Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Fabian, Assistant professor of public policy, University of Warwick

Nearly all the world’s governments and vast numbers of its people are convinced that addressing human-induced climate change is essential if healthy societies are to survive. The two solutions most often proposed go by various names but are widely known as “green growth” and “degrowth”. Can these ideas be reconciled? What do both have to say about the climate challenge?

The crude version of green growth – the solution that dominates the discourse of developed countries – is essentially that technology will save us if we get the incentives right. We can stick with the idea that economic growth is the central determinant of human flourishing, we just need technological fixes for unsustainable industrial practices. These will emerge if we get prices pointing in a green direction, which is first and foremost about carbon taxes.

Yet this sort of thinking still seems head-in-the-sand. Yes, the emissions intensity of per-capita GDP growth is generally falling, in part because added economic value increasingly comes from ideas not widgets.

Sweden, for example, has increased its GDP by 76% but its domestic energy use by only 2.5% since 1995. But we are still missing carbon reduction deadlines by wide margins and struggling to enact meaningful carbon pricing.

Eco-socialism and political suicide: the caricature of degrowth

The crude version of degrowth is that to ensure sustainability, GDP must contract. Endless growth got us to where we are, and endless growth will kill us. We need to throw out the status quo and make our revolutionary way to eco-socialism. Rich countries need to stop where they are and transfer wealth to poor countries so we can equitably share what we have.

This sort of thinking is easily caricatured as political suicide and more likely to undermine enthusiasm for sustainability than achieve it.

Read more:
Is nuclear the answer to Australia’s climate crisis?

Yet these caricatures can be easily dismissed. While it’s hard to pin down exactly what each camp stands for, since they represent amorphous agglomerations of ideas in a fast-moving discourse, it’s clear many advocates of both green growth and degrowth are sophisticated in their views and share many points of agreement.

Where green growth and degrowth agree

The first is that contemporary industry is too environmentally intensive – it crosses multiple planetary boundaries in its carbon emissions, ocean acidification, nitrogen, phosphorus loading and so on.

Second, to avoid ecological collapse, sectors such as fossil fuels, fast fashion, industrial meat farming, air travel, plastics and many more need to draw down their economic activity.

Meanwhile, other sectors need to grow. These include clean energy, obviously, but also biodegradable materials, green steel and pesticide-free agriculture, on and on. Effecting this structural transition will require both carbon taxes and more muscular industrial policy of the Green New Deal sort.

Read more:
Too hard basket: why climate change is defeating our political system

Third, environmental damage is both licensed and exacerbated by a narrow policy focus on gross domestic product (GDP). We need to shift priorities away from GDP and towards frameworks and budgets – such as those used in New Zealand, the Australian Capital Territory and other places – that do a far better job than GDP does of measuring whether we are using our resources effectively to advance human wellbeing.

And many of these wellbeing goals can be achieved using a fraction of the wealth of advanced nations. For example, Cuba, with about an eighth of the GDP per capita, has similar life expectancy and literacy rates to the United States.

New ways to measure and increase human wellbeing

A complementary approach is to measure comprehensive wealth – financial, natural, human, and social – rather than income. If economic activity substitutes a relatively small amount of financial capital concentrated in few hands for a huge amount of natural capital, then it isn’t sustainable nor does it increase total wealth.

Finally, we need to measure productivity – the extent to which we can do more with less. Economic growth models stress that only long-run improvements in productivity lead to sustained increases in wealth. Simply increasing investment, of the kind associated with extractive industries, provides only a transitory boost.

Read more:
How to beat ‘rollout rage’: the environment-versus-climate battle dividing regional Australia

Another virtue of productivity growth is creative destruction: when innovation clears out outmoded industries, ideas, and ways of working. Today creative destruction is held back by the power of vested interests, notably in fossil fuels, to lobby governments to slow the industrial transition required to address climate change.

Quality of life frameworks, wealth accounts, and productivity growth all have problems and present measurement difficulties, but they point us in the right direction. They help us to understand GDP as a means, not an end. Twentieth century statistics cannot measure 21st century progress.

Read more:
Australia’s new dawn: becoming a green superpower with a big role in cutting global emissions

Green growth and degrowth advocates also agree that getting people to practise less carbon intensive lifestyles, especially in rich countries, is politically and culturally difficult. Witness the recent outcry in Spain when the government legislated that public and commercial buildings could not be cooled below 27 or heated above 19 degrees respectively.

That’s why sweeteners are fundamental to the political logic of Green New Deals: for example, the proceeds of carbon taxes can be returned to households as compensation.

Where green growth and degrowth disagree

What green growth and degrowth advocates disagree most about is how deeply we need to alter our political economy to survive climate change.

Green growth is broadly optimistic about the capacity of liberal democracy’s incremental style to get the green transition done in time. It has faith in markets, and even as it recognises the need for green industrial policy it is cautious about government’s ability to micromanage it.

Degrowth believes something more radical is in order, with equality at its core. We need to understand what is “sufficient” for people to live good lives, and then redistribute from people who have far more than they need to people who have much less.

Read more:
Why Australia urgently needs a climate plan and a Net Zero National Cabinet Committee to implement it

This approach would include the provision of energy-efficient social housing, and international aid for green development. Government must adopt the climate transition as its mission in the manner of winning a total war. It must get involved in the economy and society in a big way, including by regulating things like private jets and low emission traffic zones.

The problem for degrowthers is that getting such a radical agenda off the ground requires first and foremost a change in public values. But the movement’s focus on international political economy – its tendency to target its efforts at bureaucrats and quasi-governmental agencies like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – undermines cultural change by feeding populist narratives about technocratic overreach.

Spain’s experience illustrates that citizens haven’t internalised the sorts of lifestyle changes degrowth believes are required. Politically hopeless slogans like “degrowth” that don’t even capture the essence of the movement need to be tossed out, and much more attention needs to be given to marketing the experience of living green in sustainable societies.

Mark Fabian does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Green growth or degrowth: what is the right way to tackle climate change? – https://theconversation.com/green-growth-or-degrowth-what-is-the-right-way-to-tackle-climate-change-218239

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marg Rogers, Senior Lecturer, Early Childhood Education; Post Doctoral Fellow, Manna Institute, University of New England

The Productivity Commission has just released a major report as part of its inquiry into early childhood education and care.

The draft recommendation that all children under five should have access to three days a week of “high quality” early education is grabbing headlines.

But if this is going to happen, we need a workforce to provide it. And in its report, the commission glossed over educator burnout and their working conditions. This is what makes it so difficult to retain staff.

Our research shows why this needs to change.

What does the Productivity Commission say?

The interim report (the final report is due in June 2024) repeatedly noted how early childhood education and care is important to children and families’ wellbeing. If families cannot access high-quality services, parents cannot work and children do not get the education and development opportunities they need to thrive.

The report does note “workforce challenges” and issues with pay and conditions – noting some staff were leaving for “lower stress” jobs. It also noted these this has been a “major concern” for the sector for “many years”.

But it does not specifically address educators’ wellbeing.

Vacancies at ‘record highs’

Early childhood educators are passionate about their jobs and well trained, but they are leaving the sector in droves.

The commission’s report notes vacancies for early childhood education and care positions are at “record highs and vacancy rates are above those of the wider workforce”. It suggests the sector has more than 5,000 vacancies Australia wide.

This figure does not consider the early learning services that have closed, reduced their capacity or simply stopped advertising because of low staff.

Our research

Our previous research showed educators around the world (including Australia) are at risk of burning out. This is due to inadequate support from their workplaces, a focus on collecting administrative data over interacting with children, low pay and low status.

Our new study looked at the experiences of Australian educators at the height of COVID lockdowns, to understand the new pressures on the workforce and the ways they adapted. This involved online interviews with six educational leaders from different service types in regional and rural NSW.

During COVID early childhood educators kept working but were not prioritised for vaccinations, despite constant contact with parents in high-risk jobs. New requirements from health authorities were constant and services often had to work out-of-hours to implement them at little notice.

As one interviewee told us:

No wonder we are burnt out when even our weekends and annual leave are interrupted.

Extra duties included deep cleaning, further administrative reporting, extra communication with parents and constant adjustment to staffing. But there was no extra funding to go with this work. As one interviewee told us:

We had this good group of casuals […] They didn’t have work, so there were […] some emotional times with staff […] because we couldn’t employ them.

At the same time, childrens’ and families’ needs increased, with the stress of the pandemic and waves of lockdowns. Another interviewee spoke of the emotional demands they faced:

[staff] were stressed – they were concerned about themselves, [and] their family. I had older staff, […] Indigenous staff [and was] trying to support […] and care for them.

Read more:
Early educators around the world feel burnt out and devalued. Here’s how we can help

Things have not necessarily improved

The pandemic has thankfully eased, but despite being essential workers, educators do not have the recognition and support they deserve. Their work continues to demand a lot for low status and little pay.

For example, the median wages of qualified teachers who work in the early learning system are about 20% lower than those of primary school teachers.

They continue to work in highly regulated systems, with burdensome administrative processes for quality assurance. This work includes assessment, rating, quality assurance plans, programming and safety documentation.

This can necessitate unpaid hours. And the emphasis on documentation and data collection reduces educators’ time with children and job satisfaction.

Other stressors have also replaced COVID requirements. This includes the impact of climate change (which also means keeping children safe and healthy in very hot, smoky or rainy weather), cost-of-living pressures and a housing crisis. These issues affect educators and the families and children they support.

We need to do 4 things

The Productivity Commission has a huge job to do in examining early education and care. But it has not yet adequately grappled with the causes of educator burnout and attrition.

To attract and retain the workforce required for the sector, we need to do four things:

1. fund wellbeing programs, including, peer support, mentoring programs, coaching and counselling for early childhood educators

2. provide incentives for educators to work in “childcare deserts”, where services are scarce (this includes regional, rural and remote areas and poorer metropolitan suburbs)

3. overhaul administrative burdens

4. make early learning part of the education system to improve educators’ pay, status and conditions.

Until system-wide issues are addressed and governments prioritise educator wellbeing, we are not going to get the workforce we need to educate and care for young children in Australia.

Professor Margaret Sims (Macquarie University) and Associate Professor Wendy Boyd (Southern Cross University) were co-researchers in this study.

Marg Rogers receives funding from the Commonwealth-funded Manna Institute, which is building place-based mental health research capacity in regional, rural, and remote Australia.

– ref. A major new childcare report glosses over the issues educators face at work and why they leave – https://theconversation.com/a-major-new-childcare-report-glosses-over-the-issues-educators-face-at-work-and-why-they-leave-218515

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marion Terrill, Transport and Cities Program Director, Grattan Institute

If you’re a driver, particularly in the country, you could be forgiven for thinking potholes have become a design feature of Australia’s local roads.

You would certainly know they are in a state of disrepair. And you have every reason to be fed up, because bad roads are dangerous, they increase your travel time, and they force you to spend more on fuel and on car maintenance.

They are getting worse because we’re not spending enough to maintain them.

Three-quarters of our roads are managed by local councils.

Every year, those councils spend A$1 billion less on maintenance than is needed to keep those roads in their current condition – let alone improve them.

The underspend is largest in regional and remote areas.

New Grattan Institute research finds the typical regional area has a funding shortfall of more 40%. In remote areas, it’s more than 75%.

Federal funding is falling behind

One reason for this underspend is that untied federal government grants to local councils haven’t kept pace with soaring costs.

Councils raise most of their own revenue – 80% on average. But in large parts of the country, there are a lot of roads and not enough ratepayers to pay for them.

Rural and remote councils have limited ability to raise more revenue from ratepayers. Their ratepayers already pay higher rates than those in cities, despite having lower average incomes.

Rate caps in place in New South Wales and Victoria also make it difficult for councils to raise more revenue.

Councils receive top-up grants from the federal and state governments. The primary grants from the federal government, available for councils to spend as they see fit – including on roads – are called Financial Assistance Grants.

These are worth about $3 billion a year.

But their value has not kept pace with rising costs. If they had kept pace, on our estimates they would be 20% higher, at $3.6 billion per year.

Road use is growing, but maintenance isn’t

Another reason for the underspend is that even as funding dries up, we’re using roads more.

A growing population means both more cars on our roads and more trucks needed to keep our shelves stocked.

But despite the extra damage to our roads, spending on maintenance has stalled.

Councils are spending more on other things

Another reason roads are underfunded is that councils are coming under increasing pressure to fund other services.

The legislation governing councils doesn’t clearly define what councils are responsible for, and there is no shortage of services communities want.

Spending on transport has fallen from almost half of local government spending in the 1960s to 21% today.

Environmental protection was only identified as its own area of spending for councils in 2018, but it now makes up 15% of all council spending.

Delaying will cost us more

If we don’t act now and start spending more to fix our roads, the pothole plague is going to spread. Australia is getting hotter, with more rain and floods.

The Local Government Association expects the cost of repairing flood and rain-damaged roads in the eastern states and South Australia to top $3.8 billion.

Tight budgets make it tempting to delay maintenance.

But delaying will only end up costing more in the long run, leaving taxpayers paying more to fix more badly damaged roads.

Read more:
The government just killed 50 infrastructure projects – what matters is whether it will fund them on merit from now on

Finally, a circuit-breaker

Some might argue that now is not the time for more spending on roads, given pressures on the budget. But plenty is being spent on big roads and new roads.

Infrastructure Minister Catherine King’s recent announcement of a funding boost of for local roads is a very welcome circuit-breaker.

She announced the Roads to Recovery program will increase gradually from $500 million to $1 billion per year, the Black Spot program from $110 million to $150 million per year, and funding for an amalgamated Bridges Renewal and Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity program will climb form $150 million to $200 per year.

This decision is important. Not only will councils receive more funding for maintenance, but it will be predictable funding, enabling better stewardship of long-lived assets. The money can’t start flowing soon enough.

Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and Grattan uses the income to pursue its activities. Marion Terrill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any other company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.

Natasha Bradshaw does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Think potholes on our roads are getting worse? You’re right – and here’s why – https://theconversation.com/think-potholes-on-our-roads-are-getting-worse-youre-right-and-heres-why-217784

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

The Albanese government, still struggling with the fallout from the High Court decision forcing the release of immigration detainees, is allocating $255 million to beef up resources to keep tabs on them.

The funding will enable agencies to “ensure individuals are abiding by visa condition,” and to prosecute them if they do not, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil, and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said in a statement.

The conditions include curfews and ankle monitors.

So far, 141 people have been released. The government has not said how many are wearing monitoring devices. It is not clear whether more people will be released and if so, how many. A total number of 340 has been referred to as being those potentially eligible for release.

There will be $150 million for the Home Affairs Department and Australian Border Force to add to the number of staff pursuing compliance, investigations, removal and surveillance duties. The extra capacity will increase the ability gain intelligence about high-risk people.

Another $88 million will go to the Australian Federal Police for establishing regional response teams and investigating visa breaches that constitute a criminal offence.

Expanded funding of $17 million for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions will give more capacity to prosecute those who breach visa conditions.

O’Neil said the government’s only priority was “protecting the safety of the community within the limits of the law”.

Giles said the expanded funding contrasted with cuts made in the Liberals’ time.

The government rushed through legislation for the monitoring, and is examining the possibility for further legislation enabling preventative detention of people who had committed the most serious crimes includihg murder and rape. But this is likely to have to wait for the High Court to issue its reasons for the decision.

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Government provides $255 million to boost resources to monitor released immigration detainees – https://theconversation.com/government-provides-255-million-to-boost-resources-to-monitor-released-immigration-detainees-218586

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

The former member for Wentworth, Dave Sharma, has won the Liberal Senate spot left by the retirement of the former Foreign Minister Maris Payne.

He beat former NSW minister Andrew Constance 251 to 206 in the final ballot on Sunday. His selection was a surprise, with Constance earlier tipped the likely winner. Both Sharma and Constance are moderates, as was Payne.

Sharma (who is not Jewish) is a one-time Australian ambassador to Israel, and his selection will be particularly welcomed by many in the Jewish community. He has been strongly supportive of Israel in his many media appearances since the October 7 Hamas attack.

Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who is Jewish, said: “Dave Sharma has a strong understanding of the need for Australia to stand with like-minded liberal democracies around the world.

“He has been a strong voice against antisemitism and I believe he will be extremely effective is exposing the extremist-Greens and the antisemitism they are feeding across Australia. He will be a welcome addition to Peter Dutton’s team.”

Opposition leader Dutton said: “His diplomatic and foreign policy expertise and experience will lend considerable weight and wisdom to the public policy debate given the precarious circumstances in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.

“Dave will speak with moral courage and provide moral clarity as we grapple with unprecedented levels of antisemitism on our own shores.”

Sharma held the seat of Wentworth from 2019 to 2022, when he was defeated by teal independent Allegra Spender.

Sunday’s field included former ACT senator Zed Seselja, a hard-line conservative, who was defeated by independent David Pocock at the last election.

Liberal deputy leader Sussan Ley said Sharma’s “keen foreign policy intellect will be particularly welcome given we are in the most dangerous set of geopolitical circumstances since the second world war.

“Over the past 20 years, Dave has sat in the Oval Office with American presidents, helped to broker international peace agreements and has first-hand experience on-the-ground in Israel as a former ambassador – all vital experiences which put him in good stead to make a lofty contribution as a senator for New South Wales.”

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Former Wentworth MP Dave Sharma pulls off surprise victory for Liberal Senate vacancy – https://theconversation.com/former-wentworth-mp-dave-sharma-pulls-off-surprise-victory-for-liberal-senate-vacancy-218587

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Mercer, Associate Professor of Theatre Arts, Curtin University

Theatre is littered with sister double acts: Antigone and Ismene, Kate and Bianca, Blanche and Stella, Fleabag and Claire. The shared history of sisters delivers inbuilt emotional stakes and lots of baggage. The doubling of experience brings both love and rivalry, the joys of being known and the horrors of being trapped by the reflection of the other. Looking like not-quite twins, real-life sisters Hayley and Mandy McElhinney are the dirty birds of the title, in the world premiere of a co-written work in which they play reclusive sisters.

With a broad resume of work on stage and screen, Dirty Birds is their debut play and the first time the McElhinney sisters have shared the stage. It wasn’t until COVID shut us all down that they found the time and space (on Zoom) to collaborate on the script, later developed with director Kate Champion.

Dirty Birds is indebted to Theatre of the Absurd. Writing in the 1960s, Martin Esslin brought an otherwise disconnected group of playwrights like Beckett, Adamov, Ionesco and Genet together under the umbrella term “Absurd”, coined via Albert Camus’ 1942 essay The Myth of Sisyphus.

For Esslin, such theatre “strives to express its sense of the senselessness of the human condition and the inadequacy of the rational approach”. Emerging as it did after the horrors of the second world war, absurdism makes sense in a post-COVID work such as Dirty Birds.

Read more:
Tragedy is dead in Australia, long live laughter and weather reports

Are we inside or outside?

At first the set (designed by Bruce McKinven) seems to be a single, nondescript brown house interior. But over the course of the play, with the addition of Paul Jackson’s lighting, a multitude of locational possibilities appear: an abandoned house; a submerged shipwreck; a cubby house; a cathedral; a doll house; a paper house; a box.

Matching the experience of the sisters, the longer the audience spends in the space, what seemed like the inside becomes the outside, until they are interchangeable. The interplay of McKinven and Jackson’s images do a lot of the narrative heavy lifting in terms of the structure, build and cumulative emphasis of the performance.

There is a sculptural quality to Champion’s use of static imagery in recurring sequences of one sister waiting for the other. Flickering through images like a life-sized flipbook, the sisters are in a constant state of waiting – perhaps the most well-known absurdist trope.

The sense of time passing could be minutes, years or forever. And yet, despite this stasis, as layers of costume are shed, there is a build from winter to spring, from dormant to active, until the expanse of time becomes today.

You could be anyone else

We are introduced to the sisters via their multiple alter egos as they pretend to be anyone other than themselves in a series of games and rituals that keep them separated from the outside world and embedded in their shared, internal world: both an escape and a trap.

In what could be a continuation of childhood games, the sisters play with tropes of Irish storytelling (tied to the McElhinneys’ own Irish heritage), 1950s American sitcoms and moments of camp horror.

There’s a tonal touch of the psychological rivalry of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? – another story of sisters – of one sister being held captive by the other.

Having cobbled together their own personal mythology of stories, the sisters are pulled between the games and the outside world, where everything’s big except the conversations (which are small). There are glimpses of it via trips to the box (aka the letterbox) and the mounting foreclosure notices that culminate in a stunning visual cavalcade as the outside world awakens.

Unlike Beckett or Ionesco (the most famous of Esslin’s absurdists) Dirty Birds often breaks the conceit when one of the sisters (usually Hayley) brings them crashing into their present by referring to their predicament. The rules are also broken non-verbally when the other sister breaks the confinement of the house to appear at the edges.

Read more:
Guide to the Classics: Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, a tragicomedy for our times

Well-worn relationships

The McElhinneys have written themselves a spectacular showcase. The meta-quality of them as real sisters is unavoidable, and their compelling biological chemistry is on full display. Women’s bodies are central in this contemporary rendering of the Absurd. The stink of embodiment is tangible, comforting and symptomatic; it speaks to the joyous freedom as well as the suffocating snare of secretive, sisterly intimacy.

There are also moments of exquisite physical comedy emerging from the timing and repetition of a well-worn relationship.

Esslin refuted the common misconception that Theatre of the Absurd should necessarily be despair-filled and meaningless. Rather, he saw these plays as an “endeavour to come to terms with the world”, to “face up to the human condition as it really is” and free us “from illusions that are bound to cause constant maladjustment and disappointment”.

Or, as theatre critic Michael Y. Bennett argues, absurdist plays are “ethical parables that force the audience to make life meaningful”.

As the sisters grapple with themselves and each other, between taking personal responsibility or being overwhelmed by despair, what perseveres is the poignancy of their connection and in the play’s final moments the endurance of hope.

Dirty Birds, from Black Swan State Theatre Company, is at the Heath Ledger Theatre, Perth, until December 10.

Leah Mercer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. The exquisite physical comedy of Dirty Birds: a new Aussie post-COVID Theatre of the Absurd – https://theconversation.com/the-exquisite-physical-comedy-of-dirty-birds-a-new-aussie-post-covid-theatre-of-the-absurd-217274

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Speck, Emerita Professor, Art History and Curatorship, University of Adelaide

Vincent Namatjira, a Western Arrernte artist, is Albert Namatjira’s great-grandson. His genre is portraiture, but with a twist: loaded with satire and post-colonial politics.

He was the first Aboriginal artist to win the Archibald prize in 2020 with a portrait of fellow Indigenous man, footballer Adam Goodes.

His double-sided portrait on plywood, Close contact, won the Ramsay Prize in 2019. In this freestanding portrait Namatjira employs his strategy of inverting history: the artist commands the viewpoint, facing outward; Captain Cook on the rear side trails behind. Close Contact is the entry portrait for this fabulous survey exhibition, Vincent Namatjira: Australia in Colour on show at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

The paintings on display echo Namatjira’s mantra that his paintbrush is his weapon and that art has the power to change the world.

His multi-panel set of portraits, Australia in Colour, showing a mix of the rich and powerful such as Gina (Rinehart) and Scomo side-by-side with local heroes such as musician Angus (Young) and Ned Kelly along with Aboriginal heroes, Cathy (Freeman) and Vincent (Lingiari) sets the tone for the exhibition.

Nothing is off limits.

Read more:
Terra nullius interruptus: Captain James Cook and absent presence in First Nations art

Artistic lineage

Vincent Namatjira is very conscious of his lineage, and his role via portraiture in continuing what Albert Namatjira started in landscape in portraying Country.

This is underscored in his twin portrait, Albert and Vincent (2014), showing himself in the same pose William Dargie employed in his Archibald prize-winning portrait of his great-grandfather in 1956.

But for Vincent Namatjira, there is a timely assertiveness in addressing wrongful behaviour as in his telling portrait of Adam Goodes.

Read more:
At last, the arts Revolution — Archibald winners flag the end of white male dominance

That assertiveness extends to correcting the historical record in his series of Unknown soldiers (2020) which portrays First Nations men who served in the first world war. Many chose not to declare their Aboriginal heritage so they could enlist. The paintings completed on army surplus camouflage fabric reinforce that their stories are still hidden, waiting to be woven into an inclusive national history.

Namatjira included himself in this series because he was trying

to understand the mindset of Indigenous men who volunteered for WW1 but were neglected and mistreated in their own country.

Visiting the royals

Wry humour and astute reversals of identity go a long way towards rewriting history and the effects of colonialism.

British royalty feature in numerous paintings, often with Namatjira inserting himself into the composition. He is having afternoon tea in the Royal Tour (Charles, Vincent and Elizabeth) (2020); and standing atop the royal carriage in The Royal Tour (Vincent and Elizabeth on Country) (2022).

The simple gesture of placing an uncomfortable Queen in someone else’s Country with Namatjira towering over her from the rooftop of the royal carriage says it all.

In another, Namatjira shows a dark-skinned and somewhat uncertain Charles on Country (2022), dressed in royal regalia and framed by an Albert Namatjira vista of the West Macdonnell ranges. The curatorial cues provided for viewers to read the imagery are in the artist’s own words. On royalty he says:

I’ve made a lot of paintings of the British royal family – that mob were born into wealth, power and privilege, so I feel it’s fair enough to make fun of their stuffy uniforms, and their outdated traditions … even their teeth.

Captain Cook too is a target – as a symbol of colonisation and empire, as he explains:

Over there is James Cook, his ship has washed up in the desert. He’s sunburnt, lost. British royals are out of place, wandering in the sandy creeks, among ghost gums.

Re-recording history

An especially powerful set of portraits, Seven Leaders (2016), are of senior Aboriginal men from the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. They include Alec Baker, Kunmanara (Mumu Mike) Williams and Witjiti George.

Their white and greying hair and beards set against their dark skin, and their eyes full of experience and conviction, present an alternative set of powerful figures. Here, as in other paintings in this rich exhibition, the tables are turned – viewers come away questioning who has the power and why.

Sitting within the exhibition, Vincent Namatjira engages with the historical account of Rex Batterbee “teaching” Albert Namatjira the art of watercolour.

Vincent Namatjira’s rendition of this event, in which the transaction is one of cultural exchange, is a painting of equals.

That engagement with art history extends to constructions of national art. In place of bucolic pastoral scenes of settled land – minus its Indigenous inhabitants – by artists such as Arthur Streeton are new national pictures such as Albert Namatjira, Slim Dusty and Archie Roach on Country (2022).

Collaborative pop-up books made with Tony Albert and irreverent portraits painted jointly with Ben Quilty, along with moving image work featuring Vincent Namatjira weaving through Country in Albert Namatjira’s trademark green truck, populate this lively, cheeky exhibition.

Its energy is infectious, its imagination extending to how things could be otherwise. Vincent Namatjira deserves the last word:

For me, the canvas is a setting where I can combine the past, present and possible futures, and I can put myself – as a proud Aboriginal man – at the front and centre of a situation where we would usually be out of sight.

Vincent Namatjira: Australia in Colour is on show at the Art Gallery of South Australia until January 21.

Catherine Speck has received from the ARC to research Australian art exhibitions.

– ref. Vincent Namatjira’s paintbrush is his weapon. With an infectious energy and wry humour, nothing is off limits – https://theconversation.com/vincent-namatjiras-paintbrush-is-his-weapon-with-an-infectious-energy-and-wry-humour-nothing-is-off-limits-217361

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Archer, Research Scientist, Sensory, Flavour and Consumer Sciences, CSIRO

You’re out for dinner with a bunch of friends, one of whom orders pizza with anchovies and olives to share, but you hate olives and anchovies! Do you pipe up with your preferred choice – Hawaiian – or stay quiet?

This scene plays out every day around the world. Some people ferociously defend their personal tastes. But many would rather expand their palate, and not have to rock the boat the next time someone in their friend group orders pizza.

Is it possible to train your tastebuds to enjoy foods you previously didn’t, like training a muscle at the gym?

What determines ‘taste’?

Taste is a complex system we evolved to help us navigate the environment. It helps us select foods with nutritional value and reject anything potentially harmful.

Foods are made up of different compounds, including nutrients (such as proteins, sugars and fats) and aromas that are detected by sensors in the mouth and nose. These sensors create the flavour of food. While taste is what the tastebuds on your tongue pick up, flavour is the combination of how something smells and tastes. Together with texture, appearance and sound, these senses collectively influence your food preferences.

Many factors influence food preferences, including age, genetics and environment. We each live in our own sensory world and no two people will have the same experience while eating.

Food preferences also change with age. Research has found young children have a natural preference for sweet and salty tastes and a dislike of bitter tastes. As they grow older their ability to like bitter foods grows.

Emerging evidence shows bacteria in saliva can also produce enzymes that influence the taste of foods. For instance, saliva has been shown to cause the release of sulphur aromas in cauliflower. The more sulphur that is produced, the less likely a kid is to enjoy the taste of cauliflower.

Read more:
Blame it on mum and dad: how genes influence what we eat

Nature versus nurture

Both genetics and the environment play a crucial role in determining food preferences. Twin studies estimate genetics have a moderate influence on food preferences (between 32% and 54%, depending on the food type) in children, adolescents and adults.

However, since our cultural environment and the foods we’re exposed to also shape our preferences, these preferences are learned to a large degree.

A lot of this learning takes place during childhood, at home and other places we eat. This isn’t textbook learning. It’s learning by experiencing (eating), which typically leads to increased liking of the food – or by watching what others do (modelling), which can lead to both positive or negative associations.

Research has shown how environmental influences on food preferences change between childhood and adulthood. For children, the main factor is the home environment, which makes sense as kids are more likely to be influenced by foods prepared and eaten at home. Environmental factors influencing adults and adolescents are more varied.

The process of ‘acquiring’ taste

Coffee and beer are good examples of bitter foods people “acquire” a taste for as they grow up. The ability to overcome the dislike of these is largely due to:

• the social context in which they’re consumed. For example, in many countries they may be associated with passage into adulthood.

• the physiological effects of the compounds they contain – caffeine in coffee and alcohol in beer. Many people find these effects desirable.

But what about acquiring a taste for foods that don’t provide such desirable feelings, but which are good for you, such as kale or fatty fish? Is it possible to gain an acceptance for these?

Here are some strategies that can help you learn to enjoy foods you currently don’t:

1. eat, and keep eating. Only a small portion is needed to build a liking for a specific taste over time. It may take 10–15 attempts or more before you can say you “like” the food.

2. mask bitterness by eating it with other foods or ingredients that contain salt or sugar. For instance, you can pair bitter rocket with a sweet salad dressing.

3. eat it repeatedly in a positive context. That could mean eating it after playing your favourite sport or with people you like. Alternatively, you could eat it with foods you already enjoy; if it’s a specific vegetable, try pairing it with your favourite protein.

4. eat it when you’re hungry. In a hungry state you’ll be more willing to accept a taste you might not appreciate on a full stomach.

5. remind yourself why you want to enjoy this food. You may be changing your diet for health reasons, or because you’ve moved countries and are struggling with the local cuisine. Your reason will help motivate you.

6. start young (if possible). It’s easier for children to learn to like new foods as their tastes are less established.

7. remember: the more foods you like, the easier it’ll become to learn to like others.

A balanced and varied diet is essential for good health. Picky eating can become a problem if it leads to vitamin and mineral deficiencies – especially if you’re avoiding entire food groups, such as vegetables. At the same time, eating too many tasty but energy-dense foods can increase your risk of chronic disease, including obesity.

Understanding how your food preferences have formed, and how they can evolve, is a first step to getting on the path of healthier eating.

Read more:
9 tips to give yourself the best shot at sticking to new year’s resolutions

Astrid Poelman has worked on research funded by a variety of industry bodies, Australian government agencies and private companies.

Nicholas Archer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Taste depends on nature and nurture. Here are 7 ways you can learn to enjoy foods you don’t like – https://theconversation.com/taste-depends-on-nature-and-nurture-here-are-7-ways-you-can-learn-to-enjoy-foods-you-dont-like-215999

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Higgins, Professor & Director, Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University

With so much data released about family, domestic and sexual violence, it can be difficult to see how it all fits together.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has attempted to do this with a new website that tells the story of violence using numbers, looking at how often it happens, to whom and when.

Here are seven charts that show the prevalence of various forms of interpersonal violence, across life.

1. Sexual violence risk varies (in ways you might not expect)

One in five women and one in 16 men have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.

The likelihood of experiencing sexual violence differs by age as well as gender.

This chart uses data about recorded crimes. Of course, we know many sexual crimes in childhood and adulthood are never discovered or reported. For each age group, and for both females and males, the recorded crime rate for sexual victimisation has steadily risen from 2010 to 2022. But the rate for girls and boys is substantially higher than for women and men.

2. What kinds of harm come to the attention of child protection services?

In cases reported to a statutory child protection service, a “substantiation” is the conclusion, following an investigation, that there was reasonable cause to believe that a child had been, was being, or was likely to be, abused, neglected or otherwise harmed. For both boys and girls, more than half of these cases are about harm from emotional abuse. This refers to parental behaviour, repeated over time, that conveys to a child that they are worthless, unloved or unwanted.

Witnessing family and domestic violence is not monitored separately as a type of harm in any state or territory child protection statistics. Therefore it is not one of the primary harm types recorded in the data shown in this graph. Yet in our study, my colleagues and I found it was the most frequently experienced form of maltreatment in childhood – 39.6% of adults were exposed to domestic violence as children.

3. Lifetime exposure to violence

One in three men experienced violence from a stranger, but for women, they were much more likely to experience violence from those they knew.

One in six women (and one in 13 men) have experienced domestic violence in the form of economic abuse by a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15.

4. Time is of the essence

Not only does the risk of experiencing violence change across life, but temporal factors also play a role. Towards the end of the year, when there are festivities and more opportunities for alcohol misuse, the risks are greater.

5. Men’s (and boys’) violence towards women and girls

Perpetrators of violence are more likely to be known to the victim than be a stranger. Some forms of violence, particularly sexual violence, are more likely to be experienced by girls and women. Boys and men are more likely to use violence, again particularly for sexual violence.

One in six women (and one in 18 men) have experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15.

One of the types of violence is also emotional. One in four women (and one in seven men) have experienced emotional abuse by a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15.

6. Sexual harassment: who does it and who is subjected to it?

Women are much more likely to be subjected to sexualised behaviours – by men – that are unwanted or make them feel uncomfortable. Overall, rates appear to have declined since 2005, when almost one in five women experienced harassment.

7. Sexual victimisation rates have changed over time

Crime data on sexual victimisation (sexual assaults recorded by police) from 2010 to 2022 suggests things have not been improving. Although there is variability between states, the biggest difference can be seen between women and men (women are at substantially higher risk of sexual victimisation).

What’s missing?

Often, people are exposed to multiple kinds of violence. In our study, we found almost 40% of the population had experienced more than one type of child abuse or neglect – including exposure to family or domestic violence as a child.

We also found this “multi-type maltreatment” was one of the strongest predictors of experiencing mental illness and engaging in behaviours that put health at risk, like cannabis dependence in adulthood.

Read more:
Major study reveals two-thirds of people who suffer childhood maltreatment suffer more than one kind

However, many of the sources of data the AIHW uses only look at one form of violence. So it is much harder to tell the story of how it relates to the impacts that might be observed.

We also can’t see data on children’s exposure to physical punishment in the home, despite Australia’s failure to meet its responsibility under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to protect them from this form of violence.

The data curated on this new website can be used to identify where more services might be required to address the needs of victims of different kinds of violence, at different stages across life. It can also help drive a genuine strategy for prevention. The strategy should look at the risk factors for each type of interpersonal violence, and those that are common across different types of violence. Such risks include parental mental illness, substance misuse, poverty and divorce.

And then we must invest in evidence-based strategies to alleviate the risk of growing up with, and being exposed in adulthood to family, domestic, and sexual violence.

Daryl Higgins receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, and a range of government departments and non-government child/family welfare agencies.

– ref. 7 charts on family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia – https://theconversation.com/7-charts-on-family-domestic-and-sexual-violence-in-australia-218355

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chantel Foord, Research Associate, Marine Mammal Foundation, PhD researcher, RMIT University

As predators at the top of the food chain, dolphins tend to accumulate and magnify high levels of toxins and other chemicals in their bodies. So health problems in dolphins can be a warning that all is not well in the system as a whole.

One group of persistent pollutants has been dubbed “forever chemicals” because they almost never break down in the environment. Commonly known by the acronym PFAS, these per- and polyfluorinated substances are globally recognised as an environmental hazard and a potential human health issue.

In our new research, we found dolphins with the highest concentration of PFAS in the world live in Australian waters. One young Burrunan dolphin had liver concentrations almost 30% higher than any other dolphin ever reported.

This is a critically endangered species endemic to southeast Australia. While the consequences for dolphin health and the implications for humans remain unknown, the record-breaking concentrations are cause for alarm.

Read more:
Controversial ‘forever chemicals’ could be phased out in Australia under new restrictions. Here’s what you need to know

The case of the Burrunan dolphin

The Burrunan dolphin was recognised as a separate species in 2011. Fewer than 200 individuals remain. Two small, isolated and genetically distinct populations reside in coastal Victoria, Australia.

In our research, we took liver samples from Burrunan dolphins and three other dolphin species found dead and washed up on beaches.

We found the critically endangered Burrunan dolphin had 50–100 times more PFAS than other dolphins in the same region. Their PFAS concentrations were the highest reported globally.

In 90% of these dolphins, the liver concentrations of these chemicals (1,020–19,500 nanograms per gram) were above those thought to cause liver toxicity and altered immune responses.

These record-breaking and potentially health-compromising PFAS concentrations are a major concern for the survival of the species.

Results from Australia and around the world

By far the highest PFAS concentrations in the dolphins we studied were of a particular compound called PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate). PFOS is one of the most studied PFAS compounds. It is listed on the Stockholm Convention, a global treaty on environmental pollutants, with international restrictions on use.

While Australia does not manufacture PFOS, heavy use of PFOS-containing firefighting foams occurred until the early 2000s. The Australian government still allows PFOS import for permitted purposes, such as mist suppressants in manufacturing and metal plating.

In recent years, public concern has prompted ongoing investigations into areas of high firefighting foam use, such as Royal Australian Airforce training facilities and airports.

While firefighting foam is a probable source of PFAS in waterways, there are others. Recent research in Florida in the United States found leaking septic and wastewater systems in urban areas were sources of PFAS runoff into the aquatic environment.

Read more:
PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ are getting into ocean ecosystems, where dolphins, fish and manatees dine – we traced their origins

The Burrunan dolphins are not alone. In 2017, the South Australian Environment Protection Authority investigated PFOS concentrations in dolphins from Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales. Dolphins in the Swan-Canning River Estuary in Perth, and in Port River or Barker Inlet, SA, had high PFOS levels (2,800–14,000ng per gram and 510–5,000ng per gram, respectively). These PFOS levels are similar to those in the Burrunan dolphin (between 494ng and 18,700ng per gram).

The globally significant PFAS and PFOS concentrations in multiple Australian dolphin populations demonstrates potential widespread contamination. This highlights our limited understanding of the short- and long-term consequences in our oceans and estuaries.

It is crucial we understand where different PFAS compounds are coming from, particularly PFOS, and whether the contamination is from a time when we didn’t know better (known as legacy sources) or if we are still releasing them.

Isn’t PFOS getting banned anyway?

The Australian government has expressed an intention to further regulate PFOS and two other PFAS. This marks a significant step forward. However, the problem with forever chemicals is they will be around for a really long time.

Typically, these chemicals are substituted with alternatives believed to be less detrimental, but unfortunately that is not always the reality. For example, early replacements for PFOS were initially thought to be less readily absorbed by body tissues and pose lower health concerns. But studies have shown their high biomagnification potential (with levels increasing higher up the food chain) and accompanying health risks.

While PFOS levels were highest in the Burrunan dolphins we studied, emerging contaminants such as PFMPA, PFECHS, and 6:2 Cl-PFESA were also detected. The presence of these emerging and replacement compounds in dolphins shows they are accumulating within our waterways and suggests it is more than our historic usage that might be a problem.

It’s not too late

Dolphins are the “canary in the coal mine” for coastal ecosystems. They live their lives in these inshore waterways and they consume tonnes of fish within their lifetimes. Finding these alarming contaminant concentrations is an important first step to highlighting the problem.

So now we know there’s a problem, we need to ask why. Then we need to determine what can be done about it.

The next step is mapping sources of PFAS so we can more effectively manage this threat to our wildlife and ecosystems.

Read more:
We found long-banned pollutants in the very deepest part of the ocean

Chantel Foord receives funding from a Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment Grant. She is affiliated with the Marine Mammal Foundation.

– ref. Australian dolphins have the world’s highest concentrations of ‘forever chemicals’ – https://theconversation.com/australian-dolphins-have-the-worlds-highest-concentrations-of-forever-chemicals-218253

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Sanders, Senior Research Fellow on Law and the Future of War, The University of Queensland

Australia’s defence export program has recently come under scrutiny for its lack of transparency – particularly in relation to whether approved export permits are providing material support to Israel’s war against Hamas.

The UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories has criticised the government’s lack of transparency, as have academics and politicians.

They contend the government should be publicly divulging the details of the military export permits it approves. Currently, this is not done.

To compel the government to release information about recent exports, a group of human rights organisations recently filed an application in the Federal Court. The aim: to gain access to permits exporting defence equipment to Israel since its military operation began in early October.

What is known about Australia’s defence exports?

Only limited details about the Department of Defence’s approved exports are routinely published.

Specific details about which manufacturers receive the permits and the nature of the exported goods, however, are not provided publicly, even when they are requested through the Freedom of Information Act. The government often cites confidentiality or the protection of business information as reasons for rejecting the requests.

Reporting provided to international bodies is also limited. For instance, Australia typically only provides the general class of equipment being exported by country for publication on the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms. This information only relates to broad types of conventional weapons or components for weapons of mass destruction.

Some information does get released during Senate Estimates hearings. A hearing in October, for instance, revealed the government had approved 350 defence export permits to Israel in the last five years, including 50 this year. However, it did not detail what those exports were.

What are Australia’s international obligations?

Australia is obliged to prevent the export of goods that can be used either for unlawful conduct during armed conflicts or human rights violations.

Some of these obligations come from specific treaties, such as the Arms Trade Treaty, which set out the exact requirements for exporting some types of defence items. Others come from Australia’s responsibility as a sovereign state not to contribute to another country breaching international law.

These obligations cover various things, including:

• what specific items Australia can export, and

• to whom it can sell military goods or “dual-use” items (meaning they have a civilian function but could also be used in military operations).

For instance, there are laws that limit exports to entities that are the subject of international sanctions, or if an entity has committed (or is suspected of committing) human rights abuses or war crimes when using the exported items.

In addition, there are separate lists of prohibited items (such as those that could be used in weapons of mass destruction), and particular types of weapons (such as chemical or biological) which are banned under other treaties.

À lire aussi :
Australia is building a billion-dollar arms export industry. This is how weapons can fall in the wrong hands

Australia also has obligations to ensure it respects the laws of armed conflict by not actively contributing to another country breaching the laws of war under the Geneva Conventions and its protocols.

This means if another country is involved in a conflict and is observed to be systematically breaching the laws of war, Australia cannot lawfully provide material support to them.

How does the government decide what to export?

Australia has a specific list of items called the Defence Strategic Goods List. Permits are required to allow for the export, import and distribution of goods on this list. There are also controls over the specific skills and knowledge related to making and using such items.

The list is broad – it includes everything from conventional weapons and components (like tanks or weapon sights) to dual-use objects (such as certain types of lasers or chemicals that could be weaponised).

To export an item on the list, approval is required by the minister of defence, or their delegate. Among the things they have to consider are whether the goods would risk being used against Australia’s international legal obligations or to “commit or facilitate serious abuses of human rights”.

The law does not outline how much weight is put on each criteria or what kind of information is necessary to support this decision-making process.

As it stands, the main method to test this process is through Freedom of Information Act requests, which have been shown to have limited success, or through parliamentary processes, such as Senate Estimates.

The other option is to discover the information through a court case, as the application filed this month is attempting to do.

How do other countries do it?

In Europe, arms controls are generally subject to greater public scrutiny.

The United States also publishes more information about its exports. Canada has recently implemented a process of publicly reporting the reasons that export permits are declined.

In the United Kingdom, a group filed a similar court case to the Australian one, seeking information on weapons exports to Saudi Arabia. This case ultimately failed in June. However, it compelled the UK government to clarify its decision-making criteria regarding alleged human rights abuses and to publish more information about its weapons export decisions.

What could change in Australia?

The legislation that controls the permit system is currently undergoing a required five-year review. However, the government has yet to implement the recommendations it agreed to following the 2018 review.

There has also been little public information about the progress of the updates agreed to from the last review, or what has changed so far.

Another bill was recently introduced to make some changes to these laws. However, this focused on tightening existing controls and easing restrictions with two key allies – the US and UK – to facilitate the AUKUS agreement. The lack of public transparency about export controls remains.

In light of the current geopolitical situation, Australia could demonstrate its commitment to its international legal obligations by making some additional adjustments. For example, it could allow outside parties to make submissions on weapons export permits or routinely publish more details of its approved permits.

Transparency in export controls is considered best practice by many other countries, and Australia can easily do more to align itself to this.

Lauren Sanders works as a legal consultant with IWR Pty Ltd, advising companies in the defence industry on international humanitarian law and weapons law issues. This consultancy does not include advice on export control laws. Any comments made here are in her personal capacity and do not represent the views of the Australian government or the Australian Defence Force. The views expressed reflect publicly available information unless otherwise stated.

– ref. With war raging in Gaza, how much do we know about Australia’s weapons exports? The answer: very little – https://theconversation.com/with-war-raging-in-gaza-how-much-do-we-know-about-australias-weapons-exports-the-answer-very-little-217376

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Senior Lecturer of Public Safety, Disaster Resilience & Urban Mobility, UNSW Sydney

Electrifying music concerts and other mass events are increasingly under threat from severe weather events, such as extreme heat.

The tragic incident at a Taylor Swift concert in Brazil recently, which resulted in the death of one fan, is a stark reminder of what can happen.

The concert took place in a stadium during a heatwave. Fans lined up for hours outside the Rio de Janeiro venue, with temperatures reportedly over 40°C. With the high humidity, this would have felt like almost 60°C, according to a measure known as the “heat index”.

As well as the fatality, fans reported burns after touching hot metal floors and railings.

Read more:
Extreme weather is landing more Australians in hospital – and heat is the biggest culprit

There have been other similar events

What happened at the Swift concert is the consequence of insufficient preparation for extreme weather conditions during a large-scale event. However, this is not an isolated case. There is a long list of mass gatherings and events affected by extreme weather in 2023.

In August, a Beyoncé concert in a Washington DC stadium took place during severe weather conditions. This time it was heavy rain and lightning. Attendees were ordered to shelter in place.

Lightning posed a direct threat to their safety. Those inside the stadium were directed to shelter under covered areas and ramps. Afterwards, several fans were reportedly treated for heat exhaustion.

The directive to shelter in place could have led to overcrowding in covered areas, potentially increasing the risk of incidents, such as a crowd crush.

Another US example was Ed Sheeran’s concert at a Pittsburgh stadium during a July heatwave.

Some 17 people were hospitalised. Health emergencies included heat exhaustion and two cardiac arrests (when the heart stops beating).

We must prepare

Climate change makes extreme weather events more frequent and intense. So risk assessments should include detailed weather monitoring and structural assessments for outdoor set-ups to ensure shade structures, for instance, can cope with crowds.

Contingency plans for a rapid response are also needed. These need to include plans to supply water or protective equipment (such as plastic ponchos) and timely safety directions and information.

Such planning should encompass not just the likelihood of extreme weather but also its potential impact on infrastructure, crowd control and emergency medical responses.

Read more:
From Burning Man to Woodstock to Fyre Festival: what turns a festival into a disaster?

Artists play a role too

While the primary onus of safety lies with event organisers and venues, artists can also play a significant role in public safety during extreme weather. So we need to keep them informed about identified potential risks and planned countermeasures.

For instance, artists can influence crowd behaviour positively and prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as a crowd crush. They can appeal for calm or can announce any planned evacuation procedures.

In the most recent incident, Swift paused her show to ask crew members to distribute water to fans.

Be safety aware

People who attend mass events also need to be aware of the safety issues related to extreme weather and be prepared.

Public education campaigns can help, as can effectively disseminating safety information to empower attendees to make informed decisions.

For instance, an event organiser can send a text message to all attendees to warn of upcoming weather conditions and a reminder to bring water or wear sunscreen.

Read more:
Astroworld tragedy: here’s how concert organisers can prevent big crowds turning deadly

We can expect more of these events

The tragic incident at the Swift concert and similar examples are not isolated but indicate a broader trend. With climate change, extreme weather events will pose a more common risk at such mass gatherings.

So we need to recognise and integrate this into how we plan for, and assess the risk associated with, future events. This is vital to ensure these gatherings remain celebratory landmarks rather than avoidable disasters.

Milad Haghani receives funding from the Australian Research Council (Grant No. DE210100440).

– ref. Taylor Swift’s Brazil concert was hammered by extreme heat. How to protect crowds at the next sweltering gig – https://theconversation.com/taylor-swifts-brazil-concert-was-hammered-by-extreme-heat-how-to-protect-crowds-at-the-next-sweltering-gig-218341

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Loc Do, Professor of Dental Public Health, The University of Queensland

Health-care professionals have recently called on the Queensland government to mandate fluoride in drinking water across the state, where water fluoridation coverage lags behind other Australian states and territories.

But what are the benefits of adding fluoride to our drinking water supplies? And why do more than one-quarter of Queenslanders not have access to a fluoridated drinking water supply, while most other Australians do?

First, what is water fluoridation?

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral best known for its role in strengthening our teeth. When our teeth come into regular contact with fluoride, this makes them more resistant to dental caries, or decay.

Water fluoridation is a public health program which works to reduce dental decay at the population level. It involves adding a very small amount of fluoride to public water systems which supply tap water. In Australia, the recommended levels of fluoride in public water supplies range from 0.6 to 1.1 mg per litre.

The idea of water fluoridation was pioneered in the United States. In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan became the first city in the world to fluoridate its water supply. Water fluoridation was cited by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of ten great public health achievements of the 20th century.

Fluoride has been added to water supplies in Australia for seven decades, starting in Beaconsfield, Tasmania, in 1953. Today, over 90% of Australians have access to fluoridated water.

The majority of Australian states and territories have laws requiring the fluoridation of public water supplies, with the exception of Queensland, which has left the decision up to individual local governments.

Read more:
Four myths about water fluoridation and why they’re wrong

The evidence

The scientific consensus is that water fluoridation is a safe and effective way to improve oral health. The Australian Dental Association, the World Health Organization and the International Association for Dental Research are among the bodies which endorse water fluoridation as a public health measure.

To support and maintain a program like water fluoridation on such a large scale, we need to routinely collect evidence it works.

The National Child Oral Health Study 2012-14, which I was involved in, gathered data on more than 24,000 children across Australia. The evidence demonstrated water fluoridation was effective in preventing dental caries. Another analysis I worked on of more than 5,000 children in Queensland, published in 2015, showed water fluoridation reduced dental decay by 40%.

Studies reviewed by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in 2017 showed water fluoridation can reduce the incidence of dental caries by 26% to 44% in children and adolescents, and by 27% in adults. Earlier evidence has similarly shown fluoridation is associated with fewer caries in adults.

Water fluoridation has also been found to be highly cost-effective – investment in these programs can result in significant savings through improved population oral health.

Can fluoridation reduce inequalities in oral health?

Social factors such as background and income are associated with oral health. For example, people who are poorer, from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, or from First Nations communities will often have poorer oral health compared with the overall population.

My research shows exposure to fluoridated water is associated with reduced inequality in child oral health related to household income and Indigenous status. We would expect to see this because of the passive mechanism of fluoride delivery. That is, people can benefit just by drinking fluoridated tap water, regardless of their socioeconomic circumstances.

Potential side effects

Dental fluorosis (changes in the colour of tooth enamel) is a known side effect of water fluoridation. But dental fluorosis can also result from intake of fluoride from other sources, such as fluoridated toothpaste and fluoride applications during procedures at the dentist when children are young. Dental fluorosis in Australia is mostly very mild to mild and not associated with long-term oral health consequences.

The NHMRC’s 2017 review concluded water fluoridation poses no other risks which should be cause for concern.

However, fluoridation has historically been somewhat controversial. One of the reasons so many local councils in Queensland have opted out is vocal opposition from small groups.

An argument recently raised against fluoridation suggests early life intake of fluoride is associated with childhood development, particularly lower IQ scores in children. Much of evidence for these arguments has come from poorly designed research or from areas with very high levels of natural fluoride and other heavy metals.

But child development is an important issue, so it’s understandable this has caused concern.

Several large reviews have recently investigated this potential link. The reviews published in 2020, 2021 and 2023 all concluded fluoride exposure in the context of water fluoridation is not associated with lower cognitive abilities in children.

My colleagues and I also ran an Australian study to investigate this issue. We collected data from a nation-wide sample of more 2,600 children. We found exposure to fluoridated water in early childhood was not associated with any impact on child development.

This again shows us water fluoridation as practised in Australia and internationally is safe for children.

Read more:
Collaborating with communities delivers better oral health for Indigenous kids in rural Australia

Where to from here?

While the most significant gaps in Australia are in Queensland, some other parts of the country are missing out on fluoridated water too, including many rural towns in Victoria.

Water fluoridation has been a cornerstone of population prevention of dental decay, which can lead to other oral and general health issues.

It’s important water fluoridation programs are supported, maintained and expanded where possible by all levels of government and health organisations.

Loc Do receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council.

– ref. Less than 75% of Queenslanders have access to fluoridated water – and it’s putting oral health at risk – https://theconversation.com/less-than-75-of-queenslanders-have-access-to-fluoridated-water-and-its-putting-oral-health-at-risk-218122

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Xanthe Mallett, Forensic Criminologist, University of Newcastle

One in six (or 15.1% of) Australian men aged over 18 recently surveyed said they would have sexual contact with a child or teen younger than 18 years if no one would find out.

This data was part of a study by UNSW Sydney and Jesuit Social Services. Researchers asked 1,945 men about their attraction to children via an online recruitment process.

The researchers also found:

• around one in ten (9.4%) Australian men has sexually offended against children
• around half of this group (4.9%) reports sexual feelings towards children, while the others may be offending for situational or opportunistic reasons
• of the men with sexual feelings towards children, 29.6% wanted help.

Compared to men with no sexual feelings for or offending against children, the 4.9% of men with sexual feelings and previous offending against children were more likely to:

• work with children
• be married
• have higher levels of social support
• earn higher incomes
• be a victim of child sexual abuse.

This contradicts the notion that people who are sexually attracted to children and are willing to act on it are social outcasts and statistical outliers.

Overall, the study was well designed and conducted. However, the authors acknowledge some limitations. The majority (64.8%) of participants self-identified as white, 64.4% were born in Australia, and 92.8% identified as heterosexual. Therefore, members of specific minority populations may not have had an equal chance or inclination to participate, which could impact how representative the findings are.

What is paedophilia?

Paedophilic disorder is a diagnosis assigned to adults (those aged over 16 years, and five years older than the child/children to whom they are sexually attracted) who have a recurrent and intense sexual attraction specifically to prepubescent children – generally those 13 years or under.

The majority of paedophiles are male. Previous estimates suggest between 3% and 5% of the adult male population have paedophilic disorder. Estimates suggest it’s lower in women.

Read more:
Psychology of a paedophile: why are some people attracted to children?

Is paedophilia increasing?

This is unlikely. Instead of the new data indicating more men are becoming sexually attracted to prepubescent children, it’s more likely to indicate problems with previous sampling strategies.

For example, many previous studies gathered data from either survivors of child sexual abuse, or those who have been found guilty. Because studies were so targeted, they may have failed to capture a broader sample, which was more reflective of overall attitudes and behaviours.

While there doesn’t seem to be an increase in people who are sexually attracted to children, the internet has made it much easier for paedophiles to act on their desires and access child sexual abuse material, or groom children from a distance anonymously.

A study in the United States found that, of children aged ten to 15 surveyed, 35% reported being the victim of either internet harassment or unwanted sexual solicitation.

Can you cure paedophilia?

Paedophilia cannot be “cured”, but it can be treated with hormone medication therapies, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), and psychosocial methods such as group therapy.

Drug treatments for paedophilic disorder that include testosterone-lowering drugs have shown positive results in reducing sexual interests and behaviours. However, more data needs to be collected on larger sample populations before conclusions can be drawn.

A 2021 study also found CBT can be effective at reducing paedophiles’ hypersexuality (compulsive sexual bevahiour). CBT aims to change the thoughts and behaviours relating to paedophilia, with success measured by a reduction in the desire to offend against children.

Read more:
We need to support paedophiles to prevent child sex offending

What can we do to protect children?

We cannot stop predatory men attempting to access children – either in person, or more frequently online.

But we can, as parents and guardians and the broader community, put safeguards in place to ensure they are not victimised. As the UNSW/Jesuit Social Services study notes, these include:

• improving safety of online dating sites to reduce the likelihood of predators targeting single parents to access children

• increasing safeguards in environments where children are particularly vulnerable, such as daycare centres and sporting clubs

• increasing support for men who are sexually attracted to children, but who want help, via organisations such as StopItNow as well as within family and friend groups when worried about someone’s behaviour.

It’s also important to educate children about how to be safe online, and whom to report to if they are concerned.

The best way to protect children is to be proactive as a society.

Read more:
We started a service for people worried about their sexual thoughts about children. Here’s what we found

Xanthe Mallett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. A survey found 1 in 6 men would sexually abuse a child or teen. So is paedophilia increasing? – https://theconversation.com/a-survey-found-1-in-6-men-would-sexually-abuse-a-child-or-teen-so-is-paedophilia-increasing-218124

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben McCann, Associate Professor of French Studies, University of Adelaide

There have been more than 60,000 books written about Napoleon since his death in 1821. Cinema too has been drawn to him time and again.

The Lumière brothers made a short film in 1897 and he featured in the mostly lost British film The Battle of Waterloo (1913). Already, the standard image of Napoleon was established: the squat frame, the horizontal hat, the arms behind the back.

There have been more than 100 incarnations on screen since.

Now, Ridley Scott’s latest charts the rise of the lowly artillery officer who became Emperor of France. All Scott’s usual components are in place: meticulous world-building, visceral combat scenes and a devil-may-care attitude to historical accuracy. But how does it stand up to its predecessors?

Cinema’s love affair

In 1927 came the monumental Napoleon, directed by legendary Abel Gance, which has acquired a mythic status in France.

Gance initially planned to make six films focusing on a particular part of Napoleon’s life, but ended up focusing on Napoleon’s rise and his victorious campaign in Italy. A restoration of the seven-hour original is being partly funded by Netflix to be released in 2024.

Napoleon is often depicted as a fish-out-of water comic character – one of most memorable moments in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) was a time-travelling Napoleon hanging out at a bowling alley and eating ice cream.

Longstanding myths are often played for laughs. In Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), Ben Stiller tells Napoleon “There’s a complex named after you … you’re famous for being little” while the so-called “Napoleon Delusion” – a mental illness in which a person believes they are Bonaparte himself – features as a plot device in Stan Laurel’s delightful Mixed Nuts (1922).

Marlon Brando played him as a kind of soap opera star in the Technicolor biopic Desirée (1954). Brando – who earlier that year played a sweaty, muscular Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire – completely transforms into an exact replica of Napoleon, complete with clipped diction and a ponytail.

Most of the film unfolds in drawing rooms and at decorative society balls, far away from the battlefield and focuses on his relationship with Bernardine Eugénie Désirée Clary, the queen of Norway and Sweden.

Rod Steiger’s performance in Waterloo (1970) returned Napoleon to the theatre of war, where he played him as a bad-tempered bully.

He’s since gone up against Bugs Bunny, Blackadder and Bewitched.

These earlier incarnations are less focused on the Great Man myth and more interested in Napoleon the lover, the politician and the irascible Frenchman. Scott returns us to a much more complex and convoluted version. Helped by an impressive array of CGI effects, Scott’s and Joaquin Phoenix’s Napoleon is a mix of clear-sighted strategist and cuckolded buffoon.

A whirlwind view of history

The tagline for this latest incarnation is “He came from nothing. He conquered everything”.

Over two and half hours, Scott and screenwriter David Scarpa show us exactly how. They sweep breathlessly through 30 years of French history, starting in 1789 and the guillotining of Marie Antoinette before a bloodthirsty mob.

Then, in rapid succession, come Napoleon’s triumphs at Toulon, Egypt and Borodino, stunning examples of tactical acumen and military innovation and finally his exile to Elba, return and eventual defeat at Waterloo.

Scott’s films are not known for their focus on psychological motivation or character depth. So his decision to chronicle much of Napoleon’s volatile relationship with French aristocrat Josephine (Vanessa Kirby) in an awkwardly comic manner is a misstep. The account of their passionate and often mutually destructive relationship is the weakest part of the film, and features the oddest line: “Destiny has brought me this lamb chop”.

Scott, who has given us the tough Ripley, G.I. Jane and Thelma and Louise reduces the always excellent Kirby to a passive bystander.

Read more:
Napoleon and Josephine’s real relationship was intense – but they loved power more than each other

He is on much surer footing when depicting strategies, battles and geopolitical rivalries. The confrontation (which never actually happened) between the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon onboard HMS Bellerophon after Waterloo is a blend of machismo posturing and mutual admiration.

Phoenix does an excellent job at revealing Napoleon’s legendary strategic shrewdness as well as his petulant, often vainglorious stubbornness. He gets Napoleon’s look just right – the haircut, the bicorne, the thousand-yard stare.

The reviews have been mixed. But Scott doesn’t care. What has always mattered most to him, from Alien (1979) and Blade Runner (1982) right up to House of Gucci (2022) is visual panache and spectacle. He spent ten years as a commercials director in the United Kingdom before making his first film, and it shows.

We see epic recreations of Napoleon’s coronation as Emperor in 1804, the eerie scene of Moscow in flames and the pivotal Battle of Austerlitz, all shot with precision and verve.

It remains to be seen whether Scott’s Napoleon will be the definitive version. The director has promised a future release of a four-hour version for Apple TV+. Maybe this extra footage will allow a more consistent and balanced story to emerge.

The greatest movie never made?

Hollywood’s love affair with Napoleon is set to continue. Steven Spielberg announced earlier this year he was preparing an HBO mini-series based on a Stanley Kubrick screenplay abandoned in the 1970s. Before quitting the project, Kubrick did an astonishing amount of research on the film that would have starred Jack Nicholson and Audrey Hepburn.

Napoleon incarnates everything Hollywood looks for in a hero – genius, charisma, star quality, hubris, and the embodiment of the “comeback”. It’s no surprise his legend continues to grow.

And Scott, who turns 86 this week, now leaves 19th-century France behind to return to Ancient Rome in the sequel to Gladiator. Like Napoleon himself, Scott has more battles still to win.

Read more:
Did Napoleon really fire at the pyramids? A historian explains the truth behind the legends of Ridley Scott’s biopic

Ben McCann does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Napoleon Bonaparte features in 60,000 books and more than 100 films – does Ridley Scott’s stand up? – https://theconversation.com/napoleon-bonaparte-features-in-60-000-books-and-more-than-100-films-does-ridley-scotts-stand-up-212782

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies, University of Sydney

Readers are advised this essay contains historical terms and images which are now considered outdated and offensive.

Antisemitic incidents have spiked in Australia since the October 7 attack by Hamas militants on Israeli communities outside Gaza and the subsequent Israeli war against Hamas inside the coastal strip.

According to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, there were 368 anti-Jewish incidents reported in Australia between October 8 and November 19. This compares to a total of 478 antisemitic incidents for the entire year from October 2021–22.

As Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who is Jewish, said:

We’re seeing things that I haven’t seen before in my lifetime – Jewish children afraid to wear their uniforms to school, people afraid to wear their Magen David [Star of David], afraid to wear their kippah.

Yet, antisemitism is not a new phenomenon in Australia. In fact, it has a long history, which I have spent a half century researching. And this history is almost as long as European settlement itself.

Emergence of prominent anti-Jewish voices

There have been Jews in Australia from the time of British settlement. As research has shown, they arrived as convicts in chains, yet with the absence of institutional antisemitism in the colonies, they were able to thrive. In fact, a Jew was elected to the Legislative Assembly in Western Australia in 1848, a full decade before the first Jew was elected to Britain’s parliament.

Australia, however, was not immune from what the historian Robert Wistrich has described as “the longest hatred”.

Open antisemitism started to become prevalent in the 1880s with the emergence of Australian nationalism and the campaign for federation. It was further fuelled by fears of an influx of Jews fleeing the pogroms in Russia.

Despite the small numbers of Russian refugees who did arrive, trade unions, politicians and the media decried their presence. The Bulletin (Sydney) and the sensationalist weekly Truth (Sydney) both gave voice to anti-Jewish and other racial prejudices of the day. The Bulletin commented:

Even the Chinaman is cheaper in the end than the Hebrew […] the one with the tail is preferable to the one with the Talmud every time. We owe much to the Jew – in more sense than one – but until he works, until a fair percentage of him produces, he must always be against democracy.

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, anti-Jewish sentiments could be found across the political spectrum.

The Labor Party figure Frank Anstey, for instance, republished his anti-Jewish newspaper articles as a pamphlet in 1915 entitled The Kingdom of Shylock. John Norton, a nationalist publisher and NSW parliamentarian, expressed similar prejudices in his Truth newspaper. This undercurrent of antisemitism led to the exclusion of Jews from sporting and social clubs and some businesses. Yet, very few eastern European Jews actually settled in Australia during this time.

The largest wave of Jewish refugees occurred from 1938 to 1939, just before the second world war, and again from 1946 to 1954 with Holocaust survivors. They were again met with an antisemitic outcry in Australian newspapers, as well as in statements by members of parliament. Resolutions were also passed against Jewish migration by pressure groups, such as the forerunner of the Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL), the Australian Natives’ Association (a group advocating for federation and later the White Australia policy) and various unions.

In May 1939, Sir Frank Clarke, president of the Victorian Legislative Council, proclaimed:

Hundreds of weedy East Europeans […] slinking, rat-faced men under five feet in height and with a chest development of about 20 inches […] worked in backyard factories in Carlton and other localities in the north of Melbourne for two or three shillings a week pocket money and their keep.

Anti-Zionist agenda influenced by Soviet propaganda

After the war, The Bulletin, in particular, continued its anti-Jewish immigration campaign with cartoons depicting Jewish stereotypes. The sentiments around immigration were summed up by Henry (“Jo”) Gullett, a Liberal member of federal parliament, who said:

We are not compelled to accept the unwanted of the world at the dictate of the United Nations or anyone else. Neither should Australia be a dumping ground for people whom Europe itself, in the course of 2,000 years, has not been able to absorb.

In response to the anti-Jewish hysteria, Arthur Calwell, the newly appointed minister of immigration, introduced administrative policies that ensured the Jewish community remained a tiny minority (0.5%) of the population. These restrictions included a 25% limit on Jewish passengers on ships bound for Australia, which was later extended to planes.

Locally organised antisemitism also emerged in the 1950s and 60s. A young journalist, Eric Butler, promoted the Douglas Social Credit movement, which blamed the banking system for the Great Depression and, by implication, the Jews.

After the war, Butler formed a far-right organisation called the Australian League of Rights, which became a major force in promoting antisemitic libels, including the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion. By 1960, the league had become a nationwide movement.

Alongside the nativists were supporters of various eastern European fascist movements. They had slipped through the refugee selection process after the war and migrated to Australia as displaced persons. Some established branches of the antisemitic organisations they had belonged to in Europe, such as the Hungarian Arrow Cross and the Ustaša, a Croatian fascist movement.

Read more:
Nazi orders for Jews to wear a star were hateful, but far from unique – a historian traces the long history of antisemitic badges

After the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, some on the far left in Australia began promoting an anti-Israel agenda, particularly on university campuses. This anti-Zionist agenda was deeply influenced by Soviet propaganda. From the late 1950s onwards, the Soviets had tried to infiltrate the Middle East and developed an antisemitic and anti-Zionist propaganda machine to facilitate this.

In 1963, Trofim Kichko, a Ukrainian history professor, published a vitriolic antisemitic booklet titled Judaism Without Embellishment, which included attacks on Zionism. After an international outcry, the booklet was withdrawn. However, following Israel’s victory in the 1967 war, Kichko was rehabilitated and some of his venomous images were republished.

In 1969, the Sovetskaya Rossiya newspaper compared Zionism with fascism, implying Jews were Nazis. It also published an article saying “Zionism is the ideology that justifies war, killing and oppression”. The official Soviet newspaper, Pravda, referred to “the Israeli barbarians” and “a reactionary Zionist doctrine”.

The narrative that Israel was a racist colonial state was also reinforced by the Soviet Union, which the Australian Jewish leader Isi Leibler once described as “the evil empire”.

The impact of this anti-Zionist rhetoric often morphed into antisemitism on Australian campuses. The Australian Union of Students, for example, had come under Trotskyist and Maoist influences in the early 1970s and proposed anti-Israel resolutions. Members of the Jewish Students movement who campaigned against these resolutions were physically attacked.

After the Hamas attacks on October 7, this anti-Israel narrative developed by the Soviets decades ago has again become part of the antisemitic discourse we’ve seen both in Australia and around the world. It coalesces with the theme that Zionism is the new Nazism. These issues have again been magnified on university campuses.

How antisemitism is evolving today

Research into current antisemitism has demonstrated it takes three principal forms. It begins with religious anti-Judaism, then mutates into racial antisemitism, and, most recently, political antisemitism associated with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which ostensible criticisms of Israel can morph into an irrational hatred of Jews.

Often referred to as the “new antisemitism”, this third manifestation constitutes a virulent strain in both high schools and universities.

As in other parts of the world, antisemitism in Australia has been prevalent among those on the radical right and radical left, as well as with extremist Islamic groups, beginning in the 1980s. Spikes in antisemitism are often associated with events in the Middle East and relate to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Read more:
We tracked antisemitic incidents in Australia over four years. This is when they are most likely to occur

The resurgence of extreme nationalist and white supremacist movements has been another major factor behind antisemitism in recent years. In Australia, organisations such as Antipodean Resistance and Geelong Chemtrails have emerged recently, propagating Holocaust denial and replacement ideologies, especially on university campuses.

Since 1989, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry has monitored the level of antisemitism in Australia. The number of reported incidents has risen steadily since then, although Australia’s population has also grown. These incidents include abusive emails, mail and phone calls; graffiti; verbal harassment and abuse (including the bullying of Jewish children at schools); and physical violence against individuals and institutions.

Online harassment is the greatest concern today. During the brief Israel-Hamas conflict in May 2021, Australia saw an increase in verbal abuse online, particularly targeting Jewish students at universities.

The medium may be new, but the sentiments are not. Those with antisemitic beliefs continue to propagate traditional anti-Jewish stereotypes, such as the “international Jewish conspiracy” and “Jewish-Nazi analogy”, linked to Holocaust denial. Conspiracy theories emerged again during the COVID pandemic, with some right-wing groups claiming it was a Jewish plot.

I hope a new narrative that is both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine will emerge from the current conflict, which seeks dialogue and compromise between the two sides.

This piece is based partially on a chapter written by the author that was published in The Routledge History of Antisemitism.

Suzanne Rutland has received an Australian Research Council grant for her research on the Australian Jewry and funding from the Pratt Foundation, as well as an Australian Prime Ministers Centre (APMC) fellowship for her research on Soviet Jewry and Australia. She is also involved with numerous NGOs, including the Australian Jewish Historical Society (patron), the Australian Association for Jewish Studies (past president and committee member), and the Australian government’s expert delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. In addition, she is a board member of the Freilich Project for the Study of Bigotry at ANU; she is on an academic advisory committee at the Sydney Jewish Museum; and she is an Australian board member for Boys Town Jerusalem. These roles are all undertaken in an honorary capacity. She is also writing the history of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry in an honorary capacity.

– ref. The long, dark history of antisemitism in Australia – https://theconversation.com/the-long-dark-history-of-antisemitism-in-australia-217908

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Middleton, Doctoral Candidate in Cultures, Languages and Linguistics, University of Auckland

When is a language extinct and when is it merely dormant? There are certainly languages that have passed over that line, and many remain threatened today. But what of those in the twilight zone – can we revive them, and what would that look like?

Languages that no longer have native speakers – that is, no one who learned it as a child – are often considered “dead”. And yet it’s not quite as clear cut as that.

Take the Moriori language from the Chatham Islands, for example. Ta rē Moriori has no native speakers, with the last having died in the early 20th century. But it also has a relatively rich historical record, and is similar in many ways to te reo Māori.

This has inspired a project at the University of Auckland, in collaboration with the Hokotehi Moriori Trust, which looks after the interests of Moriori people in New Zealand and around the world.

Our work will involve transcribing, translating and trying to fully understand all the existing texts. This will give us insights into the grammatical properties of the language, with the end goal being to produce a language grammar.

The project is still in its infancy, but it raises the intriguing possibility that in the future we might hear small children speaking ta rē Moriori as their first language.

Learning from old texts

The Moriori inhabit Rēkohu, or the Chatham Islands, some 800 kilometres off the east coast of New Zealand. They’ve been there for at least 600 years, and have a unique culture and language.

Europeans arrived in the 1800s, followed by two Māori tribes from Aotearoa New Zealand. Disease carried by the former, and enslavement and murder practised by the latter saw a rapid decline of the Moriori population – and their language.

By 1862, there were only 101 Moriori alive, from a high of around 2,000 before colonisation. The last native speaker died only 40 years later.

Read more:
Research on 2,400 languages shows nearly half the world’s language diversity is at risk

Given how relatively recent this was, Moriori is an ideal testing ground for the possibility of reviving a language. Unlike many Australian Aboriginal languages which no longer have native speakers, ta rē Moriori has been preserved in various forms.

This includes a small dictionary written by a resident magistrate in 1889; a set of short stories compiled by the magistrate’s clerk Alexander Shand, with the help of his primary Moriori consultant Hirawanu Tapu; and an 1862 petition from the Moriori to the New Zealand governor, requesting support for Moriori land claims.

Moriori’s closest linguistic relative is te reo Māori, with many grammatical and lexical similarities. But there are also significant differences. For example, Moriori has 15 ways of saying “the”, a pattern not seen in any other Polynesian language.

So translating and analysing the existing texts should give us a fairly detailed understanding of how the language was spoken, including a sizeable lexicon and a grammar.

Other languages have been revived

It may seem ambitious to revive a language, but it has been done before. The Wampanoag language from Massachusetts in the United States lost its last speaker in the 1890s, around the same time Moriori did.

But there was a significant archive of written literature built up prior to that, including government records and religious texts.

In the 1990s, Jessie Little Doe Baird, a member of the Wampanoag community, started analysing Wampanoag texts written before the 1890s, including a bible from 1663. She was then able to construct a dictionary and grammar.

From these, members of the community started relearning the language – and teaching it. By 2014, there were 50 children taking classes, many of them now considered to be fluent native speakers.

Read more:
Reviving Indigenous languages – not as easy as it seems

Filling in the gaps

Sometimes, the term “sleeping language” is a better way to describe one that is not currently being passed from generation to generation. The revived language will inevitably be slightly different from the original one. Every speaker of a language makes “native speaker judgements” which aren’t taught, but are inherently known.

A simple example from English would be the relative order in which we use adjectives: size comes before colour (little brown dog), whereas the opposite sounds a bit weird (brown little dog).

Unless our Moriori texts have specific examples of “stacked” adjectives, we have no way of finding out the correct ordering. So this piece of knowledge would be lost.

Read more:
We are on the brink of losing Indigenous languages in Australia – could schools save them?

There are thousands of these little rules that our brains unconsciously absorb when learning a language as a child. And there is no way any analysis of old texts could figure them all out.

But new speakers would fill in the gaps. If adults were to learn the Moriori language from the texts, they could acquire a large number of words and grammatical structures, although the gaps would still exist. A child learning “new” Moriori from the adults would then fill in the gaps instinctively – most likely from other languages they hear, such as Māori or English.

So, ta rē Moriori cannot be said to be dead or extinct, because there is a real possibility it can be heard again. Even now, Moriori words, phrases and songs are used around the Chatham Islands by Moriori themselves. Better to call it sleeping – and hope we can wake it one day.

John Middleton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Waking a sleeping language – our plan to revive the speaking of ta rē Moriori – https://theconversation.com/waking-a-sleeping-language-our-plan-to-revive-the-speaking-of-ta-re-moriori-218023

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Carson, Senior Research Fellow, School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest global threats to health, food security and development. This month, The Conversation’s experts explore how we got here and the potential solutions.

We’ve all heard about antibiotic resistance. This happens when bacteria develop strategies to avoid being destroyed by an antibiotic.

The consequences of antibiotic resistance mean an antibiotic previously used to cure bacterial infections no longer works effectively because the bacteria have become resistant to the drug. This means it’s getting harder to cure the infections some bacteria cause.

But unfortunately, it’s only one part of the problem. The same phenomenon is also happening with other causes of infections in humans: fungi, viruses and parasites.

Read more:
The rise and fall of antibiotics. What would a post-antibiotic world look like?

“Antimicrobial resistance” means the drugs used to treat diseases caused by microbes (bugs that cause infection) no longer work. This occurs with antibacterial agents used against bacteria, antifungal agents used against fungi, anti-parasitic agents used against parasites and antiviral agents used against viruses.

This means a wide range of previously controllable infections are becoming difficult to treat – and may become untreatable.

Fighting fungi

Fungi are responsible for a range of infections in humans. Tinea, ringworm and vulvovaginal candidiasis (thrush) are some of the more familiar and common superficial fungal infections.

There are also life-threatening fungal infections such as aspergillosis, cryptococcosis and invasive fungal bloodstream infections including those caused by Candida albicans and Candida auris.

Fungal resistance to antifungal agents is a problem for several reasons.

First, the range of antifungal agents available to treat fungal infections is limited, especially compared to the range of antibiotics available to treat bacterial infections. There are only four broad families of antifungal agents, with a small number of drugs in each category. Antifungal resistance further restricts already limited options.

Life-threatening fungal infections happen less frequently than life-threatening bacterial infections. But they’re rising in frequency, especially among people whose immune systems are compromised, including by organ transplants and chemotherapy or immunotherapy for cancer. The threat of getting a drug-resistant fungal infection makes all of these health interventions riskier.

Read more:
How do _Candida auris_ and other fungi develop drug resistance? A microbiologist explains

The greatest burden of serious fungal disease occurs in places with limited health-care resources available for diagnosing and treating the infections. Even if infections are diagnosed and antifungal treatment is available, antifungal resistance reduces the treatment options that will work.

But even in Australia, common fungal infections are impacted by resistance to antifungal agents. Vulvovaginal candidiasis, known as thrush and caused by Candida species and some closely related fungi, is usually reliably treated by a topical antifungal cream, sometimes supplemented with an oral tablet. However, instances of drug-resistant thrush are increasing, and new treatments are needed.

Targeting viruses

Even fewer antivirals are available than antibacterial and antifungal agents.

Most antimicrobial treatments work by exploiting differences between the microbe causing the infection and the host (us) experiencing the infection. Since viruses use our cells to replicate and cause their infection, it’s difficult to find antiviral treatments that selectively target the virus without damaging us.

With so few antiviral drugs available, any resistance that develops to one of them significantly reduces the treatment options available.

Read more:
Why are there so many drugs to kill bacteria, but so few to tackle viruses?

Take COVID, for example. Two antiviral medicines are in widespread use to treat this viral infection: Paxlovid (containing nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) and Lagevrio (molnupiravir). So far, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, has not developed significant resistance to either of these treatments.

But if SARS-CoV-2 develops resistance to either one of them, it halves the treatment options. Subsequently relying on one would likely lead to its increased use, which may heighten the risk that resistance to the second agent will develop, leaving us with no antiviral agents to treat COVID.

The threat of antimicrobial resistance makes our ability to treat serious COVID infections rather precarious.

Stopping parasites

Another group of microbes that cause infections in humans are single-celled microbes such as Plasmodium, Giardia, Leishmania, and Trypanosoma. These microbes are sometimes referred to as parasites, and they are becoming increasingly resistant to the very limited range of anti-parasitic agents used to treat the infections they cause.

Read more:
Antibiotic resistance: microbiologists turn to new technologies in the hunt for solutions – podcast

Several Plasmodium species cause malaria and anti-parasitic drugs have been the cornerstone of malaria treatment for decades. But their usefulness has been significantly reduced by the development of resistance.

Giardia parasites cause an infection called giardiasis. This can resolve on its own, but it can also cause severe gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, and bloating. These microbes have developed resistance to the main treatments and patients infected with drug-resistant parasites can have protracted, unpleasant infections.

Resistance is a natural consequence

Treating infections influences microbes’ evolutionary processes. Exposure to drugs that stop or kill them pushes microbes to either evolve or die. The exposure to antimicrobial agents provokes the evolutionary process, selecting for microbes that are resistant and can survive the exposure.

The pressure to evolve, provoked by the antimicrobial treatment, is called “selection pressure”. While most microbes will die, a few will evolve in time to overcome the antimicrobial drugs used against them.

Read more:
How do bacteria actually become resistant to antibiotics?

The evolutionary process that leads to the emergence of resistance is inevitable. But some things can be done to minimise this and the problems it brings.

Limiting the use of antimicrobial agents is one approach. This means reserving antimicrobial agents for when their use is known to be necessary, rather than using them “just in case”.

Antimicrobial agents are precious resources, holding at bay many infectious diseases that would otherwise sicken and kill millions. It is imperative we do all we can to preserve the effectiveness of those that remain, and give ourselves more options by working to discover and develop new ones.

Read the other articles in The Conversation’s series on the dangers of antibiotic resistance here.

Christine Carson receives funding from state and federal funding agencies, and the CUREator program, a national biotechnology incubator delivered by Brandon BioCatalyst. She has a commercial interest in companies developing diagnostic tests and preventing viral infections.

– ref. Drug resistance may make common infections like thrush untreatable – https://theconversation.com/drug-resistance-may-make-common-infections-like-thrush-untreatable-213460

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Bower, Associate Professor in Zoology and Ecology, University of New England

Australian freshwater turtles support healthy wetlands and rivers. Yet one in three turtle species is threatened with extinction. And there is still much we don’t know about them.

In today’s special issue of the journal Austral Ecology, 55 authors present the latest research on Australian freshwater turtles.

Along with other biologists, we have contributed to a series of research papers to inform ecology and conservation of freshwater turtles.

Our research reveals some fresh insights into turtle behaviour, survey methods and conservation strategies.

Read more:
There’s a thriving global market in turtles, and much of that trade is illegal

Spy wear and other turtle tech

In one study researchers compared data from underwater video cameras to traditional trapping surveys and achieved similar results. They detected 83 turtles from 52  hours of footage and identified all species in the study area.

Overall, baited remote underwater videos proved to be a “useful, time effective, non-invasive technique to collect relative abundance and species richness estimates for freshwater turtles”.

Another study provided the first vision of a wild saw-shelled turtle attempting to court a mate. The male sought affection from the female turtle by waving his feet and pressing his nose into her face.

Meanwhile, a different male was observed trying to mount a larger male. This was the first case of same-sex mounting seen in this species.

We are continuing to unravel curious turtle behaviour known as nocturnal basking. During the day, many reptiles regulate their body temperature by sunning themselves. But some freshwater turtles (and crocodiles) also emerge from the water and bask on logs at night.

To find out why, scientists in Queensland measured the preferred temperature of Krefft’s river turtles and watched them bask more when the water was hot. So it seems they do this to stay cool in hot weather.

Over in desert country, we recaptured Cooper Creek turtles after two decades. While we were there, the site became surrounded with floodwater – this provided a rare opportunity to find turtles moving onto the floodplain to find food.

We also found lots of baby turtles. This is in contrast to most places around Australia, which have ongoing problems with foxes eating turtle nests.

Conservation success stories

Foxes target freshwater turtle nests across Australia, reducing breeding success. Researchers are experimenting with measures to protect nests from predators.

In the New England Tablelands, temporary electric fences served to protect turtle nests from foxes over three breeding spring-summer seasons from 2019 to 2022. But in the Murray River, plastic mesh over individual nests only protected some of them.

Nest protection supports conservation of the endangered Mary River turtle. Over 22 years, more than 100 members of the local community in the Mary River Catchment have led initiatives to protect Mary River turtles. Working with communities has dual benefits – for research and for the people involved, who enjoy connecting to nature.

These collaborations have helped improve river management, informing delivery of water for the environment and improving the quality of river habitats for turtles.

November is Turtle Month for the 1 Million turtles campaign, a national citizen science program bringing together scientists and the community, to support freshwater turtle conservation initiatives.

Through the free TurtleSAT app, people can do more than just report turtle sightings. They can actively contribute to data-driven turtle management.

The app provides real-time data visualisation. The program website also provides education, helping citizen scientists protect nests, establish predator-free turtle sanctuaries, engage in national experiments, and deepen their understanding of turtles and wetlands.

With more than 18,000 records logged, 1,200 turtles saved from road hazards and 500 nests protected, this initiative is crucial in light of the growing threats faced by freshwater turtle species.

Read more:
Our turtle program shows citizen science isn’t just great for data, it makes science feel personal

Challenges and solutions

Of Australia’s 25 freshwater turtle species, 12 are so poorly known their national conservation status could not be assessed during this 2022 review. Many of these lesser-known species occur in northern Australia.

Of the 15 species or subspecies assessed, we recommended listing a higher level of threat for eight. This included western saw-shelled turtles, which were recently uplisted from vulnerable to endangered.

Threats include habitat loss, being eaten by foxes or feral pigs, disease, fire, and moving species into new areas where they breed with existing turtle species. To manage these threats, we need to move beyond engagement to an integrated approach, where conservation advice is co-determined by First Nations people who are closely involved in implementing recovery plans and action plans.

There is immense value in establishing long-term studies to track these long-lived species. And technology continues to provide new opportunities to learn more.

Future conservation and management will require working with communities to learn more about turtles and protect them. If one million people each save one turtle, collectively we will have made a big difference.

Read more:
Turtles on the tarmac could delay flights at Western Sydney airport

Deborah Bower receives funding from the Australian Research Council, NSW Department of Environment and Planning, and the Northern Tablelands Local Land Services.

Donald McKnight works for the Savanna Field Station and received funding from the Australian Society of Herpetologists and Winifred Violet Scott Charitable Trust.

Eric Nordberg receives funding from the National Environmental Science Program Landscape Hub, Australian Departments of Environment and Planning, and Northern Tablelands Local Land Services.

James Van Dyke receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Department of Industry, Science and Resources.

Michael B Thompson has received funding for turtle research from the Australian Research Council. He is also involved with the 1 Million Turtles program funded by a Commonwealth Citizen Science grant.

Ricky Spencer receives funding from the Australian Research Council, WIRES and Department of Industry, Science and Resources.

– ref. Moonlight basking and queer courting: new research reveals the secret lives of Australian freshwater turtles – https://theconversation.com/moonlight-basking-and-queer-courting-new-research-reveals-the-secret-lives-of-australian-freshwater-turtles-215531

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Hurley, Director, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University

A major new report is recommending bold changes to Australia’s early childhood sector. On Thursday night, the Productivity Commission released an interim report from its inquiry into early childhood education and care.

The report recommends every Australian child aged under five years gets access to three days a week of “high-quality” early learning and care. This entitlement could occur in a range of settings such as centre-based day care, family day care and preschool.

Currently there is no national guarantee, only a mix of entitlements to preschool for three- and four-year-olds, which varies depending on the state.

The report also recommends lower-income families receive a 100% child care subsidy for these three days and some work or study requirements are removed. This means families earning less than A$80,000 would get up to 30 hours of free childcare for children aged under five years.

The recommendations would result in a huge overhaul of the sector and require large increases in the supply of early education places and government funding.

Why do we have this report?

The inquiry was set up in February this year, following a Labor election promise to conduct a comprehensive review of the sector with the aim of paying 90% of fees for all families covered by the Child Care Subsidy.

The report is one of several federal government-commissioned inquiries into early education and care. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is currently looking at the early learning market and Australia’s children’s education and care regulator is looking at safety in the sector.

The Productivity Commission review has a broader scope than the other reviews and is examining issues such as cost, quality, workforce and access to early learning and care.

The sector already provides services to more than 1.4 million children every year and receives about A$13 billion in government funding.

Read more:
Yes, childcare is costly, but nowhere near as costly as recent reports suggest – here’s why

What are the key findings?

The interim report found Australia’s early learning and care system can be complex and costly, with patchy provision in some areas and not enough support for vulnerable groups.

To meet these challenges, the Productivity Commission recommends the federal government takes a more active role in ensuring up to 30 hours or three days a week of quality early childhood education and care is available to all children up to five years.

This would be the first time there is an explicit policy aim in Australia for an entitlement like this.

The report highlighted that those who are likely to benefit most from childcare services – those experiencing disadvantage – are also less likely to attend. To increase participation, the report recommends “relaxing” the activity test and increasing subsidies for low income families.

At the moment, many families need to undertake a certain amount of work, study or volunteering (“activity”) to be eligible for the child care subsidy.

As Associate Commissioner Deborah Brennan said:

A child’s entitlement to at least three days of [early childhood education and care] a week should not depend on how much their parents work.

Read more:
More than 1 million Australians have no access to childcare in their area

Fees and subsidies

A key point is the amount of subsidy different families should receive.

Currently, families earning between $80,000 and $530,000 receive up to 90% in subsidies. The subsidy decreases by 1% for each $5,000 they earn above $80,000. The subsidy is paid directly to early childhood services and they pass it on to families as a fee reduction.

In response to Labor’s request to investigate a 90% universal subsidy, Productivity Commission modelling suggests this would would increase the child care subsidy payments by about $4.1 billion annually, or 33%. The biggest beneficiaries would be high-income families, because their subsidy would increase the most.

But the report goes a step further. For families on incomes up to $80,000 it recommends increasing the subsidy to 100% of the top subsidy rate for 30 hours a week.

This would make up to 30 hours of childcare effectively free for about 30% of all families with children aged under five. The estimated cost of this policy, along with the relaxing of the activity test, is an additional $2.5 billion a year, or 20%.

The commission believes these changes would remove barriers for lower-income families and encourage more children experiencing disadvantage to benefit from high-quality early learning.

As the report says:

Affordability should not be a barrier to […] access.

The commission will explore further recommendations in their final report for subsidy rates to families not covered by the 100% subsidy recommendation.

Expansive reform

The commission’s proposal would introduce an entitlement to early education and care like reforms already underway in other countries.

Quebec in Canada already has an entitlement to childcare at $10 a day regardless of income.

The United Kingdom is expanding childcare entitlements to 30 hours per week for many working families with children aged over nine months.

The commission highlights such an expansion “will require careful sequencing and implementation”.

To do this, it is proposing more government involvement in locations where families struggle to find appropriate education and care. At the moment, the government subsidises those who create the demand for early childhood services (parents and families). Meanwhile, supply is created by a mix of for-profit and not-for-profit providers opening centres to respond to this need.

This is different to our school system, where governments fund schools directly, there is greater government service provision and schools are not allowed to be for-profit.

What next?

When viewed this way, the Productivity Commission has not recommended a major overhaul of the current approach. Instead, it will explore the most effective government interventions where the current model is not working properly. This means there is still a lot of detail that needs to be worked out.

But the reform agenda is undeniably big and geared towards directing the most support to those children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The commission will hold public hearings next year with a final report due to the government on June 30 2024.

Peter Hurley works for the Mitchell Institute who receive funding from Minderoo Foundation to undertake research into early childhood education and care.

Melissa Tham works for the Mitchell Institute who receive funding from Minderoo Foundation to undertake research into early childhood education and care.

– ref. The Productivity Commission wants all Australian kids to have access to 3 days of early learning and care a week – https://theconversation.com/the-productivity-commission-wants-all-australian-kids-to-have-access-to-3-days-of-early-learning-and-care-a-week-218247

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

Halfway into its first term, the big question is whether the Albanese government is in a temporary bad patch, or at the beginning of a downhill slide.

We’re not talking immediate opinion polls. They can jump about in the winds of the moment. We’re talking about being on top – or not – of the policy challenges and the politics. The longer-term trend in the polls follows as a consequence of how well those are handled.

Despite its unrelenting activity and announcements, the federal government is struggling on key issues, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, after successful trips to Washington and Beijing, is suddenly looking on the back foot.

It seems inexplicable that Albanese has got himself cornered over whether he did or didn’t raise the sonar incident when he met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of APEC last week.

The action by a Chinese warship in unleashing sonar pulses at Australian sailors who were untangling fishnets from HMAS Toowoomba last week has set off a war of words between the two countries.

Australia said the Chinese acted unprofessionally. China accused Australia of “making reckless and irresponsible accusations” and declared it should “do more to build up mutual trust”.

Of course Albanese should have brought the incident up when he met Xi. And if he did, of course he should say so. To maintain, as he has been doing, that he doesn’t disclose the content of meetings with another leader on the sidelines of a conference is a nonsense excuse.

Albanese’s apparent reluctance to be forthright (whether in the meeting or outside it) sends the wrong signal to the Chinese, suggesting he will go out of his way not to offend them. It is also a bad look at home, displaying a lack of frankness with the Australian people on an important matter.

Perhaps it’s no bad thing the sonar incident occurred when it did. It’s a timely reminder that regardless of the recent nice words, for China this is a relationship of convenience. As one China expert puts it: “Sooner or later [Albanese] was going to be mugged by strategic reality”.

Will the fracas set back the new rapport? Maybe we can apply the lobster test.

The only trade restrictions remaining on Australian products (apart from tariffs on wine, now to be reviewed) are on lobsters and beef from some abattoirs. Trade Minister Don Farrell has had recent discussions with his Chinese counterpart about lobsters, and engaged in some lobster diplomacy with Albanese in Shanghai.

Farrell has been expecting a breakthrough by Christmas. The government is encouraged that this seems still on track, judging by a Wednesday article in the Global Times (a state-owned official mouthpiece) anticipating a quick resumption of the lobster trade.

On a very different front, a week after rushing through emergency legislation, the government is still confronting the aftermath of the High Court judgement forcing the release of immigration detainees, including people who had committed very serious crimes.

The government’s new law to impose controls on these people is now being legally challenged. And after last week insisting they could not be re-detained, the government has now confirmed it is examining whether there’s a legislative way to do just that with at least some of them.

While the opposition has stirred a storm over the ex-detainees, the government is facing fire from its state Labor colleagues, in New South Wales and Queensland especially, following its announcement of cuts to the infrastructure program. Queensland is worried about next year’s election. NSW seems more generally antsy, anticipating being financially squeezed in a range of areas. Its vociferousness has taken Canberra somewhat by surprise.

But NSW and other states know what’s coming, especially on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, where the federal government is determined to reduce the rate of growth. This will involve two politically unpalatable moves.

The first is changes to eligibility. There is much concern about the large number of children with mild autism on the scheme (around one in 11 boys aged five to seven are on the NDIS).

The second will be to push the states to take greater responsibility for providing more and better disability services for people outside the NDIS. The federal government contrasts the start of the NDIS, when the states shared its costs on a 50-50 basis, with the present breakdown – the states provide only about 30% of the funding, and that’s heading downwards.

The Victorian government this week accused the Feds of being unforthcoming about their plans.

The minister for the NDIS, Bill Shorten, will soon release the government’s review of the scheme. Managing the fallout from the changes that follow will be complex and politically difficult, given the sensitivities of disability policy, the inevitable blowback when changes produce losers (actual or potential), and the politics of triggering the fiscal nerve of the states.

This week’s announcement that the government will dramatically boost its underwriting of investment in renewable energy production and storage highlights another challenge for the coming months. The expanded guarantee will be on-budget but the cost (or profit) to the taxpayers won’t be known until the projects start delivering.

The transition to clean energy, absolutely vital for Australia, is not going as fast or as smoothly as required to reach the target of renewables providing 82% of electricity generation by 2030. Not only must more investment be attracted, and quickly, but the government will continue to face resistance from local communities unhappy about transmission wires and even offshore wind farms.

Due for release before year’s end is the government’s migration policy. Immigration props up economic growth but the huge net intake is putting further strain on already overstretched housing. There is strong pressure on the government, including coming on MPs from their electorates, to restrict the growth in the intake, although options to substantially reduce the current trajectory are limited.

These various policy issues are apart from the pain around the cost of living, coming from high inflation and a baker’s dozen interest rate rises, with the government’s capacity to do much that’s substantial very limited. This takes us to another debate over the stage 3 tax cuts, as Treasurer Jim Chalmers puts together his next budget.

Christmas will give the government a brief respite. But can it turn 2024 into a happy new year?

Michelle Grattan ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

– ref. Grattan on Friday: Can the Albanese government turn 2024 into a happy new year despite multiple challenges? – https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-can-the-albanese-government-turn-2024-into-a-happy-new-year-despite-multiple-challenges-218432

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen today announced a scheme to underwrite the risk of investing in new renewable energy generation and storage.

The expansion of the national Capacity Investment Scheme follows a successful pilot study with New South Wales. The government paid A$1.8 billion for just over a gigawatt of capacity, through a combination of batteries and other storage.

Bowen says the scheme “underwrites new renewable generation and storage, providing certainty for renewable investors and cheaper, cleaner energy for households and businesses”. And if all goes well, the scheme will provide a financial return to taxpayers.

Most of the country still relies on dirty coal-fired power. Several power stations have already closed and many more have flagged intentions to close. The ageing fleet is also unreliable, causing power outages. Before coal exits the system, we need to replace it. This scheme will ensure that happens well in advance.

Read more:
Why Australia urgently needs a climate plan and a Net Zero National Cabinet Committee to implement it

What’s the problem?

The government was not on track to achieve 82% renewables by 2030. It was clearly under pressure to do something about that. And now it has.

If what’s been announced today actually is built, then it’s likely we will be able hit the target. The amount of new capacity being considered will certainly make a huge difference. So that’s 23 gigawatts of new variable renewables such as wind and solar, plus 9GW of “dispatchable” capacity, which involves storage – mainly batteries.

If the scheme does its job, it’s also likely to accelerate the closure of coal-fired power stations.

That will help us to reduce emissions but it also raises the risk of blackouts from grid instability. That’s a worry as we head into a long, hot summer.

We need to close the gap between closure of coal-fired power and new generators coming online to firm up the system.

Today’s announcement takes us to a total of 32GW nationally. Compare that to the total generation capacity of the National Electricity Market at about 65GW.

Read more:
How could Australia actually get to net zero? Here’s how

How does the Capacity Investment Scheme help?

Under the original scheme, the federal government has begun to run competitive tenders seeking bids for clean renewable generation projects.

Under the expanded scheme, successful projects will be offered contracts in which a revenue floor and ceiling are agreed with the Commonwealth.

This scheme will be rolled out with regular six-monthly tenders from the second quarter of the 2024–25 financial year through to 2027.

In principle, it’s a good idea for two reasons. First, it provides a much greater level of certainty for investors. Difficulty getting people to invest in the renewable energy sector is one of the reasons why we’re not on track. In this case the government will be paying directly, holding auctions to guarantee a certain revenue for those who invest in these projects. In other policy instruments it’s really the consumer who ends up paying.

The way it’s done, through “contract the difference”, is pretty sensible, in that the government is only underwriting the risk, rather than the full amount of money. If the revenue the project actually generates in the market is within the agreed range, the government doesn’t pay anything.

But if the people who invested are not getting the agreed amount of financial return, the government will pay the difference. Or most of the difference anyway, through a formula yet to be worked out – but the government will certainly be contributing towards that difference.

On the other hand, it’s not a one-sided arrangement. If the project generates more revenue than the agreed ceiling, that money goes back to the government. So the government’s not signing up to an open chequebook.

Second, this approach puts all the responsibility for reliability of the grid in the hands of the states. That is, dealing with the closure of the coal plants and making sure there’s enough capacity to replace it.

That’s probably a good idea, because some of the states have different views about how reliability should be addressed. Some would not want to see any gas-fired generation being used to back up renewables; others may be happy to have gas-fired power or even a hydrogen power station to back up reliability. It will be up to them now.

Alongside these steps federal and state governments still need to step up the pressure on building transmission lines to connect all of this new renewable capacity to the grid. However, today’s announcement does nothing to address how this will be done.

What will this do to power prices?

I don’t expect it to make much difference to prices. While new renewables themselves are cheap, the transmission and storage needed to back them up will not be. So they’ll probably largely balance each other out.

The bottom line is we will be getting a more reliable and lower-emissions electricity sector at a relatively low carbon cost.

Read more:
Unsexy but vital: why warnings over grid reliability are really about building more transmission lines

Tony Wood may have a financial interest in companies relevant to the article through his superannuation fund.

– ref. The government will underwrite risky investments in renewables – here’s why that’s a good idea – https://theconversation.com/the-government-will-underwrite-risky-investments-in-renewables-heres-why-thats-a-good-idea-218427

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chay Brown, Research and Partnerships Manager, The Equality Institute, & Postdoctoral fellow, Australian National University

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names of deceased people. Some names have been changed to honour Sorry Business. This article also mentions violence against and killings of First Nations women.

Kumanjayi Haywood.

Ngeygo Ragurrk.

Miss Yunupingu.

Kumarn Rubuntja.

These are the names of the four Aboriginal women at the centre of Australia’s largest and longest-running coronial inquest into women killed by their intimate male partners that adjourned on November 10. Over the past six months in the Northern Territory, Judge Elisabeth Armitage heard evidence about the shocking circumstances surrounding each woman’s death.

Each of the women had experienced years of severe abuse from their male partners, some of whom had served lengthy jail terms, and some of whom had long histories of violence, sometimes against multiple partners.

Kumanjayi Haywood died after her partner poured petrol under the door of the bathroom she was hiding in and set her alight. She sustained burns to 90% of her body. She was a loving mother.

Ngeygo Ragurrk was killed by her partner on Darwin’s Mindil Beach after a brutal attack lasting several hours. She was a Warddeken ranger and is remembered as a loving aunty.

Miss Yunupingu endured over a decade of abuse by her partner, who ultimately ended her life by stabbing her three times in the chest. She was much loved by her family.

Kumarn Rubuntja was killed after her partner deliberately hit her with his car, reversing over and hitting her several times. She was a well-known anti-violence advocate and beloved by her friends and family.

These women were failed repeatedly by the systems and institutions set up to protect them. They slipped through the gaping cracks in an overstretched and overburdened system. One of the women had called police 22 times. Another was herself arrested after calling police for help. The family of another was unaware of the exact nature and circumstances of her death and the sentence of her perpetrator because there were no interpreters in court when he was sentenced.

The coroner dedicated time to hearing about the individual circumstances surrounding each women’s death, as well as two weeks for institutional responses.

I was called to give evidence in the inquest twice. The first time was to provide testimony in relation to Kumarn Rubuntja’s death, as she was my friend and colleague. I spoke about the rates and drivers of violence in the territory.

The second time was part of the institutional responses, where I gave expert evidence due to my research into violence against women in the territory. I presented evidence about the development of different initiatives to improve the response to domestic, family and sexual violence in the territory, such as improved training for police.

I believe the inquest was extraordinarily important, but it was also immeasurably difficult and painful. It was hard for all of us who loved, knew and worked with these women.

Inquest findings

Armitage, the judge, characterised extreme violence in the Northern Territory as an “epidemic”, an “explosion”, and a “horror”.

The inquest heard domestic violence has increased by 117% in the past ten years, and is projected to increase a further 73% in the next decade. As a result, police callout times to domestic violence incidents have more than doubled.

In the Northern Territory, domestic, family and sexual violence services are chronically under-funded and under-resourced. Women’s shelters from across the NT gave evidence that they had to turn women away because they did not have enough beds. Some were having to reduce staff pay due to lack of funding. Some had to rely on vacancies, while others were running their budgets in deficits.

However, the inquest also heard about several promising initiatives, including a co-response model for police and specialist services. But this initiative had only been given funding of $240,000 from the government. Queensland, by comparison, has funded its own co-response model with $22 million.

Another promising initiative is improved and specialist domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) training for police and health care workers. But the Prevent.Assist.Respond.Training program had only been funded to develop training, and there was no money for implementation or delivery.

Read more:
Here’s some context missing from the Mparntwe Alice Springs ‘crime wave’ reporting

A national crisis

Through the inquest, the specialist domestic, family and sexual violence sector learned that the Northern Territory government had rejected its own working group’s recommendation for funding of $180 million over five years, instead committing to only $20 million over two years. Professor Marcia Langton, in her testimony, labelled this decision “gobsmacking”.

Upon learning of the inadequate funding for essential services, the DFSV sector organised a “day of action” on September 26. Hundreds of people gathered across the territory, in regional centres and remote communities, to call on both the NT and federal government to commit to needs-based funding for the territory.

The NT’s family violence sector called for:

1. an immediate injection of a minimum additional $180 million over five years, per the government’s own recommendation
2. the immediate establishment and ongoing funding of a NT-specific domestic, family and sexual violence peak organisation
3. the allocation of 50% of new public housing to victim-survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence.

Read more:
49 women have been killed in Australia so far in 2023 as a result of violence. Are we actually making any progress?

Action is needed before more women die

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has not yet responded to multiple requests from the Northern Territory DFSV sector to visit the territory to meet with the family violence sector and see the level of need firsthand.

Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth said the Albanese government had already funded the NT government for family and domestic violence services with $147 million over four years.

But the breakdown of this funding included many general services – several of which run no domestic violence programs and one that was not based in the NT. She also failed to include a single women’s shelter in the territory.

Recommendations will now be put to the coroner by counsel assisting and submissions will close in March. The coroner will then lay down her findings in November.

Kumanjayi Haywood, Ngeygo Ragurrk, Miss Yunupingu, Kumarn Rubuntja. These women rarely made the national news. The nation did not honour their lives or mourn them. Their lives did not spark marches or social media campaigns or speeches in parliament. Four more people have died in what police believe are domestic violence incidents in the NT since the inquest began.

This inquest was an incredibly important opportunity to hear from the women’s friends and families, who recounted beautiful memories about them and told of their heartbreak. It’s important all of us hear the words of these grieving families – we need to do better.

As Ngeygo Ragurrk’s sister, Edna, said on the last day of the inquest: “It cannot be normal that men hurt us women. Everyone must do more from the start, not just after women get hurt or killed.”

Kumarn Rubuntja was a friend of mine and I worked alongside her for many years.
I work as the Family Violence Prevention Manager at the Tangentyere Council Aboriginal Corporation and Managing Director of Her Story Consulting. I was also called to give evidence in the inquest.

– ref. ‘It cannot be normal that men hurt us women’: what we can learn from the inquest into 4 Aboriginal women’s deaths in the NT – https://theconversation.com/it-cannot-be-normal-that-men-hurt-us-women-what-we-can-learn-from-the-inquest-into-4-aboriginal-womens-deaths-in-the-nt-211738

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sue Olney, UoM-BSL Principal Research Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Melbourne

Over the ten years since the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was launched, its design, operations and costs have been scrutinised by governments, the media, the legal system, researchers and people with disability and their advocates.

More than 610,000 Australians receive NDIS funding to purchase support and services to meet their disability-related needs. But the overwhelming majority of the 4.4 million people with disability in Australia are not NDIS participants. Whether and how their needs are met outside the NDIS has huge implications for the scheme’s future.

That issue sits at the heart of the NDIS review. The review’s findings and recommendations have not yet been publicly released, but NDIS Minister Bill Shorten and the review’s co-chairs have already called for state and federal services outside the scheme to step up supports.

What fell away when the NDIS was rolled out? And what are the chances of such services being revived?

Read more:
‘I want to get bogged at a beach in my wheelchair and know people will help’. Micheline Lee on the way forward for the NDIS

How the NDIS ate other supports

Under the NDIS, many people have been able to get the support they need for the first time.

However, the movement of money from Commonwealth, state and territory governments to the NDIS meant people with disability who do not meet the scheme’s eligibility criteria lost access to some supports. The introduction of the NDIS also impacted the costs and availability of services.

What was glossed over in the transition to the NDIS was community, social and economic inclusion of all Australians with disability. As money flowed from other parts of government to the NDIS, there were no clear answers on how this cornerstone of the scheme should be delivered and funded.

An oasis surrounded by desert

Demand for support from the NDIS has outstripped all forecasts, putting pressure on the federal budget. But government has shown little will to tackle what is driving its growth.

Slow progress on improving accessibility in “mainstream” services and the erosion of access to supports like home and community care and community mental health services have left the NDIS an “oasis of support, surrounded by a desert where little or nothing is available”.

Read more:
Australia’s rates of autism should be celebrated – but real-life impact, not diagnosis, should determine NDIS support

Research in 2022 revealed people with disability and their families were navigating disconnected and incomplete service markets, with inconsistent eligibility criteria. There were gaps in data informing policy. People without NDIS funding were relying heavily on family support and personal resources. In surveys for this research, 90% of people with disability outside the NDIS said they were unable to find the support they needed.

States have already said they need more funding to support people with disability outside the NDIS. That has to be a whole-of-government conversation.

When people with disability and their families cannot find or afford the support they need, and exhaust their own resources to the point of crisis, they ultimately need higher levels of support from the NDIS and government across the board.

We need a graduated support system for people with disability between being in or out of the NDIS.

A shakeup is likely

The NDIS review’s final report is likely to be publicly released in December, after National Cabinet has met to consider its recommendations.

The review has already signalled it will call for coordinated effort and investment across government. Review co-chair Bruce Bonyhady recently said there would be more focus on support needs rather than functional impairment in decisions about what is reasonable and necessary for the NDIS to fund.

The review is likely to propose a new disability inter-governmental agreement to encourage governments to develop and implement a foundational supports investment strategy for all people with disability together.

It is also likely to call for national commitments to deliver more effective supports for children who are slow to reach one or more developmental milestones compared to their peers – described as “developmental delay” – and for people with disability linked to mental health.

Translating those recommendations into action across federal, state, territory and local governments won’t be easy.

What should change? What should come back?

The NDIS review may finally force clarification of roles and responsibilities for funding and delivering services and supports between the NDIS and key policy areas like health, education, employment, early childhood, justice, transport, housing and aged care that cross government jurisdictions.

It may also clarify the relationship between the NDIS and Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031, which is intended to provide national leadership to drive mainstream services and systems to improve outcomes for people with disability.

Read more:
Should people who had disability before they turned 65, be allowed to become NDIS participants after 65? We asked 5 experts

There have been numerous references throughout the review to a need for more access to home and community supports, to reduce the likelihood of people needing higher-cost individual supports.

We may also see a return to block-funding for some widely used supports to achieve economies of scale lost in individual purchasing models.

From diagnosis to inclusion

Service systems such as disability employment services and specialist schools, which parallel universal services, highlight tensions between how governments talk about inclusion and how services and supports for people with disability are designed and funded on the basis of diagnosis.

We have to explore new ways to design and fund services, drawing on the knowledge and expertise of people with disability, and address evidence gaps to better inform policy.

Looming negotiations between federal and state governments about who should pay for what in that landscape are likely to be tense and protracted. But people with disability must not be reduced to “costs” in that tussle.

The biggest lesson from the NDIS review may well be that governments cannot continue to treat 20% of Australians as outliers in designing universal services.

Sue Olney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. A tussle between the federal and state governments over disability supports is looming. What should happen next? – https://theconversation.com/a-tussle-between-the-federal-and-state-governments-over-disability-supports-is-looming-what-should-happen-next-217839

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Young, Senior Research Fellow, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Just over two years ago, terminally ill New Zealanders were given the right to request a medically assisted death with the End of Life Choice Act. But having assisted dying legally available doesn’t mean everyone has the access.

While the law provides the option for people with a terminal illness, it also creates challenges for patients, family, whānau, health practitioners and the health system.

Our ongoing research is looking at how the law has been used since it was enacted in 2021. We have also been looking into access issues, low levels of knowledge in the health sector around assisted dying, and poor public awareness.

The Ministry of Health is required to review the law next year, examining how it is operating and reporting on whether any changes are necessary or desirable.

The review is crucial given the evidence of conscious and unconscious bias within the healthcare system and its impact on disadvantaged groups.

Regardless of how individuals voted in the 2020 referendum on the End of Life Act, everyone wants to die as well as possible. So the review is important for evaluating how the assisted dying service is influencing the end of life.

Understanding the End of Life Choice Act

The act legalises assisted dying for people assessed by at least two doctors as meeting all of the eligibility criteria. To be eligible, a person needs to be:

• 18 years or older

• a citizen or permanent resident of NZ

• suffering from a terminal illness that is likely to end the person’s life within six months

• in an advanced state of irreversible decline in physical capability

• experiencing unbearable suffering that cannot be relieved in a manner that the person considers tolerable and

• competent to make an informed decision about assisted dying.

In the two years since the act came into force, 1,441 people applied for assisted dying, of which just 565 people had an assisted death. As many as 374 people died while applying, 89 people changed their minds and 118 applications are still underway. Another 295 people did not meet the eligibility criteria.

Read more:
Assisted dying will become legal in New Zealand in a year — what has to happen now?

Is the law working?

The Act has some distinctive safeguards to prevent potential coercion. It bans health professionals from discussing assisted dying unless a person raises it first.

If a person is found eligible, but then loses competency to give their final consent, they cannot have an assisted death. People are ineligible if they apply only because they have a mental illness or disorder, a disability of any kind, or are of advanced age.

In practice, the prohibition on health professionals raising the topic means people might not know the option is available to them, or that they may be eligible. The person may not have the words or the ability to raise it with a health practitioner.

Read more:
We have a right to die with dignity. The medical profession has a duty to assist

It also means those who have higher literacy and access to resources are more likely to access assisted dying. This raises the question of whether access to information and assisted dying is equally available for all individuals.

During this first stage of research, we spoke with 22 family members and health professionals who have cared for someone undergoing assisted dying.

During our interviews, one family member of someone who lost competency during the process described the need for final consent as “ridiculous”.

When she is unable to respond to be affirmative, if she’s already given the consent to the process, why can’t the process just proceed? Otherwise, you have to say I want to die earlier than I want to die just to meet your ridiculous regulation.

Others we spoke to expressed similar frustrations and concerns.

Currently, we do not have data about how these safeguards are operating, or data about why people choose assisted dying. Te Whatu Ora reports the demographics of those who applied for assisted dying, but not who completed it.

Between November 2021 and November 2022, 80.8% of people who applied for assisted dying were European/Pākehā and 5.5% were Māori. Just over 55% were female, 75.8% were 65 years or older, and 77% were receiving palliative care at the time of the application. The majority – 67.9% – were diagnosed with cancer.

Te Whatu Ora also doesn’t report about people’s experiences of using the service or being declined.

Their views, and the views of their whānau, families and health care professionals, would greatly inform the future of the service. Likewise, research with Māori and people living with disability or impairment would also greatly benefit the review.

That’s why our team is researching the experiences of people across the assisted dying pathway.

Understanding the experience

The next step in our research is to speak to assisted dying service users (both eligible and ineligible), including those living with an impairment, disability, or are Deaf.

We will also be speaking with assisted dying providers, and healthcare organisation leaders and policymakers who are responsible for deciding how assisted dying is practised at their organisation.

The purpose of this research is to gather evidence to inform the first review of the End of Life Choice Act in November 2024. It is important to understand, from a variety of perspectives, if the Act’s safeguards are safe and equitable.

Our findings will help to advance the aim of enhancing the service to be safe, accessible, and equitably available to all eligible New Zealanders.

Co-authors include Professor Kate Diesfeld, Associate Professor Richard Egan and Dr Te Hurinui Karaka-Clarke.

Jessica Young receives funding from the Health Research Council and the Cancer Society New Zealand. She previously served as an appointed member of the Support and Consultation for End of Life NZ (SCENZ) Group and was a member of the now concluded End of Life Choice Act Referendum Society.

Aida Dehkhoda receives funding from the Health Research Council and the Auckland Medical Research Foundation to research assisted dying.

Jeanne Snelling receives funding from the Health Research Council of New Zealand to research assisted dying.

– ref. Is assisted dying available equally to all in NZ? Questions next year’s review of the law must answer – https://theconversation.com/is-assisted-dying-available-equally-to-all-in-nz-questions-next-years-review-of-the-law-must-answer-217559

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Wenley, Lecturer, Theatre Programme, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

One of the primary roles of arts and culture is to hold a mirror up to society. The stories artists tell through books, performance, movies, music and visual art reflects an image of who we are, and shows us who we might yet become.

Journalism plays a crucial role in holding a mirror to this mirror. Investigations, interviews and reviews reflect and amplify the creativity and conversations explored by our artists.

But despite some bright spots of high-quality coverage, arts stories are often deprioritised in general media. Only 13% of Aotearoa New Zealand’s total media coverage focuses on arts and culture, and only 3.25% on art forms outside film, music and TV.

My new research report, New Mirrors, written with Rosabel Tan and commissioned by Creative New Zealand, investigates the state of contemporary arts journalism and proposes two pathways to strengthening this sector: a dedicated fund for arts and culture media projects, and an Arts Media Centre to connect media and creative sectors.

A dusty mirror

There is little dedicated arts space in the general media. Stuff, New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) and Otago Daily Times increasingly place arts content behind paywalls. Specialist platforms often have to compete in the same funding rounds as the artists they cover.

To better understand these challenges, we spoke with 52 artists, arts organisations, publicists, editors, journalists and decision makers across the arts and media sectors.

We heard arts media is under critical pressure, and significant challenges limit its growth: stretched budgets, reduced staff, production pressures and low pay. Freelance journalist Tulia Thompson spoke about being paid NZ$250 to write a 1,200-word review of three books, “which makes it more like a hobby”.

But we found a huge appetite to strengthen coverage. Connie Buchanan, deputy editor at E-Tangata, said the ideal was to be able to offer “decent, informed criticism of the arts landscape”.

Our research confirmed the need for a stronger and more visible representation of our arts and culture sector in our media, better reflecting the stories of Aotearoa New Zealand.

There is a significant audience for arts and culture: 96% of adults in Aotearoa New Zealand participated in arts and cultural events in the past three years.

As we argue in the report, strengthening arts and culture media leads to better public conversations, more engaged arts consumers, and a healthier arts and culture sector.

Coverage builds an audience, but it also supports future career opportunities for artists and ensures work is remembered.

Artist Bridget Reweti spoke about the importance of “high-quality writing” to support institutions and curators to understand the value of an artwork, and how mainstream media coverage “feeds into broader knowledge and people knowing that this work exists”.

As Mihi Blake, cofounder of communications agency Māia, told us:

There are so many stories, and people want to read them; people want to have their lives enriched by arts and culture and music. That is the richness of being alive.

Read more:
Life after redundancy: what happens next for journalists when they leave newsrooms

Under-resourced and under strain

New Zealand’s media sector has experienced considerable volatility over the past two decades.

Between 2006 and 2018, the number of journalists working in Aotearoa
New Zealand more than halved. New Zealand’s media sector is currently facing formidable headwinds due to the closing of the government’s contestable public-interest journalism fund, declining readership numbers, and a steep drop in advertising revenue,

Arts coverage, says David Rowe, head of journalism planning at New Zealand Media and Entertainment, “tends to suffer first, because in terms of core business, it’s not right at the absolute heart”.

It’s been 16 long years since Frontseat, TVNZ’s last dedicated arts show, broadcast its final episode. Today, opportunities for coverage of arts stories on television and commercial radio are rare.

While The Post expanded its daily arts and culture coverage this year in response to audience demand, many major newspapers in Aotearoa New Zealand have dropped specialist arts positions.

Former Stuff journalist Charlie Gates painted a stark picture for us:

When I started at The Press, in 2007, there was an arts editor, two film reviewers, two or three cultural writers, a feature writer who specialised in culture and things, and that’s all gone now. That’s all completely gone.

A path forward

We’re facing a national deficit in arts and culture coverage. This has impacts on social cohesion, wellbeing, and our sense of who we are as a nation.

We propose two key investment pathways to address this deficit.

1. Create a public fund for arts and culture media projects

The current funding models aren’t working. We need a dedicated fund that invests in arts and culture media projects, with co-investment across multiple agencies like Manatū Taonga, Creative New Zealand, NZ On Air and Te Māngai Pāho.

By pooling resources and ringfencing funding, we could enable both specialist art platforms and general media to grow coverage, shining a spotlight on more artist voices, building capacity in the regions, and recognising arts and culture coverage as a public good.

2. Create an Arts Media Centre

An independent body that connects our media and creative sectors could enable high-quality arts and culture journalism through training, advocacy and relationship-building.

Aotearoa New Zealand’s Science Media Centre, funded by the ministry of business, innovation and employment, offers a possible model. Since its launch in 2008, it has played a pivotal role in strengthening the quality, accuracy and depth of science reporting.

These two interventions hold the potential to have an enduring and positive effect, creating the infrastructure needed to support the long-term sustainability of our arts media ecology and for our creatives’ views and voices to be heard more often.

With new mirrors, media can better reflect the central relevance that arts, creativity and storytelling plays in the lives of New Zealanders.

Read more:
We need to break the cycle of crisis in Aotearoa New Zealand’s arts and culture. It starts with proper funding

James Wenley received funding from Creative New Zealand to conduct this research.

– ref. Arts journalism captures ‘the richness of being alive’, so why is New Zealand struggling to support it? And what’s the solution? – https://theconversation.com/arts-journalism-captures-the-richness-of-being-alive-so-why-is-new-zealand-struggling-to-support-it-and-whats-the-solution-218110

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ralph Trancoso, Adjunct Associate Professor in Climate Change, The University of Queensland

Australia’s climate, already marked by extremes with bushfires, heatwaves, storms and coastal flooding, is only set to worsen with the growing effects of climate change.

Disasters like the Black Summer bushfires of 2019–20 and the 2022 eastern Australian floods are likely to become more frequent and intense.

If carbon emissions continue at the current rate, climate change may make Australia unbearable for future generations. It’s a confronting outlook, and we need better tools to understand future impacts so we can adapt to them.

In our new research, published in the journal Earth’s Future, we have “downscaled” the latest global climate models to a 10-kilometre resolution across Australia. Having such a high resolution significantly enhances current global projections, with great improvements in projecting temperature, precipitation and extreme weather patterns for Australia.

Our new dataset is very useful. It provides scientists, policymakers and stakeholders with a valuable tool for comprehensively evaluating the potential impacts of climate change across Australia.

Read more:
Every Australian will be touched by climate change. So let’s start a national conversation about how we’ll cope

Why do we need high-resolution climate projections?

Climate models are key tools for understanding future climate risks. Current global climate models have a coarse resolution of 50–200km. This makes them less suitable for local adaptation. Regional climate models add locally relevant details, such as mountainous, coastal and urban regions.

For example, a high-resolution photo of a city lets you zoom in on the small details, such as people and vehicles. Likewise, high-resolution climate projections enable climate scientists to better simulate specific details such as storms and urban heat. They also help to track weather events like tropical cyclones – a meaningful refinement to understand local impacts of climate change.

This is why the Australian Royal Commission has recommended that future natural disaster risks are informed by high-resolution climate projections.

High-resolution models also match up much better with real-world local geographical features such as mountains. This is important, as mountains play a role in both temperature and rainfall.

What the new projections show for Australia

To produce high-resolution projections for Australia, we tapped into the most up-to-date climate model dataset that’s coordinated by climate scientists globally. This is known as the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, or CMIP6 for short.

The full CMIP6 dataset comprises hundreds of model simulations. As climate modelling is computationally expensive, we can’t downscale them all. Instead, we evaluated them to find the models that best represent Australia’s climate but also retain nearly a full range of future climate impacts.

This resulted in a set of 15 downscaled models and three emissions scenarios representing low, intermediate and high emissions trajectories in the future.

Ours is the largest downscaled set of projections produced for Australia to date. The range of emissions scenarios is important for studies evaluating the impacts of climate change.

We evaluated our high-resolution projections by comparing their historical component (that is, the period between 1980 and 2010) to records measured at weather stations around Australia over that time. We examined temperature and precipitation (rain and snow), including their distribution, annual cycles and extremes.

Overall, we found our downscaling produced major improvements in how accurate the projections were. This was especially true for minimum temperature, which is important for looking at the impacts of heatwaves – high night-time temperatures can lead to heat stress and even deaths.

We also looked at whether our models accurately represented day-to-day observations – that is, how well they matched up with actual weather recordings. The biggest difference came when looking at extremes (either very high or very low values), with a 142% improvement in representing minimum temperatures and an 87% improvement in representing winter maximum temperature.

Our models also worked well for precipitation. Predicting the number of days with no rain, as well as heavy rain days, is usually tricky for most models. Downscaling improved representation of dry days by 46% and extreme rain by 45%. This means we’ll have more reliable models when examining impacts from events like floods and droughts.

Read more:
Faster disaster: climate change fuels ‘flash droughts’, intense downpours and storms

How will this be useful?

The new projections provide more accurate data across Australia, but particularly in the mountains and densely populated coastal areas. This is important for disaster planning, preparedness and response. For example, in South East Queensland the improvements reached an impressive 150%.

The new data is not only more accurate, but offers a significantly clearer picture of the climatic future for densely populated regions. We can now have future climate information for shires and towns – an important step towards adaptation.

Downscaled climate projections based on the previous global suite of models have been used in Australia to understand future heatwaves, severe wind, drought and flood risks.

Our new high-resolution dataset, based on the latest global models, provides scientists and stakeholders with a solid ground to support adaptation policies, inform communities, and build resilience and preparedness for future climate hazards in Australia.

Ralph leads the Queensland Future Climate Science Program – a collaborative program between the University of Queensland and Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science undertaking applied climate science to support climate adaptation and natural disaster preparedness.

Jozef Syktus is the Director of the University of Queensland and Department of Environment and Science (DES) collaborative research program. He was a science leader of the projects contributing the CSIRO Mk3.6 climate model simulations to the CMIP5 archive and dynamical downscaling of CMIP5 for Queensland. He led the development of the UQ-DES CMIP6 downscale projections for Australia. Jozef received funding from ARC, Queensland Government and CSIRO

Sarah Chapman is a member of the Climate Projections and Services Team at the Department of Environment and Science, Queensland Government.

– ref. Our new high-resolution climate models are a breakthrough in understanding Australia’s future – https://theconversation.com/our-new-high-resolution-climate-models-are-a-breakthrough-in-understanding-australias-future-216739

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Haskell-Dowland, Professor of Cyber Security Practice, Edith Cowan University

Paying for things digitally is so common, most of us think nothing of swiping or tapping our card, or using mobile payments. While doing so is second nature, we may be more reluctant to provide card details over the phone.

Merchants are allowed to ask us for credit card details over the phone – this is perfectly legal. But there are minimum standards they must comply with and safeguards to protect consumer data.

So is giving your card details over the phone any more risky than other transactions and how can you minimise the risks?

How is my card data protected?

For a merchant to process card transactions, they are expected to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. This is a set of security requirements designed to protect cardholder data and the trillions of dollars of transactions each year.

Compliance involves various security measures (such as encryption and access controls) together with strong governance and regular security assessments.

If the information stored by the merchant is accessed by an unauthorised party, encryption ensures it is not readable. That means stealing the data would not let the criminals use the card details. Meanwhile, access controls ensure only authorised individuals have access to cardholder data.

Though all companies processing cards are expected to meet the compliance standards, only those processing large volumes are subject to mandatory regular audits. Should a subsequent data leak or misuse occur that can be attributed to a compliance failure, a company can be penalised at levels that can escalate into millions of dollars.

These requirements apply to all card transactions, whether in person, online or over the phone. Phone transactions are likely to involve a human collecting the card details and either entering them into computer systems, or processing the payment through paper forms. The payment card Security Standards Council has detailed guides for best practice:

A policy should be in place to ensure that payment card data is protected against unauthorised viewing, copying, or scanning, in particular on desks.

Although these measures can help to protect your card data, there are still risks in case the details are misplaced or the person on the phone aren’t who they say they are.

Read more:
AI scam calls imitating familiar voices are a growing problem – here’s how they work

Basic tips for safe credit card use over the phone

If you provide card details over the phone, there are steps you can take to minimise the chance you’ll become the victim of fraud, or get your details leaked.

1. Verify the caller

If you didn’t initiate the call, hang up and call the company directly using details you’ve verified yourself. Scammers will often masquerade as a well-known company (for example, an online retailer or a courier) and convince you a payment failed or payment is needed to release a delivery.

Before you provide any information, confirm the caller is legitimate and the purpose of the call is genuine.

2. Be sceptical

If you are being offered a deal that’s too good to be true, have concerns about the person you’re dealing with, or just feel something is not quite right, hang up. You can always call them back later if the caller turns out to be legitimate.

3. Use secure payment methods

If you’ve previously paid the company with other (more secure) methods, ask to use that same method.

4. Keep records

Make sure you record details of the company, the representative you are speaking to and the amount being charged. You should also ask for an order or transaction reference. Don’t forget to ask for the receipt to be sent to you.

Check the transaction against your card matches the receipt – use your banking app, don’t wait for the statement to come through.

Virtual credit cards

In addition to the safeguards mentioned above, a virtual credit card can help reduce the risk of card fraud.

You probably already have a form of virtual card if you’ve added a credit card to your phone for mobile payments. Depending on the financial institution, you can create a new credit card number linked to your physical card.

Some banks extend this functionality to allow you to generate unique card numbers and/or CVV numbers (the three digits at the back of your card). With this approach you can easily separate transactions and cancel a virtual card/number if you have any concerns.

What to do if you think your card details have been compromised or stolen?

It’s important not to panic, but quick action is essential:

• call your bank and get the card blocked so you won’t lose any more money. Depending on your situation, you can also block/cancel the card through your banking app or website

• report the issue to the police or other relevant body

• monitor your account(s) for any unusual transactions

• explore card settings in your banking app or website – many providers allow you to limit transactions based on value, restrict transaction types or enable alerts

• you may want to consider registering for credit monitoring services and to enable fraud alerts.

So, should I give my card details over the phone?

If you want to minimise risk, it’s best to avoid giving card details over the phone if you can. Providing your card details via a website still has risks, but at least it removes the human element.

The best solution currently available is to use virtual cards – if anything goes wrong you can cancel just that unique card identity, rather than your entire card.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. How risky is it to give card details over the phone and how do I reduce the chance of fraud? – https://theconversation.com/how-risky-is-it-to-give-card-details-over-the-phone-and-how-do-i-reduce-the-chance-of-fraud-216833

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Daley, Senior Lecturer, Social Equity Research Centre – RMIT University, RMIT University

Childhood trauma is taken into consideration in criminal sentencing, and is accepted as a factor that can contribute to substance abuse, mental illness and homelessness.

But many people experience traumatic childhood events and are completely fine.

That’s because not everyone who experiences trauma becomes traumatised.

So what are the differences between people who are profoundly affected by their trauma and people who appear largely unaffected by it?

Read more:
What is eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing? And can EMDR help children recover from trauma?

What is childhood trauma?

People can be traumatised by all sorts of life events, but researchers usually constrain the definition of trauma to events that are observable.

These include:

• physical, emotional or sexual abuse

• neglect

• parental abandonment

• witnessing family violence

• living with people experiencing substance use or mental illness

• the death of an immediate family member

• parental divorce

• incarceration.

These are commonly referred to as adverse childhood experiences.

Where relevant, experiences of war, forced migration or living as a refugee should be included too.

While researchers rightly spend a lot of time examining the needs of those whose lives are seemingly defined by their trauma, we know surprisingly little about those who fare better.

What we do know is that the traumatic event itself does not seem to be predictive of how impacted someone will be.

In other words, traumatic events do not cause trauma.

This sounds paradoxical, but think of it akin to alcohol misuse: most people who drink alcohol will never have a problem with alcohol. Alcohol itself does not cause alcoholism.

Traumatic events are fairly simple to define, but how people respond to them is highly individual. Being traumatised is the ongoing effects after the experience of the traumatic event.

To be traumatised is to have your own sense of safety and security damaged. This can then manifest in negative impacts on your life, such as increased anxiety, sleep disturbances, substance use, depression and so forth.

Read more:
When parents turn children into weapons, everybody loses

So why are some people traumatised when others are not?

Why some people are traumatised and others are not is determined by a multitude of factors. Some of these are highly individual.

But there is also some predictability as to who is likely to be traumatised, and this gives us some clues as to those who are likely to be doing better.

First, the response to the trauma matters. Was the child given emotional and physical safety and security after the traumatic event or was there an ambivalent or hostile response?

Being sexually abused, for instance, is compounded when you do not have a caregiver to tell, who believes you, and who acts on this information to make you safe.

Second, was this the only traumatic event the child has experienced, or was it one of many? Research shows multiple traumas do not make you more resilient, but rather are more likely to be associated with being traumatised and having lifelong health impacts.

Parental separation doesn’t necessarily lead to a traumatised child. However, divorcing parents who remain on acrimonious terms, and whose care towards the child is compromised, are compounding traumas and may well place a child at greater risk of ongoing impacts.

Third, and perhaps most important, is whether the child has a constant adult in their life who demonstrates unconditional positive regard. This is usually a parent, but it doesn’t need to be.

The presence of one constant, stable, loving adult in a child’s life is shown to be hugely protective in recovering from adverse childhood events.

Caring adults are key

Although we can generalise some things, we cannot rule out that a person will still become traumatised even with the right interventions and support in place.

There are of course some who have supportive families but experience deep ongoing trauma. It is not clear why.

It is possible to recover from trauma. But the more serious the trauma, particularly interpersonal trauma at home such as violence or neglect, the more deeply somebody’s sense of safety has been compromised, and thus the harder the damage is to repair.

Read more:
Trauma is trending – but we need to look beyond buzzwords and face its ugly side

For a child who never had a consistent caregiver to hug them each day, the effects might be impossible to ameliorate. That’s why they should be prevented.

But in the absence of being able to prevent all traumatic events, how can someone who has experienced trauma be best placed to live a happy, healthy life?

Essentially, through care. A caring adult, unconditional love and support, and a sense of belonging in their community (such as their school community) are shown in studies on both trauma and resilience to be the most consistent protective factors.

A traumatic event can change the course of a child’s life, but there are ways we can protect them against trauma’s ongoing effects.

Kathryn Daley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Why do some people who experience childhood trauma seem unaffected by it? – https://theconversation.com/why-do-some-people-who-experience-childhood-trauma-seem-unaffected-by-it-217081

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caroline Spry, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, PhD, La Trobe University

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following contains information about deceased persons, ceremonial practices, and Men’s and Women’s Business with the permission of the Gaanha-bula Action Group.

People have long used symbols (marks or characters) to communicate ideas and concepts. It is something that sets humans apart from other beings.

The oldest dated example of symbolic thinking is a 77,000-year-old carved ochre object found in South Africa. While we will never know what its symbols meant, it is a different story in Australia, where we are privileged to learn from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today about symbols made by their ancestors in the past.

One remarkable example of symbolic expression is the marara (carved trees or dendroglyphs) of Wiradjuri Country, in southeastern Australia. In a new Wiradjuri-led study, we have combined traditional cultural knowledge and archaeological methods to develop culturally and scientifically informed understanding of these sacred locations for the first time.

Our study of marara and dhabuganha is guided by the principles of the Wiradjuri philosophy Yindyamarra (cultural respect).

Carved trees and burials

Marara are trees with elaborate muyalaang (tree carvings), marking the dhabuganha (burials) of Wiradjuri men of high standing. They represent a traditional cultural practice with deep roots.

Wiradjuri people created marara by removing a large slab of bark, then intricately carving muyalaang into the fresh tree surface. Muyalaang often appear as a series of curved lines or geometric patterns like diamonds and zig-zags.

The British explorer John Oxley described marara and dhabuganha in an 1817 diary entry. Three years later, painter G.H. Evans depicted the scene, with several marara carved to face a central dhabuganha and three “mourning” seats:

The form of the whole was semi-circular. Three rows of seats occupied one half, the grave and an outer row of seats the other; the seats formed segments of circles of fifty, forty-five, and forty feet each, and were formed by the soil being trenched up from between them. The centre part of the grave was about five feet high, and about nine long, forming an oblong pointed cone.

Today, a diminishing number of marara remain. Most dhabuganha are no longer visible due to erosion and modern land-use practices.

Two burial sites

We used ground-penetrating radar at one location to non-invasively analyse and map changes in soil to refine our understanding of the resting place of a Wiradjuri man of high standing, whose dhabuganha is no longer visible today but remains marked by a marara. We created a 3D model of this marara.

Not far away, on the other side of a creek, is a fallen scarred tree reported to mark the dhabuganha of the man’s “wife”. The man’s marara and the woman’s fallen scarred tree would have faced each other when the fallen tree was still standing – perhaps as a symbol of their connection.

We also studied marara and dhabuganha at Yuranigh’s Grave, a public tourist site near Molong. Yuranigh was a Wiradjuri man of high standing who accompanied explorer Thomas Mitchell on his inland expeditions during the 19th century.

Mitchell valued Yuranigh so much that, after Yuranigh’s passing, he added a European headstone to Yuranigh’s dhabuganha, which is also surrounded by several traditionally carved marara. The headstone inscription reads:

To Native Courage Honesty and Fidelity. Yuranigh who accompanied the expedition of discovery into tropical Australia in 1846 lies buried here according to the rites of his countrymen and this spot was dedicated and enclosed by the Governor General’s authority in 1852.

A bigger cultural landscape

Despite the remarkable appearance of marara, our interviews with Wiradjuri Elders and knowledge holders make it clear that marara are not just artistic objects. They are sacred locations with specific cultural (or symbolic) meaning that is not clear without deeper understanding of Wiradjuri people and Country.

Wiradjuri Elder Uncle Neil Ingram reveals that muyalaang speak to “the different clan groups and their stories”. Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Alice Williams explains that muyalaang are “connected back to the totems” of the area. Wiradjuri Knowledge Holder James Williams states that marara show “a path from here – this life – to the next life”, between the earth and “sky world” where Baiame the Wiradjuri Creator, or Sky Spirit, lives.

Our interviews with Wiradjuri Elders and knowledge holders also highlight that marara and dhabuganha should not be understood as individual locations or isolated “sites”.

Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Alice Williams explains that “you need to open your mind and think further than what’s on the tree, and what’s in the ground, and have a look around, and see what’s there … within a bigger cultural landscape”. Marara and dhabuganha form part of a connected system of Wiradjuri lore, beliefs, traditional cultural practices and Country that involved men, women and children together.

Marara and dhabuganha encourage us to look beyond what we perceive in physical form to understand the different ways of seeing the world around us.

We have had the privilege of working together to document these sacred locations, and to shine a light on this important and fragile part of Australian history. Marara and dhabuganha tell a hidden story that is not apparent without deeper cultural understanding.

The authors wish to acknowledge this article was also written with Uncle Neil Ingram (Wiradjuri Elder), Aunty Alice Williams (Wiradjuri Elder), James Williams (Wiradjuri Knowledge Holder), Yarrawula Ngullubul Men’s Corporation, Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, Michelle Hines (Central Tablelands Local Land Services) and Tracey Potts (Central Tablelands Local Land Services).

Caroline Spry undertakes research at La Trobe University and receives research funding from La Trobe University and government.

Brian J Armstrong receives funding from the University of Melbourne and the Australian Research Council.

Greg Ingram works for the Central Tablelands Local Land Services.

Lawrence Conyers receives funding from the University of Denver.

Ian Sutherland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Carved trees and burial sites: Wiradjuri Elders share the hidden stories of _marara_ and _dhabuganha_ – https://theconversation.com/carved-trees-and-burial-sites-wiradjuri-elders-share-the-hidden-stories-of-marara-and-dhabuganha-216539

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Donald Rothwell, Professor of International Law, Australian National University

Since the February 2022 outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, there has been global debate about whether war crimes have been committed by Russian soldiers, military leaders and politicians.

Regular protests have been held in Canberra, outside the Russian embassy, where signs proclaim “Putin is a War Criminal”. Australia has also been focusing on war crimes, highlighted by the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case and the ongoing work of the Office of the Special Investigator. On March 20 it was announced that the first modern Australian war crimes charges had been laid against former SAS soldier Oliver Schulz.

The Hamas-Israel conflict has now become the next arena for possible war crimes prosecutions. Hamas atrocities against Israeli civilians on October 7 have been followed by the Israeli assault on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The 24/7 media coverage presents daily evidence of war crimes. The international community from the United Nations Secretary-General to various UN agencies and UN Special Rapporteurs have called out war crimes during the conflict against civilians, and especially children.

Political leaders from around the world have spoken of their horror at these unfolding events, and called for the release of the Israeli hostages, restraints on the use of force, humanitarian pauses, and a ceasefire. Civil society has taken to the streets, the airwaves and the internet to debate, discuss and protest these events. There have even been allegations of genocide.

Against this backdrop, there has been a continued reassertion of Israel’s right to exercise self-defence, and the need to respect international humanitarian law applicable in armed conflicts.

Will there be any accountability for war crimes committed by Hamas, and in Gaza?

How alleged war crimes can be prosecuted

One of the biggest international law projects following the second world war was the development of an international criminal justice system designed to make those responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, accountable for their actions.

The postwar Nuremburg and Tokyo trials were effectively experiments in how an international criminal justice system would work. Efforts to establish a standing global criminal court were stymied by the Cold War, but then revived following the “success” of the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

This paved the way for negotiation of the Rome Statute and the eventual establishment in 2002 of the International Criminal Court (ICC). There are now effectively two mechanisms for the modern prosecution of war crimes: national courts all over the world, or the ICC in The Hague.

Read more:
The International Criminal Court is unlikely to prosecute alleged Australian war crimes – here’s why

Israel has clear capacity to prosecute war crimes committed by Hamas, including the taking of Israeli hostages. Prosecutions could be conducted under Israeli criminal law, especially with respect to the October 7 acts of terror that resulted in the murder of numerous civilians.

A draft law seeking to reintroduce the death penalty for terrorism in Israel is currently under debate.

Members of the Israeli Defence Force are also subject to Israeli criminal law. Some have previously been prosecuted for crimes committed in the course of their duties, including acts resulting in civilian deaths, but prosecutions have been rare.

Prosecutions for war crimes committed during the Hamas-Israel conflict could even be commenced by other national courts on the basis of universal jurisdiction. While rare in modern times, states have obligations to prosecute those who have committed war crimes under the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

Internationally, war crimes prosecutions over the past 30 years have become more frequent. Between 1993 and 2017, there were 161 prosecutions by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, resulting in 89 convictions and 18 acquittals.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda operated between 1995 and 2012, during which time there were 93 prosecutions and 62 convictions. Some appeals are ongoing.

The ICC currently has 123 state parties, including Palestine. The court has issued 40 arrest warrants, and to date has recorded ten convictions and four acquittals. The highest-profile arrest warrant was issued on March 17 2023 for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia is not a party to the Rome Statue and Putin remains at large, although his capacity for international travel is constrained out of fear he could be detained by one of the court’s member states.

Given the growing international spotlight and profile of the ICC, especially during the Russia-Ukraine war, there is growing momentum for the court to prosecute war crimes arising from the Hamas-Israel conflict. This extends to the actions of Hamas fighters and leaders, Israeli soldiers, and Israel’s military and political leadership.

Prosecutions are difficult – and rare

However, war crimes prosecutions in The Hague against individuals are not easy. Evidence needs to be collected and timely witness statements taken. This often requires investigations to take place on the ground, which can be dangerous and often impossible during an ongoing conflict.

Formal prosecutions need eventually to be commenced, and the ICC must accept it has jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants. The accused then needs to be detained and brought before the court. While all of these steps generally mirror national criminal prosecutions, war crimes have an international political element and raise particular national sensitivities and emotions.

Attention has turned to whether the ICC’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, will formally seek to prosecute war crimes arising from the Hamas-Israel conflict. On November 17, Khan’s office received notification of a referral of the situation in Palestine from South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti.

This reinforces an existing referral from March 3 2021 encompassing possible war crimes committed since June 13 2014 in Gaza. While Israel does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC, Khan seems determined to investigate and eventually prosecute war crimes arising from the conflict. He visited the Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza on October 29.

Read more:
Why is accountability for alleged war crimes so hard to achieve in the Israel-Palestinian conflict?

The ICC is well resourced. Its current budget is €169 million (A$281 million) and it has more than 900 staff. Khan’s office is simultaneously investigating and prosecuting multiple war crimes from around the world, extending from Afghanistan, Kenya, Libya, Georgia to Palestine and Ukraine.

Each investigation requires detailed and thorough investigation before a prosecution can proceed, especially because of the high bar required to obtain a war crimes conviction due to being able to prove the various elements of the crime.

Decisions have to be made as to which of the most serious and grave breaches of international humanitarian law will be prosecuted. That often means decisions are taken to prosecute the most senior military and political leaders because of the clear message that sends to lower ranks that there is no impunity.

There is a growing inevitability that war crimes arising from the Gaza conflict will be prosecuted either nationally or internationally. The wheels of international justice do, however, turn slowly.

Over the past 20 years, vast improvements have been made in accountability for the perpetrators of the most egregious war crimes. Political and military leaders do not enjoy immunity from prosecution. There will eventually be international justice for the victims of war crimes and their families.

Donald Rothwell receives funding from Australian Research Council

– ref. There has been much talk of war crimes in the Israel-Gaza conflict. But will anyone actually be prosecuted? – https://theconversation.com/there-has-been-much-talk-of-war-crimes-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict-but-will-anyone-actually-be-prosecuted-217785

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University

We’re currently navigating an eighth wave of COVID infections in Australia. However the threat COVID poses to us is significantly less than it has ever been, thanks to immunity we’ve acquired through a combination of prior infection and vaccination.

That said, COVID is by no means behind us. The threat of severe illness remains higher for many people, and we’re all potentially at risk of developing long COVID.

While many people appear to be doing fewer rapid antigen tests (RATs) than they used to – if any at all – with rising cases, and as we head towards the festive season, testing continues to be important.

So what do you need to know about testing in this wave? Here are four key questions answered.

1. When should I do a RAT?

There are a few situations where determining your COVID status is important to inform your actions, particularly during an uptick in infections. With more circulating virus, your index of suspicion that you have COVID if you’re experiencing cold-like symptoms should be higher.

RATs work best when they’re used to confirm whether you have COVID when you have respiratory symptoms and are infectious. So the primary use of RATs should be to determine your COVID status when you’re sick. A positive test should prompt you to isolate, and if you’re eligible, to seek antivirals.

Read more:
With COVID surging, should I wear a mask?

Testing might also be worthwhile if you’ve come into contact with someone with COVID but you haven’t developed symptoms. If you find you have in fact contracted the virus, you can take steps to avoid spreading it to other people (you can infect others even when you’re asymptomatic). This is especially important if you’re going to be socialising in large groups or in contact with people who are vulnerable.

Another situation in which to consider testing, particularly at this time of year, is before attending large social gatherings. While the reliability of a RAT is never perfect, do the test as close to the event as possible, because your disease status can change quickly.

2. Should I test multiple times?

Yes. RATs are not as sensitive as PCR tests, which is the trade-off we make for being able to do this test at home and getting a rapid result.

This means that while if you test positive with a RAT you can be very confident you have COVID, if you test negative, you cannot be as confident that you don’t have COVID. That is, the test may give you a false negative result.

Although RATs from different manufacturers have different accuracies, all RATs approved by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration must have a sensitivity of at least 80%.

The way to increase your confidence in a negative result is to do multiple RATs serially – each negative test increases the confidence you can have that you don’t have COVID. If you have symptoms and have tested negative after your first RAT, the advice is to repeat the test after 48 hours, and potentially a third time after another 48 hours if the second test is also negative.

Read more:
When RAT-testing for COVID, should you also swab your throat?

3. Do RATs detect the latest variants?

Since RATs detect particular surface proteins on SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID), it’s theoretically possible that as the virus evolves, the reliability of these tests may be affected.

However, RATs were designed to detect a part of the virus that is not as likely to mutate, so the hope is these tests will continue to hold up as SARS-CoV-2 evolves.

The performance of RATs is continually being assessed by manufacturers. So far, there’s been no change reported in the ability of these tests to detect the latest variants.

4. Can I rely on expired RATs?

At this point in the pandemic, you might have a few expired tests at the back of your cupboard.

Technically the most appropriate advice is to say you should never use a diagnostic test past its expiry date. As a general principle the performance of a test cannot be guaranteed beyond this date. The risk is that over time the components of the RAT degrade and if you use a test that’s not working optimally, it’s more likely to indicate you don’t have COVID when you actually do, which may have consequences.

However, as for all things COVID, the answer is not so black and white. Since these tests were new when they were introduced earlier in the pandemic, manufacturers didn’t have specific data on their performance over time, and so the expiry dates given were necessarily conservative.

It’s likely these tests will work beyond the expiry dates on the packet, but just how long and how well they work is a bit of an unknown, so we need to be cautious.

The other thing to consider is ensuring you store RATs correctly. Storage instructions should be found on the packet, but the key issue is making sure they’re not exposed to extreme temperatures. In particular, high temperatures may damage the chemicals in the test which may reduce its sensitivity.

The path from here

Regular upticks in COVID cases are something we’re going to have to get used to. At these times, we should all be a bit more cautious about looking after ourselves and others as we go about our lives. What this looks like will vary for different people depending on their personal circumstances.

However, being up to date with booster vaccinations, having a plan for accessing antivirals if you’re eligible, wearing masks in high-risk settings and testing all continue to play an important role in responding to COVID.

Hassan Vally does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Should we still be using RATs to test for COVID? 4 key questions answered – https://theconversation.com/should-we-still-be-using-rats-to-test-for-covid-4-key-questions-answered-218016

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Standish, Associate Professor, Murdoch University

This is how carbon farming works. Farmers plant trees on abandoned farmland. The trees take in carbon from the atmosphere as they grow, acting as a natural sink to offset some emissions. For farmers, these carbon-storing plants pay off with carbon credits.

It sounds simple. But in recent years, the technique has come under fire over claims the approach is not delivering the carbon credits required to offset Australia’s carbon emissions.

This comes amid a broader crisis of confidence in carbon offsets and credits.

As a restoration scientist, I believe it’s good the industry gets more scrutiny. But we should not write off carbon farming. If done properly, carbon farming can also restore lost habitat and help tackle the global biodiversity crisis. As Earth loses more and more species, large-scale restoration is now essential.

We know keeping existing habitat and restoring degraded land to habitat will benefit 86% of the over 1,300 threatened species in Australia. At one well-run carbon farming initiative in southwestern Australia, for instance, we saw a rare malleefowl – a bird that is exceptionally fussy about where it lives.

Carbon farming can be a win-win – if done right

There are good and bad ways to do carbon farming. It’s wrong to claim credits for the growth of native remnant vegetation caused by rainfall, for instance, rather than regrowth after ending livestock grazing or other deliberate human intervention. It’s also wrong to claim credits for “avoided deforestation” – leaving vegetation intact when it was never intended to be cleared. We should also avoid planting trees in grasslands, which have their own set of species and should not be replaced.

Some carbon farming efforts have been run like plantations, where you plant a single fast-growing species such as blue mallee. The assumption here is monocultures like this store more carbon than a mix of species.

But we and other researchers have found this isn’t the case. Planting a diverse range of trees – like in a real forest – can store just as much carbon as monocultures.

Shrubs store less carbon than trees but play an important role in restoration. Their tangle of branches and leaves can offer safe harbour for smaller birds, for instance. Shrubs also boost projects’ resilience to drought and fire as they respond differently, which helps in recovery.

There would be no penalty to farmers for planting shrubs if the government’s planned nature repair market comes into force. Biodiverse projects could earn both carbon and biodiversity credits.

This would open the door to a win-win. Carbon-farming efforts could double as nature restoration projects, if we avoid tree monocultures and focus on restoring biodiversity while storing carbon. Australia has 13 million hectares of degraded land, meaning there’s plenty of room for restoration without taking farmland or compromising agricultural production.

Australia could benefit

As critics of carbon farming have pointed out, carbon credits from tree planting can be rubbery. But we shouldn’t tar all projects with the same brush.

In Australia, a number of companies are offering high-integrity carbon credits from biodiverse native tree planting projects, such as Carbon Positive Australia and Greening Australia.

Nature restoration is likely to become more attractive to investors because of the potential for growth in natural capital and employment.

As much as restoration is needed, so too is ongoing care such as feral animal control and leaving remnant vegetation intact.

Read more:
Australia’s central climate policy pays people to grow trees that already existed. Taxpayers – and the environment – deserve better

Climate change is, unfortunately, threatening the environmental restoration which can help reduce its effects. In dryland Australia, drought makes it harder for seedlings to survive and for trees or shrubs to grow well even once established.

While many of Australia’s native plants are tough enough to weather fires, more frequent fires make it harder to bounce back. Plants need time between fires to grow rootstock and develop seed banks.

Biodiversity matters

When we talk about biodiversity, we’re talking about the richness of life.

To date, Australia’s carbon farming efforts vary a great deal in how they protect biodiversity. Think of the difference in walking through a blue mallee or sugar gum plantation – where there are few birds or other species – compared to walking through a patch of native forest. Some carbon farms can be diverse.

Restoration efforts which attract more species will come to function more like a true native ecosystem typical of their region.

This is not to say restoration work is easy. Turning a weed-filled paddock worn down by decades of agricultural use is tough. Even native species such as kangaroos and emus can become challenges by eating seedlings.

Treating experimentation as part of practice and publicly reporting successes and failures can help the industry progress. For instance, our restoration research has found native shrubs return if given the chance – but not understorey species.

In defence of carbon farming

Carbon farming is new. While some efforts may well be aimed at gaming the system, there are many others genuinely seeking ways of using nature to store the carbon we’ve released into the atmosphere. As this new approach progresses, there will be failures. But a failure is not necessarily greenwashing.

And as Australia, like many other nations, sets ambitious restoration targets to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030, we will need to experiment, innovate, work alongside Traditional Owners and plan to be there for the long term.

We are already seeing hopeful signs restoration work does yield benefits for at least some species, such as ants and woodland birds.

Restoration can work: for us, for climate and for our species. Let’s make sure it does work.

Read more:
Here’s how to fix Australia’s approach to soil carbon credits so they really count towards our climate goals

Rachel Standish receives funding from the ARC and the Transformation in Mining Economies CRC. She has worked on Greening Australia properties but has not received funding for this work.

– ref. If we do it right, we can replant trees and shrubs to store carbon – and restore biodiversity – https://theconversation.com/if-we-do-it-right-we-can-replant-trees-and-shrubs-to-store-carbon-and-restore-biodiversity-216734

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Gundlach, Lecturer in Education, The University of Melbourne

The federal and state governments’ new “Be That Teacher” campaign aims to boost enrolments in teaching degrees by raising the status of teachers.

It uses a diverse range of real teachers talking about the real impact they can have on students’ lives. It has been praised for its authenticity, but will it be enough to meaningfully change the way we see teachers?

My new research looks at teachers in popular TV shows and films and finds they are often portrayed as losers or villains.

Why status matters

In previous research, I did a meta-analysis of almost 200 teacher retention studies. This found social approval is strongly correlated with teachers’ intention to stay in the profession.

In other words, the more respect one’s friends and family have for teaching, the more likely that teacher will want to stay in the classroom.

I also surveyed more than 900 Australian teachers (across all school years) about their career decisions. Here I also found the social status of teaching in general society played an important role in how teachers felt about their jobs.

As an English teacher with seven years’ experience explained:

It is very frustrating as a teacher being constantly misrepresented in the media. Much of the conversation is negative and condescending. This is very disheartening for teachers who work incredibly hard and withstand an enormous amount of pressure, stress and exhaustion.

The teachers on screen project

If respect for the teaching profession is lacking, where do these perspectives come from?

We know the news media is one significant component but it is not the only one. Another major source of society’s awareness and perceptions of teachers and teaching is mainstream film and television.

My project analyses the portrayal of teachers in film and television, with a focus on the characteristics of the teachers, the way they teach, and whether they stay in their school and the profession.

I have compiled a database of more than 300 teachers across more than 200 film and television series with a focus on the United States, United Kingdom and Australia over the last 25 years. My analysis so far reveals five trends.

Read more:
No wonder no one wants to be a teacher: world-first study looks at 65,000 news articles about Australian teachers

1. Losers and liars

In the 1989 film Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams plays John Keating, a hero-like teacher who inspires students to love poetry and follow their dreams.

This is the exception rather than the rule. In my study, teachers are often characterised as losers or unlikable authoritarians.

The most popular films with teachers as the main character in the last 20 years have been 2003’s School of Rock where Jack Black’s character Dewey Finn shamelessly masquerades as a teacher to try and make money, and 2011’s Bad Teacher. Here, Cameron Diaz’s Elizabeth Halsey despises her job and takes drugs.

On television, the Breaking Bad drama series features chemistry teacher Walter White (played by Brian Cranston) quitting to make more money cooking drugs.

2. Abusive and incompetent

When they are not struggling protagonists, teachers on screen are antagonistic characters. On average, teachers are unflatteringly portrayed as abusive, negligent, incompetent and loners.

For example, in the 2004 film Mean Girls Coach Carr (who is having illegal sexual relations with some of his students himself) gives a totally substandard sex education lesson.

Just don’t do it. Promise?

Another concern is the overwhelming representations of teachers assaulting, grooming or having consensual yet inappropriate relationships with their students. This includes teacher Ezra Fitz in the popular series Pretty Little Liars (2010-2017), who knowingly has sex with an underage student.

Teachers in my study who breach the Australian Teaching Standards outnumber those who do not by three to one. This includes failure to create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments, where teachers bully students or fail to prevent bullying by other students.

For example, Mr Gilbert of The Inbetweeners Movie (2011), is needlessly cruel and belligerent to the young people in his care.

3. Not diverse

Screen teachers are also predominantly single, white, middle-class women. White teachers outnumber teachers of other ethnicities by ten to one.

The Australian teaching workforce is predominantly white and does not reflect the country’s diversity. We know representation matters (“if you can’t see it, you can’t be it”) so film and TV portrayals are not helping.

One positive finding is black teachers are almost always portrayed as hero teachers, such as Denzel Washington’s teacher-coach Herman Boone in 2000’s Remember the Titans. However, less than 10% of the black teachers on screen are women. Less than 1% of teachers in the database are of Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern or another ethnicity, combined.

4. The good ones leave

My data shows that if there are good teachers, they don’t stick around. In The Simpsons, Lisa’s favourite teacher Mr Bergstrom (Dustin Hoffman) leaves her bereft with his departure. In Dead Poet’s Society, John Keating is sacked after a year.

LouAnne Johnson (Michelle Pfeiffer) is an arguably transformative teacher to a group of underprivileged kids in the 1995 film Dangerous Minds but ultimately quits by year’s end.

This sends a message that good teachers can’t survive in the system, or are better off somewhere else.

5. And they’re not necessarily that ‘good’

Many “good” teachers on the screen are depicted as “saviours”, yet they are almost always unconventional with their teaching methods.

In the previous examples, Bergstrom, Keating and Johnson exhibit questionable behaviours. This includes not teaching the prescribed curriculum, not knowing the curriculum, focusing attention on just one student, seeing students outside of school and using coercive and inappropriate rewards.

As Bergstrom tells Lisa Simpson:

I’m sorry, Lisa. It’s the life of a substitute teacher. He’s a fraud. Today he might be wearing gym shorts, tomorrow he’s speaking French or pretending to know how to run a band saw or God knows what.

A little help from Hollywood

Hollywood of course misrepresents lots of professions. But you can’t ignore the power stories on screen have in influencing behaviour.

We have seen this in Top Gun’s effect on naval recruitment and the winery film Sideways leading people to drink pinot noir at the expense of merlot.

Would more positive screen portrayals of teachers help attract and retain teachers by improving their status in society? With schools struggling to find teachers, it would certainly be another strategy worth trying.

Read more:
We won’t solve the teacher shortage until we answer these 4 questions

Hugh Gundlach does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. A new database of teachers on screen shows they are often portrayed as rule breakers, losers or villains – https://theconversation.com/a-new-database-of-teachers-on-screen-shows-they-are-often-portrayed-as-rule-breakers-losers-or-villains-217917