a tree has fallen across the path you normally walk on.
If that branch was small you might just step over it. If it is big you might go around it or even cross to the other side of the road.
Since a blind person may not be able to see the branch, it’s up to their guide dog to let them know it is there. How they do this will depend on how big the branch is.
If it is small the dog may help safely guide the person around it. If it is large and they can’t get around easily, they will block the person so they know there is something in the way.
It is then up to the person to work with their dog to help them safely find a way past the branch.
This means a big part of being a guide dog is letting the person they are guiding know when there is an obstacle in their way.
To a blind person an obstacle can include things like the step down off the path onto the road, or a step up into a shop. These are things you probably don’t even think of as an obstacle when walking.
Training and team work are key for a guide dog and their human partners.
Working as a team
A lot of people may think a guide dog tells a person when they can cross a road. But this is not actually true.
The dog will block the person from stepping onto the road to let them then know they have reached the end of the path.
It is then up to the person to listen to their surrounds and decide if it is safe to cross the road.
It is the person who tells the dog it is safe to cross the road – not the other way around.
The level of water stored by Australia’s capital cities has steadily fallen over the last six years. They are now collectively at 54.6% of capacity – a decline of 30% from 2013.
We’re going into a hot summer and Sydney has just announced level 2 restrictions, the toughest for any capital. Data from the Bureau of Meteorology shows other capital cities facing mixed results.
The results show that Darwin’s water supply has lost about 25% over the last year. On the plus side, Melbourne’s supply actually increased over 2019, having fallen below 50% earlier this year, and now sits on 63.9%.
While the national average is trending downwards, the patterns for each city are very different. Sydney and Perth water supplies have had contrasting journeys over the last six years. In October 2013 Perth’s supply was a very low 33.8% and Sydney was a comfortable 91%.
Now, for the first time in many years Perth does not have Australia’s lowest level of all capital city water storages. As of last week, Sydney has taken this unwanted distinction from Perth.
For Perth residents, the news is good as their surface water storages are at a six-year high of 46.4%. In Sydney they are worried, as they have a six-year low of 46.2%.
Sydney has experienced a steep decline over the last 30 months, from nearly full storages (96%) in April 2017. The speed and severity of the Sydney drought is starting to resemble previous dry spells. One was in the 1940s and the other was the Millennium drought.
Perth has lived with the most water stress of any capital city. They have had to contend with a steady 45-year decline in rain. The inflow of water into Perth’s dams has also fallen dramatically.
Perth has adapted to its drying climate by sourcing water from many different supplies. It now uses its surface water storages for about 10% of its water supply. Much larger proportions of Perth’s supply comes from its two desalination plants, which unlike the other capitals are constantly in operation. It makes greater use of groundwater and highly treated recycled water. Perth also has permanent water restrictions.
Sydney’s desalination plant, after hibernating for 7 years, is now supplying water. It was switched on in late January 2019 when Sydney supply hit 60%, and can supply 15% of water demand. Unusually perhaps, the desalinated water does not reach all parts of Sydney.
Sydney Water has announced plans to double the capacity of the desalination plant. Construction is expected to begin soon.
Melbourne and Brisbane water supplies are currently at similar levels. However, since 2013 Melbourne’s storages have generally been lower than Brisbane’s. Melbourne’s supply has risen in 2019 after good winter rainfall in its catchments. The storages have increased from under 50% (49.6%) in late May 2019. Today, Brisbane storage levels are now at 59.2%.
Melbourne residents use less water than the other capital cities. In 2018 the average Melbourne resident used 161 litres per day, approximately 30% less than Sydney residents.
Melbourne’s supplies have also been supplemented with the reactivation of its Wonthaggi desalination plant in 2019. It is Australia’s largest desalination plant, capable of producing 410 million litres a day.
Brisbane also built a desalination plant after the Millennium Drought. In addition, they also made very large investments in Australia’s largest waste water recycling scheme. The Western Corridor recycled water scheme opened in 2008, cost $2.5 billion and features three advanced waste water treatment plants, with more than 200 km of pipelines and three advanced waste water treatment plants.
Hobart, Darwin and Canberra are the three Australian capital cities without desalination plants. Canberra has had a steady decline in its supply over three years. It was full in October 2016, gradually dropping to 51.6% in November 2019. Hobart’s storages were above 80% for most of the last six years. They were just above 90% 12 months ago and have since fallen to their current level of 72%.
Darwin’s water supply was full as recently as April 2018. Now, 18 months later, it is just touching 54%. This is its lowest level in six years. Darwin, our tropical capital, has the most seasonal rainfall of Australia’s capitals. Typically, they have almost no rain June to September during their dry season, and a wet season of heavy rains from October to April. However, the last wet season was one of the driest on record.
Adelaide’s water storage has fluctuated over the last 6 years. Adelaide gets more rain in winter and has dry summers, an opposite pattern to that of Darwin. Over the last 3 years the level has dropped from over 97% in October 2017 to just below 58%.
The desalination plant in Adelaide can supply up to 50% of its water supply. It has been operating in 2019, although not in the wetter months of July and August. The Murray also continues to supply a large proportion of Adelaide’s water supply. The Commonwealth has agreed to use drought funding for the Adelaide desalination plant, so more river water can be used by farmers upstream to grow fodder for livestock.
Australia is set for a dryer and hotter summer than average, particularly in the east. Coupled with continued high levels of household demand, we can expect further declines in water storage levels through the first half of 2020.
Researchers in a 2009 UK study suggested the dramatic drop in music tuition after age 11 was linked to children starting high school.
The study also revealed the main reasons for children ending music lessons were boring lessons, frustration at a lack of progress, disliking practice and competition from other activities. Some children regretted stopping music lessons.
Stopping as soon as a child experiences difficulty or expresses frustration denies that child the benefits of music and reinforces the message that, if something is hard, it’s not worth doing. But continuing lessons for someone who has come to resent them is futile.
Fortunately, there are some things parents can try which might keep kids in music class longer. And if that doesn’t work, it’s OK to stop.
1. Find out the reason
Sometimes a child likes the music lessons but has stage fright, doesn’t like exams or feels inferior to other musicians their age. These issues can be managed. Although they might result in a change of teacher, or repertoire or pattern of learning, they’re not of themselves a reason to stop.
2. Choose the right instrument
Music tuition can go wrong quickly when the wrong instrument is chosen. One study suggests if children select the right instrument (determined by simple aptitude tests and a preference for the sound of the instrument) they will keep on with lessons longer.
The choice of instrument can depend on the child’s preference, a parent’s suggestion or the availability of the instrument. Parents should take advice and, where possible, rent an instrument prior to making a financial commitment.
Gender expectation can influence instrument choice. Research shows guitarists, saxophonists and drummers are overwhelmingly male; violinists, flautists and singers overwhelmingly female.
Particularly where a parent’s preference differs from that of their child, it’s wise to reflect on what is motivating the preference. Kids shouldn’t feel they have to conform to a stereotype.
More boys take guitar lessons than girls. Try to not let traditional gender biases influence their choice of instrument.from shutterstock.com
Some children feel they are letting their parents down by not practising. This can make learning music miserable. Parents can help by:
creating a household routine that makes time and space for practice
being present with younger children during practice and asking older children how practice is progressing
understanding how the teacher wants their child to practise. Whether via a practice diary or through communication during the weekly lesson, knowing the purpose of practice helps target the encouragement parents can provide
being realistic about how long their child can practise. Different teachers will have different approaches to how long their students should practise, but regular practice sessions are better than a longer session the night before a lesson
being flexible. If a child is exhausted or there has been a disruption to their routine, give them permission to take a night off
encouraging their child to simply begin a session, however short – rather than fixating on completing 20, 30 or 40 minutes of practice – will help establish a routine
celebrating small victories. Learning an instrument can be hard and children will sometimes feel they haven’t accomplished a great deal. Praising incremental improvements can help motivate your kid.
4. Help your child take control
Learning music is challenging but must be rewarding. Given lack of progress is a leading reason for stopping lessons, it is vital, particularly for teenagers, that they develop agency as musicians.
Examples of fostering agency include:
encouraging them to select some of the music they play
giving them space and encouragement to compose their own music
allowing them to choose where, when and with whom they play
valuing a learning journey that explores a breadth of repertoire, rather than repertoire of ever-increasing difficulty
letting them take responsibility for their learning.
This last point might mean parents gradually let go of monitoring practice. An interim step is for a parent to offer to help keep the teenager accountable.
I know you often practise at 7pm […] would you like me to ask you how it’s going or remind you if it seems you’ve forgotten?
Competing interests represents a leading cause for stopping music tuition. The transition to high school is a pressure point in this regard.
Getting your child to just start practice is enough to establish routine.from shutterstock.com
When a child becomes over-scheduled or overwhelmed, parents should consider offering a break from music lessons. The break should be for a defined period (typically a term) and it is wise to keep the teacher informed.
5. Frame the ending positively
When a teenager wants to stop lessons but the parents are unsure of whether the desire is genuine or the time is right, it is sometimes possible to strike a deal.
You’ve come so far and done so well […] how about you keep going until after the concert in three months and if you still feel the same way, you can stop.
Most teenagers ultimately do stop and that’s OK. The best thing parents can do is help their child frame that ending positively.
Rather than seeing their child as “quitting” or “giving up”, parents should describe this transition as “moving on” or “graduating”.
Celebrate what they have accomplished and encourage them to keep playing for pleasure – their own, and that of others.
Videos showing autonomous or self-driving vehicles weaving in and out of crossroads at speed without colliding suggest this technology will solve traffic problems. You almost never see pedestrians or cyclists in these videos. The reality is that they don’t fit.
The vision of autonomous traffic is either of a large convoy of vehicles just a metre apart moving along road corridors at 100km/h, or of vehicles in an urban setting where their sensors are picking up every pedestrian movement and slowing or stopping. In the first case, the vehicles form an impenetrable barrier to pedestrians or cyclists (who, like on a freeway, will probably be banned). In the second case, pedestrians and cyclists are able to ruin traffic flow and are likely to just take over streets.
What’s missing from the demonstration of autonomous vehicles flowing through an intersection is the human element of cyclists and pedestrians.
It occurs to me this is a really good thing for our cities. I worried that the vision some had (mostly car makers, I suspect) was of a city completely taken over by self-driving vehicles.
All public transport would be gone as thousands of these vehicles scattered along every street looking for on-demand passengers. Historic centres and tram corridors would be ruined and we would no longer be able to appreciate their walkable character.
However, we may instead be able to take the best features of autonomous mobility technology to create cities that are more productive, liveable, inclusive and sustainable.
How would we do this?
The first thing is to realise that for 20-30 years cities around the world have been getting rid of cars in their centres and subcentres, drawing on the ideas of urban designers like Jan Gehl. This trend includes Australian cities. These centres are where the knowledge economy workers who drive innovation want to live and work.
Cities are not going to easily give up their cherished walkability to thousands of self-driving vehicles. Cities mostly are planning more walkable centres with even more public transport and fewer cars; they are unlikely to yield to autonomous vehicle ideology.
It’s more likely cities will ban self-driving vehicles from these centres, with just one small entry and exit point to enable vehicle access. Cities will not want to kill off the economic and social golden goose of walkable centres, let alone abandon climate change plans to reduce car use.
The second thing is that these active walkable centres are being heavily supported by quality public transport. Fortunately, autonomous technology is also being applied to transit services such as the trackless tram. These are guided but not driverless, like high-speed rail and metros, as they need drivers at times.
Not only could autonomous technology improve transit services, it could also take over some major road corridors that are failing at peak times. This could create an alternative rapid transit route carrying the equivalent of six to eight lanes of traffic.
Data source: author provided
The ‘movement and place’ approach
Around the world and in Australia, cities are looking to make roads into combined “movement and place” sites – some places will remain highly walkable and some will be just for movement but special corridors will be for both so theykeep people and goods moving and are places for people to live, work and enjoy. This approach gives priority to fast public transport using light rail or trackless trams combined with higher-density development around their stations.
The big issue on such corridors is how to get rid of cars so mass transit services have a fast, free lane to travel along as well as walkable station precincts to enter. Such a system would be much more efficient in traffic terms, but car users don’t easily give up their right to space.
However, the inherent problem with self-driving vehicles is that they will make a corridor impenetrable and travel through a dense precinct ridiculously slow and unpredictable. The politics will therefore shift towards a fast transit corridor along main roads together with walkable, car-free station precincts.
Self-driving cars can help make the fast corridor work as they are ideal for bringing on-demand passengers to the precincts where people can access local services and transfer to the fast transit line. This integrated service enables the best of both mobility solutions: fast and effective access, without destroying either the corridor or centres, and an on-demand local service as shown below.
Author provided
Each centre will have micro-mobility options feeding into the transit system and the station precinct services. These options will provide “first mile-last mile” connectivity on demand. They include walking, electric bikes, scooters, skateboards and autonomous shuttles or cars that travel to and from the centre along a specific isolated route.
Certain main roads would have to be declared as clearways for autonomous electric transit, with a set of stations serving high-density centres for urban regeneration. Autonomous vehicles could reign supreme out in the suburbs that were built around the car, but would not interfere with existing or new transit corridors as well as the historic and new centres where pedestrians would reign supreme. Such is the vision of the City of Liverpool for a trackless tram route to Western Sydney Airport.
Liverpool City Council’s vision of an autonomous transit link to Western Sydney Airport.
This vision is not anti-autonomous vehicles. It is enabling innovations to serve us rather than being our master. We cannot simply give up our cities to cars just when we are learning to overcome such dependence.
To make the most of autonomous vehicles’ advantages and avoid the disadvantages, we must choose to shape our cities. Autonomous transit services with feed-in autonomous cars and micro-mobility can achieve the walkability and civility we need for a good city in the future.
The effective exclusion of Uber from London, one of the digital platform’s most lucrative markets, adds to a small but significant list of places putting up roadblocks to “uberisation”.
Governments in Bulgaria, China, Denmark, Hungary and Australia’s Northern Territory have all made conditions hostile to Uber. There are partial bans in Finland, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
Specific reasons for the bans differ. In the case of London it is thousands of cases of unauthorised, insured drivers using verified driver accounts to pick up passengers.
Behind safety concerns, though, is also a deep resentment towards Uber itself circumventing regulations. This has led, in 2016 and 2014, to thousands of drivers of London’s traditional black cabs jamming the city in protest.
London cab drivers block Whitehall in central London in February 2016 to protest against Uber being allowed to operate.Andy Rain/EPA
Uberisation refers to the use of a computing platform to facilitate transactions between service providers and customers, often bypassing a traditional organisational intermediary. Uber pioneered this in “ride-sharing” and has pushed aggressively into food delivery. Its most controversial bypass is the traditional employment relationship.
This is epitomised by the case of Amita Gupta, the Australian Uber Eats driver fired for being ten minutes late in delivering a food order. Gupta’s claim of unfair dismissal was rejected by Australia’s federal Fair Work Commission on the basis she was an independent contractor, not an employee, and therefore not covered by the protections of Australia’s Fair Work Act. (She is now appealing to the full bench of the Fair Work Commission.)
The good news, as the London ban on Uber signals, is that uberisation is not an unstoppable force. For all its attractions to companies keen to hire labour while circumventing costly labour laws, it is destined to clash with the controls required to keep capitalism ticking over.
That’s no cause for complacency, though, because even if uberisation has its limits, we are seeing the apparent normalisation of all forms of precarious and insecure work.
The revolution that never happened
In 2015, with a crush of Uber-inspired startups rushing to market, a Huffington Post article predicted the combination of “realtime data, mobile payments, instant gratification and dynamic pricing” was the beginning of “an on-demand revolution that will ‘Uberize’ the entire economy.”
This hasn’t happened.
In the United States the percentage of workers in precarious employment – including agency temps, contract workers, independent contractors, freelancers and the like – rose from 10.7% in 2005 to 15.8% in 2015. Only an estimated 0.5% were involved with online intermediaries like Uber.
A 2018 report for Britain’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy estimated less than 1% of British workers relied on the gig economy for the majority of their income.
In Australia, our analysis of the data presented by Deloitte Access Economics for the NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation suggests 1.6% of the population earn money in the gig economy, often as supplement to other income.
The limits of capitalism’s logic
Uber and other labour-based digital platforms reveal the limits of the logic of contemporary capitalism: a logic based on the assumed value of deregulated markets that operate best with minimal interference by the state.
Their business models follow a textbook formula of unfettered capitalism. It eliminates employment obligations in favour of a spartan market-based economic exchange between capital and labour. Paid holidays, pension contributions, minimum wage, sick leave and protection from unfair dismissal – with a click on an app, all these hard-won rights disappear.
If this were to become the dominant economic model, it would undermine the system rather than help it flourish. More workers would find themselves among the “working poor”, unable to sustain themselves and their families. The burden on the welfare state would increase. Conflict and industrial unrest would escalate, as it has wherever Uber has set up shop, be it in New York, London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Berlin, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Delhi, Jakarta or Melbourne.
Drivers and taxi owners demonstrate against Uber and Cabify in Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 7 2019.Juan Ignacio Roncoroni/EPA
The business model is parasitical. It depends on the regular economy to subsidise it. And yet this is still not enough. To date Uber has never recorded a profit. When it listed on the New York Stock Exchange, its Initial Public Offering filing revealed its plan to further “reduce driver incentives to improve our financial performance”.
Normalising precarious work
While we can be relieved the gig economy hasn’t become more widespread, it is a concern that these platforms’ high profiles and extensive marketing have helped normalise and sanitise business models with parasitical employment practices.
Celebrities to have fronted Uber Eats advertisements in Australia, for example, include Boy George, Sophie Monk, Naomi Watts, Nic Naitanui, Ryan Moloney, Peter FitzSimons, Rebel Wilson, Ruby Rose, Lee Lin Chin and Ray Martin. Its most recent campaign features Jimmy Barnes, John Farnham and Anh Do.
Such endorsements have arguably helped to make Uber Eats and all forms of precarious work more acceptable.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emily Brayshaw, Lecturer, Fashion and Design History, Theory, and Thinking, University of Technology Sydney
The bushfires burning across Australia are having a devastating impact on our unique native wildlife.
But while record numbers of injured and orphaned animals are being treated, tens of thousands of people across Australia and from as far away as France and the Netherlands are responding to the animals’ plight by knitting, crocheting and sewing pouches to soothe and keep them warm and quiet when they come into care.
Their efforts are the latest in a long history of crafting in times of crisis.
Home comforts
Craft has long provided comfort to both creators and recipients. It has also shaped the fabric of our society.
More than 115 years ago, the suffragettes embroidered banners and cloths to display at their rallies for the right to vote.
During World War I, thousands of Australian women and children knitted more than a million pairs of socks for soldiers serving in the trenches in France. The practice of crafting in a crisis continued into World War II with Australian government departments issuing knitting patterns and guidelines for suitable garments that soldiers could wear to war.
More recently, groups like the Knitting Nannas Against Gas have tapped into the history of using knitting as a tool for non-violent political activism.
Women around the globe knitted ‘pussy hats’ as a bright visual signal of the need for recognition of equal rights.Nikolai Linares/EPA
Australia’s wildlife in need has a strong appeal for crafters.
Philip Island’s Knits for Nature project began after oil spills in the late 1990s and the early 2000s threatened the area’s penguins. Thousands of knitters worldwide rallied to support the cause and continue to donate.
In 2012, German volunteers knitted 40,000 jumpers for Victoria’s little penguin population at Phillip Island.AAP
Today, Australia is experiencing an early and extreme bushfire emergency linked to climate change.
Kristie Newton, campaign manager for animal rescue group WIRES, says that timing of the fires has made things worse for animal rescue groups:
It’s spring, which is our busiest time of year. We’re getting many hundreds of calls each day about orphaned and injured wildlife because it’s breeding season, but so many of our resources have been taken up by the bushfire emergency.
Community members and organisations are mobilising to crochet and knit marsupial pouches, make pouches and linings for orphaned joeys or sew bat wraps. WIRES has received donations from Australia, NZ, UK, USA, Sweden, Norway and Japan and delivered hundreds of pouches to carers.
Many hands
Sydney-based fibre artist Jacqui Fink is one person helping to co-ordinate donations of pouches and linings for wildlife welfare groups. She agrees with Newton that, “The fires are so huge and horrific that people are desperate to help as many animals as possible in any way they can”.
“Lots of school teachers have asked me to send patterns so that the kids can make pouches and linings. Church groups have been amazing, and even a women’s prison in South Australia has been in contact asking for information. I’ve received packages of pouches and linings from all over the Australia,” Fink says.
Newton also says that many schools have been in touch with WIRES for information about how to make pouches and the phone has been ringing off the hook with offers of help.
It is not just the local crafting community rallying around the cause.
“I’ve received more than 10,000 emails from as far away as Estonia, Finland, South Africa, Canada, Germany and New Zealand from people looking for patterns to make pouches to help our wildlife,” Fink notes.
Sewing enthusiasts have responded to the call to help orphaned joeys with snug pouches.WIRES, Author provided (No reuse)
Making pouches and linings is a low-cost, sustainable way for people to help. As long as the pouches are made from pure wool and the linings are cotton or flannelette, they’ll meet the fabric requirements to keep the animals safe and snug.
“We crafters are a practical mob. We love a job and we often have huge stashes of fabric and yarn lying around the house,” Fink says.
Pouches and linings can also be made from woollen blankets and old cotton sheets, saving them from landfill.
Creating agency
People are often keen to get involved in crafting during a crisis because it gives them a sense of purpose.
There is evidence that the acts of knitting,crochet and sewing can all help people to feel less anxious and deal with traumatic events.
And although the scale of the Australian bushfires is overwhelming, making pouches for animals feels like a practical step.
“It’s a meaningful way to help and people can know that something they’ve made with their hands will keep an animal warm at night. That’s a beautiful gift to give,” Newton says.
The pouch and lining patterns are so basic that it’s an opportunity to learn new skills and carry on traditional crafts. Crafting pouches and liners can also allow kids to focus on something positive.
Youth health nurse Debbie Downie from Kirwan State High School in Townsville organised for students and teachers to sew koala mittens at lunchtime. Parents and other local community members also got involved by donating fabric or coming in to sew with the children. They’ve now made more than 150 koala mittens for animals affected by the bushfires.
How to make a pouch for critters in need.
In a crisis, small acts of crafting can be among the most powerful.
“All those incredible volunteers on the frontline can feel so alone and frustrated, but rising up and rallying with craft lets them know that out there people care,” Fink says.
Newton agrees. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness of people and it’s helping us keep going, now and into the future.”
In times of crisis, we can echo the wartime slogan: Keep calm and craft on.
Across Australia around 5,700 community pharmacies are responsible for dispensing the majority of prescriptions subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
Every five years the Australian government consults with the Pharmacy Guild before delivering the Community Pharmacy Agreement. This agreement governs how pharmacies are reimbursed for dispensing medicines listed on the PBS, and the sorts of services you can access at the pharmacy.
The Pharmacy Guild is the major player involved in negotiating with the government how much money is spent through the Community Pharmacy Agreement, and where the money goes.
Given the funds at stake, and the importance of ensuring the availability of PBS medicines, it’s pertinent to look at what the Pharmacy Guild is and where its power comes from.
Ensuring community pharmacies are sustainable
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia was founded in 1928 as an employers’ organisation for the owners of community pharmacies. Pharmacy owners must be registered pharmacists, but the pharmacy profession is represented separately by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.
The Pharmacy Guild’s key focus is the financial sustainability of community pharmacy. Over the years they’ve sought to protect pharmacists’ income generated from the PBS (between 41% and 46% of their total income, depending on location).
This is highlighted, for example, by the 2013 fight over dispensing fees for cancer drugs. The Pharmacy Guild was able to recoup A$82.2 million to increase dispensing fees for chemotherapy drugs, after it protested changes in funding arrangements for chemotherapy services left pharmacies with a A$277 million shortfall.
Similarly, the Pharmacy Guild was able to coerce the government into providing A$210 million in the 2017-18 budget to community pharmacies as compensation for lower than forecast prescription volumes.
Negotiations for the 7th Community Pharmacy Agreement are currently underway.From shutterstock.com
The guild has also pushed for pharmacies to receive funding to deliver primary care services to patients. Both the Pharmacy Guild and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia regard the community pharmacy sector as an ideal environment to host preventative health initiatives, such as immunisations and screening services.
Under the 6th Community Pharmacy Agreement, funding for these sorts of services has exceeded A$1.26 billion. It’s highly likely funding for these activities will be increased in the next Community Pharmacy Agreement.
Despite the fact uptake of these programs is described as “alarmingly low”, this has generated turf fights between doctors and pharmacists.
Some of the medical opposition is because evaluations of a number of long-running pharmacy programs have failed to demonstrate their value. In most cases, there has been insufficient data to enable any assessment of the impact of these programs on health outcomes.
So why are they so powerful?
The lobbying capabilities of the Pharmacy Guild executive and its members, the reach into every community, and the substantial political donations they make, mean politicians are always nervous about treading on community pharmacies’ toes.
Community pharmacies have a unique ability to garner public support for their causes from loyal customers. This can be a potent deterrent for any politician proposing changes the Pharmacy Guild views as adverse.
We saw this during the 2013 election campaign when customers were petitioned to save their local pharmacies, supposedly under threat after a move by the Rudd government to reduce the price of prescription medicines.
Community pharmacies are often able to cultivate loyal customers.From shutterstock.com
In terms of political donations, the Pharmacy Guild was ranked as the 14th largest political donor in 2017-18 (the latest period we have data for).
Their political contributions in that financial year totalled A$220,000. More than half of this (A$139,500) went to the Labor Party, with the remainder going to the Liberal and National Parties.
The Pharmacy Guild has been open about its ability to work within political processes, regardless of who is in government.
Its many critics, however, see the approach as one of manipulation. Former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Graeme Samuel, has described some of the guild’s tactics as “political blackmail”.
Towards the 7th Community Pharmacy Agreement
We don’t yet know what’s going to be contained in the 7th Community Pharmacy Agreement.
Regrettably, despite the large sums of money involved and the importance of community pharmacy as a public asset, there’s no transparency around the negotiations.
There’s also been little apparent consultation with other key stakeholders, particularly consumers. The Pharmacy Guild – and with it the interests of its members – appears, unsurprisingly, to be driving where health minister Greg Hunt will go with this agreement.
The student of Greek mythology is often struck by the fact that some gods and goddesses have extensive roles in the mythical narratives, and others have very limited parts to play. The goddess Demeter is an interesting case of this. As an Olympian goddess and fertility figure, she is very important in ancient Greek religion and life, but she has a rather small role in its literature and mythology.
She is mentioned a little bit in Homeric epic, especially the Iliad, but has no actual part to play either in the Iliad or the Odyssey. Nor does she feature at all as a character in extant Greek drama.
There is, however, a rather beautiful poem called the “Homeric Hymn to Demeter” in which Demeter and her daughter Persephone are the central focus of attention. It probably dates to the first half of the 6th century BC. It is 495 lines long and composed in hexameters, the same poetic metre as the Iliad and Odyssey. Despite its connections to epic poetry, however, and the title “Homeric”, the hymn is of uncertain authorship.
A mother’s love
The focus of the poem is one of the most renowned narratives from Greek mythology – the rape of Persephone by Hades, the god of the Underworld, and the response of Demeter to her loss. It is a remarkable narrative, built fundamentally on the power of a mother’s love for her only child.
Demeter mourning Persephone by Evelyn de Morgan, 1906.Wikimedia Commons
The ancient Greek word for “mother” [meter] is actually embedded in Demeter’s name. The Hymn describes the primordial maternal power brought to bear upon the male sky-god Zeus, who had secretly (ie without Demeter’s knowledge) given over his daughter Persephone to a marriage with his brother Hades.
Demeter is one of the “older” generation of Olympian gods. Her siblings are Zeus, Poseidon and Hades on the male side, and Hera and Hestia on the female side. Zeus, the sky god, has sexual relations with two of his sisters – Hera, who is a kind of long-suffering queen of heaven; and Demeter, who is more earth-focused. In a famous passage in Iliad 14, Zeus recounts to Hera herself some of his sexual exploits, and he names Demeter in his long list of amours.
Persephone is not mentioned in the passage as the product of this particular sexual encounter, but that is definitely the idea. Demeter and Persephone are often thought of together as “The Two Goddesses”. This name helps to emphasise the power of their bond, and the gravity of Zeus’s action in violently separating them.
The Hymn tells the story of Persephone and other young girls gathering flowers in a meadow. As she bends down to pick a beautiful flower, the earth opens up and Hades emerges on his horse-drawn chariot. She gives out a scream, but he carries her off into the depths of the earth.
Hades abducting Persephone, fresco in the small royal tomb at Vergina, Macedonia, Greece, circa 340 BC.Wikimedia Commons
A blight on the land
Her mother hears her cry, and begins a search for her throughout the whole world. Whilst ever Persephone is missing Demeter creates a blight on the land in which nothing germinates and nothing grows. She would have destroyed humanity altogether if Zeus hadn’t taken notice, and acted accordingly.
A human genocide is clearly not in the gods’ interest. It would deprive them of the honours that they receive from mortals. Their existence without honours from humans would be intolerable, and Zeus, as ruler of the world, can’t allow it to happen. But Demeter will not let go of her fury at the loss of her daughter. She won’t go to Olympus, the home of the gods, and she won’t let the fruit grow on earth until she sees Persephone again.
Zeus is forced to relent and sends the messenger Hermes to the Underworld to get the girl back. But, just as she is going, Hades prevails on her to eat the seed of a pomegranate to prevent her from staying with her mother above the earth all her days. Persephone is therefore forced to spend one-third of each year under the earth with Hades, and two-thirds with her mother and the community of gods on Mount Olympus.
Persephone’s transition from the feminised world of a flowery meadow to the unrelenting male world of Hades could scarcely be more fundamental.
The male gods who perpetrate the deed, Zeus and Hades, have no redeeming features whatever in the Hymn, and they are really undone by the sheer force of Demeter’s love for her daughter. The main narrative of the Hymn has some similarities to Achilles’ response to the loss of Patroclus in the Iliad, but Demeter’s wrath is universal with a kind of cosmic maternal power to it.
A new cycle of life and death
Persephone’s eating of the pomegranate seed means that a compromise is set up, in which the world changes forever. Whereas she might have expected an immortal existence with her mother on Olympus, Persephone becomes the central figure in a new cycle of life and death.
She is both queen of the Underworld, as wife of Hades, and associated with the new life that rises with the spring. Death and life are no longer mutually exclusive, but co-exist in both the upper and lower worlds. There is life in death, and death in life.
Frederic Leighton, The Return of Persephone, 1891.Wikimedia Commons
The Demeter Hymn contains the foundation myth of the Eleusinian Mysteries – renowned religious rites which took place at Eleusis, near to Athens. Initiation into the Mysteries held out the prospect of making death less threatening.
The establishment of Persephone as a feminine presence in the Underworld, as described in the Hymn, corresponds to the notion that death is not as terrifying as it could have been had Hades alone been present as ruler in the world of the dead.
Like many Greek myths the story of Persephone’s descent into the realm of Hades, and her emergence from it, has resonances in contemporary arts, most especially the notion of death and rebirth.
One parallel worth noting is the Phantom of the Opera in the version by Andrew Lloyd-Webber (et al.) in which Erik leads Christine down into the cellars of the opera house on to a boat and across a subterranean lake.
Emmy Rossum and Gerard Butler in The Phantom of the Opera (2004)Warner Bros., Odyssey Entertainment, Really Useful Films
Erik then sings to Christine of the attractions of his isolated world of darkness and night:
Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender Turn your face away from the garish light of day Turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light And listen to the music of the night
The plea of Hades to Persephone is quite different in the Hymn, but the desperate loneliness of the two males in their dark realms is something that they have in common.
It is worth noting, finally, that phrases like being “carried off by Hades” or “marrying Hades” were used as metaphors more broadly to describe the deaths of young girls. This again shows how significant the myth of Demeter and Persephone was in the lives of women and girls in Greek antiquity.
