Inbox and Environment News: Issue 628

June 16 - 22, 2024: Issue 628

Arcus 'Roll' Clouds: Palm Beach

Photographed by Adriaan van der Wallen, June 4 2024
An arcus cloud is a low, horizontal cloud formation, usually appearing as an accessory cloud to a cumulonimbus. Roll clouds and shelf clouds are the two main types of arcus clouds. They most frequently form along the leading edge or gust fronts of thunderstorms; some of the most dramatic arcus formations mark the gust fronts of derecho-producing convective systems. Roll clouds may also arise in the absence of thunderstorms, forming along the shallow cold air currents of some sea breeze boundaries and cold fronts.

A roll cloud is a low, horizontal, tube-shaped, and relatively rare type of arcus cloud. They differ from shelf clouds by being completely detached from other cloud features. Roll clouds usually appear to be "rolling" about a horizontal axis. They are a solitary wave called a soliton, which is a wave that has a single crest and moves without changing speed or shape. This rolling is due to the variation in speed and direction of the winds with altitude (wind shear).

One of the most famous frequent occurrences is the Morning Glory cloud in Queensland, Australia, which can occur up to four out of ten days in October. One of the main causes of the Morning Glory cloud is the mesoscale circulation associated with sea breezes that develop over the Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Such coastal roll clouds have been seen in many places, including California, the English Channel, Shetland Islands, the North Sea coast, coastal regions of Australia, and Nome, Alaska.

However, similar features can be created by downdrafts from thunderstorms or advancing cold front, and are not exclusively associated with coastal regions. They have been reported at different locations inland.


Echidna Love Season Commences

It's time to slow it down on the roads! Echidnas breed from mid-June to early September in NSW, so from now on, male echidnas begin to actively seek out females to mate.

Echidnas are most active in the lead-up to their Winter mating period, so if you live in an area with lots of native bush nearby, you may have a small spiny visitor. 

Echidnas live solitary lives but in breeding season, the female is suddenly very popular and up to 10 males will start to follow her around. This courtship can last up to a month, at which time the female will make her choice from the remaining males. 

The females breed every 3-5 years – they do not have a proper pouch but the mammary glands swell up on either side of the belly when an egg develops and the egg is laid directly into it. A blind, naked puggle emerges from the egg about 10 days later. Milk is secreted through special pores on the female’s belly. Puggles are suckled in this rudimentary pouch for two or three months. When the puggle develops spines and becomes too prickly, the mother will build a nursery burrow for it.

Unlike many other native animals, Echidnas are relatively unafraid of people and can pop up in the most unexpected places.

If you see an echidna and it is NOT injured please leave it alone and DO NOT approach it and do not attempt to contain it. Never relocate any healthy echidna as it risks them losing their scent trail or leaving young unattended in the burrow. Echidnas have a type of inbuilt GPS which we don’t want to interrupt.

The best thing to do in this situation is for everyone to simply to leave the area for a period of time, allowing the echidna to make its own way. If you have a pet please keep it contained well away from the animal, and you will find that the echidna will move away as soon as it is sure it is out of danger, and feels secure.

If you do find a distressed or injured echidna over the next few months, please call Sydney Wildlife Rescue For 24/7 Emergency Rescue or Advice, Ph: 9413 4300 or WIRES on 1300 094 737.



Photo: a Mona Vale echidna. Picture courtesy Alex Tyrell

Loggers Attempting To Make Park Unviable As Koala Sanctuary

Thursday June 13, 2024
The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC), the state’s leading environmental advocacy organisation, has today released analysis showing up to 19,000 hectares of forest in the proposed Great Koala National Park is at risk of destruction by Forestry Corporation NSW before April next year. 

Forestry Corporation’s Planning Portal shows the forest compartments on the chopping block before the Great Koala National Park boundaries are finalised.

NCC has developed this interactive map to show past and planned logging in the proposed park that has been identified as home to one in five of the state’s koalas.



“Forestry Corporation have been destroying vast swathes of habitat in the proposed new park, right as it’s being assessed for inclusion,” Nature Conservation Council NSW Chief Executive Officer Jacqui Mumford said. 

"The fact is that this is some of the most important intact koala habitat in the state and it should be protected, not put on the chopping block, while decisions are made about the National Park.  

“It is untenable that so much has been destroyed, and will be destroyed in the coming year, before these areas have been assessed. 

"We don't want to see one more hectare destroyed in this park. We need to see a moratorium on logging in the proposed park now.” 

The new analysis reveals Forestry Corporation is continuing its desperate attempt to take as much timber as possible before the park is protected.  

Jacqui Mumford, Chief Executive Officer of Nature Conservation Council NSW stated: 

NSW Labor came to power more than a year ago with a key election promise – to protect koala habitat on the Mid-North Coast of NSW, and we are still yet to see it

Over the past year Forestry Corporation has continued to decimate the forests that are being considered for inclusion in the park

“This area will become a national park and we need to be protecting its values.”

Last year after sustained community pressure, Environment Minister Penny Sharpe declared a moratorium on logging within ‘Koala Hubs’, effectively protecting 5% of the proposed park.

“Leaving 95% of the proposed park vulnerable to logging is simply not good enough to ensure the survival of koalas in the wild.

“If we don't stop them, Forestry Corporation will destroy the park before it is protected.  

“This is an area that is home to one in five of the state’s surviving koalas.  

“With this species on the brink of extinction, we can’t afford another year of destruction of this key koala habitat, otherwise come 2050 we might have a Great Koala National Park without any koalas. 

“It’s long past time for the NSW Government to commit to a moratorium on logging within the proposed boundaries of the Great Koala National Park.  

“The government knows this park is going to happen. Forestry Corporation knows it’s going to happen. Allowing logging to continue is an abandonment of these forests and the reason they were identified as being worthy of protection.

“If the government is serious about ensuring koalas exist in the wild beyond 2050 then a moratorium on logging in the proposed Great Koala National Park, where a fifth of the state’s koalas live, is an urgent necessity.”

The Koalas: The Film - At The Orpheum This June

A special event screening of new documentary The Koalas followed by Q&A with filmmakers Gregory Miller and Georgia Wallace-Crabbe, joined by Greens MP Sue Higginson and Independent MP Judy Annan.

When: Thursday June 27 at 6:30pm (doors 6pm).

Background
On the East Coast Australia, where ancient forests meet the urban fringe, koalas are facing unprecedented challenges. The Koalas sheds light on a disturbing truth: the very entities entrusted with safeguarding our natural treasures are contributing to the demise of these emblematic creatures.

The Koalas takes audiences on a journey into the lives of individual koalas, led by charismatic characters - Wonnie, Bexley, Tom, Baz, Coral and adorable joeys Hope and Pala. As these stories unfold we witness the unique characteristics of koalas, their bond with their young, and the wildlife carers they come into contact with. These seven emerge as ambassadors for all koalas facing threats to their ongoing survival.

Why is the koala facing extinction when governments are announcing new strategies to protect them? Scientists identify the main culprit behind the alarming drop in koala populations is habitat loss. How is the destruction of habitat being allowed to escalate at unprecedented rates? Are environment laws so weak that they can’t protect threatened species?

In southwest Sydney, a key koala colony lies in the path of a proposed housing development - successive NSW state governments, along with the current Federal Environment Minister, have allowed this habitat to be destroyed, for developers profit. 

In Victoria, where the land was cleared earlier than in other states, translocated koalas persist in plantations, but what happens when the plantations are harvested? Where can the koalas go?

The film celebrates resilience in the face of the challenges and invites audiences to become catalysts for change. It resonates with a powerful message: if we can’t (or won’t) save this iconic native species what does it say about us and our own future?

"You’ll be charmed. You’ll be dismayed. And then I bet you’ll be as angry as hell at what’s being done to koalas in your name and in your own lifetime. But I hope you’ll act on that rage and be a part of the change that desperately needs to happen." - Tim Winton

Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace | 380 Military Road, Cremorne, NSW 2090 | Phone 02 9908 4344

Trailer: 

Previously:

Issue 627: Koala Habitat Clearing In Sydney: Happening Now

Save Sydney's Koalas: ''Both sides of Appin Rd being cleared for a multinational company to build unaffordable homes without town water or sewage, on a vital koala corridor.
This is where Labor and Liberals have landed Koalas in 2024.''
''There are still NO underpasses or overpasses in place while this is occurring.''
''This is also occurring at night - when wildlife move through these places.
''With so much land cleared on either side, and no safe passage across these places, including through, under or over the fences that have been erected, how is wildlife meant to get to its other feeding places?''

Residents comment: ''Goodbye Blinky Bill & all your mates the echidnas, quolls, wombats, goannas and heaps of birds and wildlife.  We tried, maybe not hard enough.''



Appin Development Page - Battle for Appin, May 22, 2024: ''Core Koala Habitat where mums and bubs live being cleared''
''THIS SITE DID NOT MEET CRITERIA TO BE REZONED 
Where: Macquariedale Rd APPIN

Here’s the criteria:
Projects must be in the system, be able to demonstrate public benefit through new public open spaces or affordable housing, demonstrate an ability to create jobs both during construction and once complete, and able to commence construction within six months if it’s a DA, or proceed to the DA phase within six months if it’s a rezoning.

It delivers:
NO NEW PARKS
NO AFFORDABLE HOUSING
NO JOBS AFTER CONSTRUCTION
It’s is also CORE KOALA HABITAT 
And is of NO PUBLIC BENEFIT ...''

Sydney Basin Koala Network, May 22 2024: 
''A system that allows a critically endangered forest type that forms part of an important koala corridor to be bulldozed is a broken one. ''


Machinery on site at Macquariedale Rd site, May 20 2024. Photo: Appin Development Page - Battle for Appin


The koala tree killing commences, May 20 2024. Photo: Appin Development Page - Battle for Appin

Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown, May 20, 2024 (Ricardo):  
''Wollondilly Shire Council declined it, community opposed it, but under the cover of the Covid pandemic the Coalition government approved it - they approved destruction of koala core habitat. Mums and their joeys have been sighted in and around this exact location but with not a care in the world their homes are being bulldozed - this is definitely not the right way of stopping koala extinction by 2050. 

Today I met up with Michelle from Appin Development Page - Battle for Appin to discuss this issue we love working with community pages that are in it for the right reasons I’ll tell you now Michelle is the next Erin Brockovich she’s so on top of it when it comes up to keeping the developers honest points out the issues so if you care what’s happening in Appin then like her page.''

Deceased Spotted Quoll on the Northern Road Bringelly - 3 have been hit and killed in this location in over a year.''- April 20, 2024, Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown (Ricardo)

Appin Development Page - Battle for Appin: ''Ecology reports need to be HEAVILY SCRUTINISED.
How can this have been missed?
We know they’ve (spotted quolls) been spotted in Appin. And have appeared in ecology reports completed for local mining.''


Background - Previous Reports:


June 2018 - ''The koala isn't crossing Appin road, the road is crossing koala bushland'. Image supplied

Ringtail Posses 2023

NSW Environment Movement "Losing Confidence In The EPA" Over Greater Gliders

May 27, 2024
The environment movement is losing confidence in the NSW Environment Protection Authority after a dramatic backflip on greater glider protection, described as “a roadmap to extinction for the greater glider”.

Trees with hollows occupied by the endangered species are supposed to be protected from logging by 50 metre exclusion zones.

These trees are identified by sightings of a glider entering or leaving a hollow. Gliders typically leave their hollows in the first hour after sunset. For a search to be effective it must be conducted during that window of time.

The EPA introduced a rule that searches must commence in the first hour after sunset. These searches are restricted to tracks and only cover a small fraction of the logging area. Now the EPA has backflipped and stipulated that only the first search of the night must start within 30 minutes of sunset.

Trees where a greater glider is seen on a branch but not entering or leaving a hollow will be protected with temporary 25 metre exclusion zones. A 25 metre exclusion zone is not effective protection and the wording of this new rule appears to exclude acceptance of greater glider sightings by community members.

South East Forest Rescue (SEFR) spokesperson Scott Daines said:

“This backflip smells like a dodgy deal between the EPA and Forestry Corp. How many other dodgy deals are there at the expense of our environment and threatened species. The EPA weakens the rules until the loggers are happy. We have zero confidence in Forestry Corp finding and protecting greater gliders.

World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia conservation scientist Dr Kita Ashman said:

The EPA is choosing to protect the logging industry over protecting an endangered species. There was no ambiguity about the previous protocols, they clearly stated all surveys needed to start at a time that would allow for identifying den trees – which didn’t suit Forestry Corp. Now what we have is the removal of that requirement, which means only the first survey will be of any use for identifying dens.

The research is clear that gliders typically have home ranges of 1 – 5 hectares, with the average home range about 2 to 3 hectares. If the purpose of the new 25m buffers is to protect gliders and their habitat it falls incredibly short. It provides 0.2 hectares of protection for a species that needs 2 to 3 hectares.

The buffers around gliders could have been a significant step forward if they were informed by science which suggests they need to be closer to 100m.

On one hand we have an industry that relies on cutting down trees, on the other, an endangered species whose sole requirement is trees. The EPA has updated their protocols so that the industry is not impacted - in effect giving their blessing for a fast-tracked extinction of greater gliders.

Wilderness Australia Operations Manager Andrew Wong said:
“Every time we pressure the EPA on why they’re making the choices they are, they tell us they can’t do any more than they are without a Ministerial directive. Yet when the Minister for the Environment Penny Sharpe comments, she says she can’t give the EPA a directive. So who is taking responsibility for stopping the Greater Glider from going extinct? Absolutely no one in the NSW government is stepping up.

“This outcome is in effect a roadmap to extinction for the greater glider."

“Only the community is taking responsibility, conducting our own surveys to identify greater glider habitat that must be protected under logging rules. The changes today do not acknowledge the community’s leadership role in protecting the greater glider. The EPA must clarify that community records for greater glider sightings will be accepted along with records from Forestry Corporation, and that those community records will result in the same logging exclusion zones being applied."

Nature Conservation Council NSW Chief Executive Officer Jacqui Mumford said:
“If the EPA continues to prioritise the timber industry over protecting threatened and endangered species, then the greater glider’s fate is sealed. The EPA needs to stop capitulating to Forestry Corporation NSW and do what’s needed to protect species like the greater glider that have been pushed to the brink of extinction.

“Forestry Corporation have proven time and again that they have no interest in undertaking ecological surveys that protect threatened species and their habitat.

“Forestry Corporation will always prioritise cutting down trees, so it’s essential that the EPA plays their role as the environmental watchdog and enforces effective survey rules. Again the EPA is falling short of what the greater gliders of NSW’s state forests need for their survival.”

Forest Alliance NSW spokesperson Justin Field said:
"These changes weaken protections for greater gliders pushing the species closer to extinction by undermining the likelihood that their homes will be found before logging commences. "If these new rules are to have any basis in science, the EPA should clarify that community sightings of greater gliders will be given the same weighting as forestry corporation records to provide at least some additional protection to Greater Glider habitat.

"If the EPA are not willing to do that, neither the community or the Minns Government can have confidence that the EPA can effectively regulate logging in the public interest or do its core job to protect the environment and threatened species.

"The EPA's clearly admitted in its media release that it weakened protections because Forestry Corporation claimed existing greater glider protections were undermining the state's wood supply"

"This is an admission by Forestry Corporation that it cannot deliver against its wood contracts without pushing an endangered species closer to extinction. That's an untenable long-term position which demonstrates the need for the Minns Government to move toward ending native forest logging in NSW," Justin Field said.

North East Forest Alliance spokesperson Dailan Pugh said:
“This outcome has been specifically designed to have no “material impact” on the amount of trees they cut down, though it will have a major impact on greater gliders’ homes and this species survival. The reality is that this will result in at best the protection of 5% of the home ranges of 5% of the greater gliders within a logging area.

North Coast Environment Council spokesperson Susie Russell said:

“We are devastated that once again the EPA has rolled over and allowed the Forestry Corporation to continue destroying the homes of an endangered species, the greater glider. We had hoped they might force compliance of their February rules, but no, logging is the real protected species in NSW.

National Parks Association of NSW Chief Executive Officer Gary Dunnett said:
“The NSW Government repeatedly claims that the EPA is the independent ‘cop on the beat’ responsible for holding Forestry Corporation to account. Yet today’s announcement makes it clear that, rather than get the survey methods for greater gliders right, all that they are protecting is Forestry Corporation’s wood supply quotas. If the regulator can’t get it right Environment Ministers Sharpe and Plibersek need to step in and give gliders a chance.

Review of forestry conditions and compliance: EPA
May 27 2024
The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has amended the site-specific biodiversity conditions (SSBCs) to clarify search and survey requirements and strengthen protections for greater gliders.

These changes require Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) to implement a 25-metre logging exclusion zone around any tree in which a Greater Glider is sighted during FCNSW’s search and survey. 

This is in addition to the existing exclusion zone requirement, which protects trees where Greater Glider dens have been identified. Dens are used by Greater Gliders as shelter, for sleeping during the day and raising their young.  

These amendments have been made to increase protections for other trees known to be used by Greater Gliders, where dens have not necessarily been identified but are likely to be present.  

Changes have also been made to clarify requirements for how nocturnal search and surveys must be conducted. This includes requiring search and surveys to be conducted at night, with the first transect of the search and survey commencing within 30 minutes of sunset to increase the likelihood of observing gliders leaving their dens. 

Without these amendments and clarity to search and survey requirements, FCNSW has advised the current conditions would have a material impact on the state’s wood supply.  

The February SSBCs did not reflect the shared understanding of the EPA and FCNSW that only the first part of the search and survey had to commence within the first hour of sunset. As a result, the EPA is not issuing Stop Work Orders at this time. However, we are still investigating potential non-compliances with the SSBCs.  

FCNSW has been informed of our regulatory expectations and the requirement to implement these new SSBC requirements going forward. Scheduling of current and proposed harvesting operations is a matter for FCNSW. 

We understand there is community concern for the conservation of threatened species and forests and we remain committed to fulfilling our statutory obligation to protect the environment and independently regulate all licensed industries, including native forest operations.  

We will continue to regulate FCNSW activities to ensure the rules are complied with and will regularly review these settings to ensure that they are operating as intended. 

Previously - From Issue 508, August 2021

Australia Has Failed Greater Gliders: Since They Were Listed As ‘Vulnerable’ We’ve Destroyed More Of Their Habitat

Josh Bowell Author provided
Darcy WatchornDeakin University and Kita AshmanDeakin University

In just five years, greater gliders — fluffy-eared, tree-dwelling marsupials — could go from vulnerable to endangered, because Australia’s environmental laws have failed to protect them and other threatened native species.

Our new research found that after the greater glider was listed as vulnerable to extinction under national environment law in 2016, habitat destruction actually increased in some states, driving the species closer to the brink. Now, they meet the criteria to be listed as endangered.

Despite this, the federal government has put forward a bill that would further weaken Australia’s environment laws.

If Australia wants to ditch its shameful reputation as a global extinction leader, our environmental laws must be significantly strengthened, not weakened.

Why Is The Greater Glider Losing Its Home?

At about the size of a cat, greater gliders are the largest gliding marsupial in the world, and can glide up to 100 metres through the forest canopy. They nest in the hollows of big old trees and, just like koalas, they mostly eat eucalypt leaves.

A dark morph greater glider in a patch of old growth forest in Munruben, Logan City, south of Brisbane. Josh Bowell

Greater gliders were once common throughout the forests of Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria. However, destructive practices, such as logging and urban development, have cut down the trees they call home. The rapidly warming climate and increasingly frequent and severe bushfires are also a major threat.

Together, these threats are causing the greater glider to rapidly disappear.

For our new study, we calculated the amount of greater glider habitat destroyed in the two years before the species was listed as vulnerable under Australia’s environment law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) Act. We then compared this to the amount of habitat destroyed in the two years after listing.

In Victoria, we measured the amount of habitat that was logged. In Queensland and NSW, we measured the amount of habitat cleared for all purposes, including logging, agriculture, and development projects.

What We Found

The amount of greater glider habitat logged in Victoria remained consistently high, with a total of 4,917 hectares logged before listing compared to 4,759 hectares after listing. And of all forest logged in Victoria after listing, more than 45% was mapped as greater glider habitat by the federal government, according to our research paper.

State-owned forestry company VicForests is responsible for the lion’s share of native forest logging in Victoria. The Conversation contacted VicForests to respond to the arguments in this article. A spokesperson said:

There are 3.7 million hectares of potential Greater Glider habitat in Victoria under the official habitat model. The most valuable areas of this habitat are set aside in conservation reserves that can never be harvested.

The total area harvested by VicForests in any year is around 0.04% of this total potential habitat.

A small bulldozer used for tree ‘thinning’ in Queensland, May 2017. WWF-Australia

In Queensland, habitat clearing increased by almost 300%, from a total of 3,002 hectares before listing compared to 11,838 hectares after listing. The amount of habitat cleared in NSW increased by about 5%, from a total of 15,204 hectares to 15,890 hectares.

We also quantified how much greater glider habitat was affected by the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires, and found approximately 29% of greater glider habitat was burnt. Almost 40% of this burnt at high severity, which means few gliders are likely to persist in, or rapidly return to, these areas.

As a result, earlier this year — just five years after listing — an assessment by the Threatened Species Scientific Committee found the greater glider is potentially eligible for up-listing from vulnerable to endangered.

A greater glider found in burnt bushland, Meroo National Park, NSW, December 2019. George Lemann, WWF-Australia

Why Was Habitat Allowed To Be Cleared?

Development projects can take decades to be implemented after they’ve been approved under the EPBC Act. Therefore, a lot of the habitat cleared in NSW and Queensland was likely to have been approved before the greater glider was listed as vulnerable, and before the 2019-2020 bushfires.

Once a project is approved, it is not reassessed, even if a species becomes vulnerable and a wildfire burns much of its habitat.

This means the impact of clearing native vegetation can be far greater than when initially approved. It also means it can take many years after a species is listed until its habitat is finally safe.

This young greater glider was displaced by clearing near Chinchilla on the Darling Downs, Queensland. It was rescued by a fauna spotter/catcher who was present. Briano, WWF-Australia

In Victoria and parts of NSW, the forestry industry is allowed to log greater glider habitat under “regional forest agreements”. These agreements allow logging to operate under a special set of rules that bypasses federal environmental scrutiny under the EPBC Act.

The logging industry is required to comply only with state regulations for threatened species protection, which are are often inadequate.


Read more: A major report excoriated Australia's environment laws. Sussan Ley's response is confused and risky


In 2019, the Victorian government updated the protection measures for greater gliders in logged forests. However, these still allow logging of up to 60% of a forested area authorised for harvest, even when greater gliders are present at high densities.

The spokesperson for VicForests said the company prioritises live, hollow-bearing trees wherever there are five or more greater gliders per spotlight kilometre (a 1 kilometre stretch of forest surveyed with torches). But this level of protection is limited and is unlikely to halt greater glider decline, as the species is highly sensitive to disturbance.

Recently logged native forest from the Central Highlands, Victoria. Darcy Watchorn

In May 2020 the Federal Court found VicForests breached state environmental laws when they failed to implement protection measures and destroyed critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum and greater glider habitat.

Despite this, earlier this year, the Federal Court upheld an appeal by VicForests to retain their exemption from the EPBC Act. This ruling means VicForests will not be held accountable for destroying threatened species habitat, even when it is found in breach of state requirements.


Read more: A Victorian logging company just won a controversial court appeal. Here’s what it means for forest wildlife


The spokesperson for VicForests said the company takes sustainable harvesting seriously.

VicForests operations are subject to Victorian laws, and enforced by the Office of the Conservation Regulator (OCR) and Victorian courts when necessary. The recent federal court appeal decision has not changed that fact.

They add that VicForests surveys show greater gliders continue to persist in recently harvested areas, under its current practices.

VicForests has not seen any evidence that even a single Greater Glider has died as a result of our new harvesting approach.

The Government Isn’t Learning Its Lesson

The EPBC Act is currently undergoing a once in a decade assessment that considers how well it’s operating, with a recent independent review criticising the EPBC Act for no longer being fit for purpose. Our new research reinforces this, by showing the act has failed to protect one of Australia’s most iconic and unique animals.

And yet, the federal government wants to weaken the act further by implementing a streamlined model, which would rely on state governments to approve actions that would impact threatened species.

There’s a raft of reasons why this would be problematic.


Read more: Death by 775 cuts: how conservation law is failing the black-throated finch


For one, state environmental laws operate independently, and don’t consider what developments have been approved in other states. Cutting down trees may seem insignificant in certain areas, but without considering the broader impacts, many small losses can accumulate into massive declines, like a death by a thousand cuts.

As a case in point, despite the devastation of greater glider habitat from the Black Summer fires in NSW, the Queensland government have recently approved a new coal mine, which will destroy over 5,500 hectares of greater glider and koala habitat.

What Needs To Change?

The greater glider is edging towards extinction, but there is still no recovery plan for this iconic marsupial. Adding to this, new research suggests there are actually three species of greater glider we could be losing, rather than just one as was previously thought. Significant effort must be invested to create a clear plan for their recovery.

Because Australia has such a rich diversity of wildlife, we have a great responsibility to protect it. Australia must make important changes now to strengthen — not weaken — its environmental laws, before greater gliders, and many other species, are gone forever.The Conversation

Darcy Watchorn, PhD Candidate, Deakin University and Kita Ashman, Threatened Species & Climate Adaptation Ecologist, Deakin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

North Mackerel Track Closed And Mackerel Trail Closed

North Mackerel track is permanently closed due to a potential risk of rockfalls and unstable cliff edges in the Great Mackerel Beach area.
The only designated land access to or from Great Mackerel Beach is via Mackerel track to the north, which intersects with Resolute track.
Due to land instability and risk to personal safety, there is no through or return access to or from the following places:
  • The south end of Great Mackerel Beach via The Basin or Mackerel trail
  • The west of Great Mackerel Beach via North Mackerel track, which is closed.
Please be aware of the risks associated with visiting natural areas, including rock falls, unstable edges, falling branches and interactions with wildlife.
For more information, contact the local NPWS office. Began: Thu 15 Dec 2022, 4.29pm. Last reviewed: Mon 27 May 2024, 4.47pm.





Closed Areas: Access Track To West Head Beach Closed

The access track which leads from Resolute track to West Head beach is closed from Thursday 11 April 2024 until further notice due to major storm damage.
Penalties apply for non-compliance. For more information, contact the local NPWS office.


Save Manly Dam Bushland: Pollution Incident Update

From SMDB, June 6 2024: ''A quick update - thanks to community pressure, at our last Council meeting Councillors voted unanimously to continue pressuring the state government and Department of Fisheries to address the pollution incident into Manly Dam from the construction site for the new Forest School at Allambie Heights specifically with regard to addressing the impact of this incident on aquatic wildlife in the dam, with council now calling upon NSW Fisheries to set short medium and long term plans for the recovery of the Climbing Galaxia fish at Manly Dam. Whether this species has survived the pollution incident is sadly not yet known.''



Join Australian Wildlife Conservancy Webinar: Bridled Nailtail Wallabies – Back From Extinction 

In the next AWC Wildlife Matters webinar they’ll be speaking with Dr Rachel Ladd, Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) ecologist who is leading a major translocation of the endangered Bridled Nailtail Wallaby back to safe havens in New South Wales. This beautiful, small wallaby was thought to be extinct until an unlikely rediscovery in 1973 gave it a second chance at survival. Today, AWC is leading efforts to rebuild several thriving populations, with a focus on healthy genetic diversity.

Wednesday 19 June
12:00 PM (QLD, NSW, ACT, VIC, TAS)
11:30 AM (SA, NT)
10:00 AM (WA) 

You will receive an email confirming your registration, including a link to join on the day. If you can't make it to the webinar, the recording will be uploaded to the AWC YouTube channel shortly afterwards. Photo: Bridled Nailtail Wallaby/AWC.


Northern Beaches Clean Up Crew June 2024 Clean: Warriewood/North Narrabeen

When: Sunday June 30 2024 from 10am to 11:45am
Where: Meet near 110 Garden Street, Narrabeen
Come and join us for our North Narrabeen/Warriewood clean up. We'll meet in the grass area, close to 110 Garden Street, Narrabeen, between Natuna Street and The Crescent. For exact meeting point look at the map in the event discussion. We have clean and washed gloves, bags and buckets. We'll clean up the grass area to try and catch the litter before it hits the creek, trying to remove as much plastic, cigarette butts and rubbish as possible. 

We're a friendly group of people and everyone is welcome to this family friendly event (just leave political, religious and business messages at home so everyone feel welcome). It's a nice community - make some new friends and do a good deed for the planet at the same time. Send us a message if you are lost. No booking required - just show up with a smile. Please invite family and friends and share this event. Lovely Roly from Emu Parade Clean Up will be joining us too, providing volunteers with coffee, tea and hot chocolate.

We meet at 10am for a briefing. Then we generally clean between 60-90 minutes. After that, we bag the rubbish. We normally finish around 12.00 when many of us go to lunch together (at own cost). Please note, we completely understand if you cannot stay for the whole event. We are just grateful for any help we can get. No booking required. Just show up on the day. We just kindly ask you to leave political and religious t-shirts and messages at home, so everyone feels welcome. Thank you.



Muogamarra Nature Reserve Open Season: Bookings Now Available

by: NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service 
Bookings are now open for guided and self-guided tours of spectacular Muogamarra Nature Reserve during its strictly limited open season.

Experience blooming spring wildflowers and enjoy stunning views over the Hawkesbury in the special area, just north of Sydney, near Cowan. This year, the unique haven celebrates 90 years since it was established. 

The reserve is open for just 6 weeks each year to protect its fragile ecosystem and Aboriginal heritage, honouring the original intention of founder John D. Tipper.  

The only way to view the reserve is via a guided or self-guided tour, with tours available from August 17 – September 22 on selected days. Be sure to book quickly and not miss out.
For more details and to book visit nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/muogamarra
Photos; P. Goldie/DCCEEW, J. Spencer/DCCEEW





Have Your Say: Pest Animal Management Plans For NSW

Closes Monday 8 July 2024.
The NSW Government are asking landholders and the community to provide feedback on the draft 2024-2028 Regional Strategic Pest Animal Management Plans for 11 regions across NSW.

The plans aim to reduce the social, environmental and financial impact of pest animals in NSW and inform landowners on how to prevent the spread of new invasive species.

Tell them what you think
The Government states it has recently updated plans to reflect local community needs but they also want to hear from you.
Have your say on the pest animals that are priority in your region to ensure the plans reflect your needs and expectations.

Greater Sydney Strategic Pest Animal Management Plan.
The Government states the Greater Sydney Regional Strategic Pest Animal Management Plan 2024-2028 was developed through consultation with a range of stakeholders.

All landowners/occupiers are responsible for managing pest animals on their land. In this regard, all public and private land managers are the target audience of the plan.

The plan covers 7 established pest species such as feral deer, feral pigs and wild rabbits. It also highlights 'alert species' which are pests that have been detected elsewhere yet pose a significant risk to the community and industries in the Greater Sydney region of NSW.



cane toad found on the Central Coast a few years ago - image supplied

Sails To Shelter: 2024

Do you have aging sails or sails you no longer need? RPAYC is supporting Bambak, a new business repurposing retired sails from ending up in landfills through their Sail-to-Shelter program in Vanuatu. They repurpose recycled sails to build shelters and household goods in Vanuatu and Australia, promoting community well-being and environmental health.
On the weekend of 20-21 July, a special drop-off bin will be on-site at RPAYC. 

Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club - RPAYC
16 Mitala Street, Newport


Murrumbidgee Regional Water Strategy: Have Your Say

Consultation period
From: 22 May 2024
To: 14 July 2024
NSW Government is seeking feedback on the draft Murrumbidgee Regional Water Strategy including the shortlist of proposed actions.
The NSW Government states it is taking action to improve the resilience of water resources in the Murrumbidgee region.

''The draft Murrumbidgee Regional Water Strategy sets out a shortlist of proposed actions to help deliver healthy and resilient water resources for a liveable and prosperous region.''

Community feedback is being sought on the draft Murrumbidgee Regional Water Strategy, including the shortlist of proposed actions, from 22 May until 14 July 2024.

Attend a webinar
Find out more about the proposed changes by attending a webinar.

Webinar 1
Date: Wednesday 12 June 2024
Time: 5pm to 6:30pm

Webinar 2
Date: Friday 14 June 2024
Time: 12pm to 1:30pm

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water staff will provide an update on the draft Murrumbidgee Regional Water Strategy, including the short list of proposed actions, and answer your questions.  

You are also invited to complete an online submission.
To access the submission form, register for an event, and read more about the strategy visit the consultation website at: https://water.dpie.nsw.gov.au/our-work/plans-and-strategies/regional-water-strategies/public-exhibition/murrumbidgee


Priority 1 : Continue to improve water management
Priority 2 : Improve river and catchment health
Priority 3; Support sustainable economies and communities
Priority 4: Sustainable water management in the upper Murrumbidgee catchment


Have your say
Have your say by Sunday 14 July 2024.

You can provide feedback in 7 ways, via an Online Consultation or at one of 6 Community Meetings


Murrumbidgee River at Wagga Wagga, October 2003. Photo: Bidgee

Draft NSW Murray Regional Water Strategy: Have Your Say

Consultation period
From: 22 May 2024
To: 14 July 2024
The NSW Government is seeking feedback on the draft NSW Murray Regional Water Strategy including the shortlist of proposed actions.

Attend a webinar
Find out more about the proposed changes by attending a webinar.

Webinar 1
Date: Wednesday 12 June 2024
Time: 5pm to 6:30pm

Webinar 2
Date: Friday 14 June 2024
Time: 12pm to 1:30pm

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water staff will provide an update on the draft Murray Regional Water Strategy, including the short list of proposed actions, and answer your questions.

You are also invited to complete an online submission.
To access the submission form, register for an event, and read more about the strategy visit the consultation website.

Priority 1: Continue to improve water management
Priority 2: Improve river and catchment health
Priority 3: Support sustainable economies and communities

Proposed shortlisted actions: 

Have your say
Have your say by Sunday 14 July 2024.
You can provide feedback in 7 ways.

An Online consultation or at one of 6 Community meetings




The confluence of the Murray River and Murrumbidgee River near the town of Boundary Bend. Photo: Scott Davis

Murray Valley Floodplain Management Plan: Have Your Say

Consultation period
From: 20 May 2024
To: 30 June 2024
The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is seeking feedback to inform a new Murray Valley Floodplain Management Plan.
The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is developing a new floodplain management plan for the central Murray Valley Floodplain.

Floodplain management plans set the rules for flood work development on floodplains in rural areas.

The rules specify what types of flood work people can construct and where they can do it.

Stage 1 public consultation allows the community to give early feedback on key elements for preparing the draft plan, including:
  • the proposed floodplain boundary
  • the historical flood events used for modelling
  • the floodway network
  • cultural and heritage sites
  • ecological assets, and
  • local variances to some rules.
To assist you in understanding the key elements proposed and how to make a submission, please read the Report to assist Stage 1 public consultation.

One-on-one appointments
You are invited to book a 40-minute, one-on-one appointment with departmental staff to learn more:
  • Moama, Wednesday 5 June
  • Deniliquin, Thursday 6 June
  • Barham, Wednesday 12 June
  • Moulamein, Thursday 13 June.
Online appointments
Online appointments are also available on 3, 4, 11 and 17 June. 

Online appointments are 30-minutes.

Find out more and book an appointment for the Murray Valley Floodplain Management Plan consultation.

Note: all submissions will be made public on the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s website unless clearly marked confidential. You can ask that your submission be anonymous.

Have your say
Have your say by Sunday 30 June 2024.

There are 3 ways to have your say.
  1. Survey
  2. Email: floodplain.planning@dpie.nsw.gov.au
  3. Formal submission: Postal Address: Murray Valley FMP, Water Group - NSW DCCEEW, PO BOX 189, Queanbeyan, NSW 2620.
To assist you in understanding the key elements proposed and how to make a submission, please:

Plastic Bread Ties For Wheelchairs

The Berry Collective at 1691 Pittwater Rd, Mona Vale collects them for Oz Bread Tags for Wheelchairs, who recycle the plastic.

Berry Collective is the practice on the left side of the road as you head north, a few blocks before Mona Vale shops . They have parking. Enter the foyer and there's a small bin on a table where you drop your bread ties - very easy.

A full list of Aussie bread tags for wheelchairs is available at: HERE 


Volunteers For Barrenjoey Lighthouse Tours Needed

Details:

Stay Safe From Mosquitoes 

NSW Health is reminding people to protect themselves from mosquitoes when they are out and about this summer.

NSW Health’s Acting Director of Environmental Health, Paul Byleveld, said with more people spending time outdoors, it was important to take steps to reduce mosquito bite risk.

“Mosquitoes thrive in wet, warm conditions like those that much of NSW is experiencing,” Byleveld said.

“Mosquitoes in NSW can carry viruses such as Japanese encephalitis (JE), Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE), Kunjin, Ross River and Barmah Forest. The viruses may cause serious diseases with symptoms ranging from tiredness, rash, headache and sore and swollen joints to rare but severe symptoms of seizures and loss of consciousness.

“People should take extra care to protect themselves against mosquito bites and mosquito-borne disease, particularly after the detection of JE in a sentinel chicken in Far Western NSW.

The NSW Health sentinel chicken program provides early warning about the presence of serious mosquito borne diseases, like JE. Routine testing in late December revealed a positive result for JE in a sample from Menindee. 

A free vaccine to protect against JE infection is available to those at highest risk in NSW and people can check their eligibility at NSW Health.

People are encouraged to take actions to prevent mosquito bites and reduce the risk of acquiring a mosquito-borne virus by:
  • Applying repellent to exposed skin. Use repellents that contain DEET, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Check the label for reapplication times.
  • Re-applying repellent regularly, particularly after swimming. Be sure to apply sunscreen first and then apply repellent.
  • Wearing light, loose-fitting long-sleeve shirts, long pants and covered footwear and socks.
  • Avoiding going outdoors during peak mosquito times, especially at dawn and dusk.
  • Using insecticide sprays, vapour dispensing units and mosquito coils to repel mosquitoes (mosquito coils should only be used outdoors in well-ventilated areas)
  • Covering windows and doors with insect screens and checking there are no gaps.
  • Removing items that may collect water such as old tyres and empty pots from around your home to reduce the places where mosquitoes can breed.
  • Using repellents that are safe for children. Most skin repellents are safe for use on children aged three months and older. Always check the label for instructions. Protecting infants aged less than three months by using an infant carrier draped with mosquito netting, secured along the edges.
  • While camping, use a tent that has fly screens to prevent mosquitoes entering or sleep under a mosquito net.
Remember, Spray Up – Cover Up – Screen Up to protect from mosquito bite. For more information go to NSW Health.

Mountain Bike Incidents On Public Land: Survey

This survey aims to document mountain bike related incidents on public land, available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K88PSNP

Sent in by Pittwater resident Academic for future report- study. The survey will run for 12 months and close in November 2024.

Report Fox Sightings

Fox sightings, signs of fox activity, den locations and attacks on native or domestic animals can be reported into FoxScan. FoxScan is a free resource for residents, community groups, local Councils, and other land managers to record and report fox sightings and control activities. 

Our Council's Invasive species Team receives an alert when an entry is made into FoxScan.  The information in FoxScan will assist with planning fox control activities and to notify the community when and where foxes are active.



Marine Wildlife Rescue Group On The Central Coast

A new wildlife group was launched on the Central Coast on Saturday, December 10, 2022.

Marine Wildlife Rescue Central Coast (MWRCC) had its official launch at The Entrance Boat Shed at 10am.

The group comprises current and former members of ASTR, ORRCA, Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace, WIRES and Wildlife ARC, as well as vets, academics, and people from all walks of life.

Well known marine wildlife advocate and activist Cathy Gilmore is spearheading the organisation.

“We believe that it is time the Central Coast looked after its own marine wildlife, and not be under the control or directed by groups that aren’t based locally,” Gilmore said.

“We have the local knowledge and are set up to respond and help injured animals more quickly.

“This also means that donations and money fundraised will go directly into helping our local marine creatures, and not get tied up elsewhere in the state.”

The organisation plans to have rehabilitation facilities and rescue kits placed in strategic locations around the region.

MWRCC will also be in touch with Indigenous groups to learn the traditional importance of the local marine environment and its inhabitants.

“We want to work with these groups and share knowledge between us,” Gilmore said.

“This is an opportunity to help save and protect our local marine wildlife, so if you have passion and commitment, then you are more than welcome to join us.”

Marine Wildlife Rescue Central Coast has a Facebook page where you may contact members. Visit: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076317431064


Watch Out - Shorebirds About

Summer is here so watch your step because beach-nesting and estuary-nesting birds have started setting up home on our shores.
Did you know that Careel Bay and other spots throughout our area are part of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP)?

This flyway, and all of the stopping points along its way, are vital to ensure the survival of these Spring and Summer visitors. This is where they rest and feed on their journeys.  For example, did you know that the bar-tailed godwit flies for 239 hours for 8,108 miles from Alaska to Australia?

Not only that, Shorebirds such as endangered oystercatchers and little terns lay their eggs in shallow scraped-out nests in the sand, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Threatened Species officer Ms Katherine Howard has said.
Even our regular residents such as seagulls are currently nesting to bear young.

What can you do to help them?
Known nest sites may be indicated by fencing or signs. The whole community can help protect shorebirds by keeping out of nesting areas marked by signs or fences and only taking your dog to designated dog offleash area. 

Just remember WE are visitors to these areas. These birds LIVE there. This is their home.

Four simple steps to help keep beach-nesting birds safe:
1. Look out for bird nesting signs or fenced-off nesting areas on the beach, stay well clear of these areas and give the parent birds plenty of space.
2. Walk your dogs in designated dog-friendly areas only and always keep them on a leash over summer.
3. Stay out of nesting areas and follow all local rules.
4. Chicks are mobile and don't necessarily stay within fenced nesting areas. When you're near a nesting area, stick to the wet sand to avoid accidentally stepping on a chick.


Possums In Your Roof?: Do The Right Thing

Possums in your roof? Please do the right thing 
On the weekend, one of our volunteers noticed a driver pull up, get out of their vehicle, open the boot, remove a trap and attempt to dump a possum on a bush track. Fortunately, our member intervened and saved the beautiful female brushtail and the baby in her pouch from certain death. 

It is illegal to relocate a trapped possum more than 150 metres from the point of capture and substantial penalties apply.  Urbanised possums are highly territorial and do not fare well in unfamiliar bushland. In fact, they may starve to death or be taken by predators.

While Sydney Wildlife Rescue does not provide a service to remove possums from your roof, we do offer this advice:

✅ Call us on (02) 9413 4300 and we will refer you to a reliable and trusted licenced contractor in the Sydney metropolitan area. For a small fee they will remove the possum, seal the entry to your roof and provide a suitable home for the possum - a box for a brushtail or drey for a ringtail.
✅ Do-it-yourself by following this advice from the Department of Planning and Environment: 

❌ Do not under any circumstances relocate a possum more than 150 metres from the capture site.
Thank you for caring and doing the right thing.



Sydney Wildlife photos

Aviaries + Possum Release Sites Needed

Pittwater Online News has interviewed Lynette Millett OAM (WIRES Northern Beaches Branch) needs more bird cages of all sizes for keeping the current huge amount of baby wildlife in care safe or 'homed' while they are healed/allowed to grow bigger to the point where they may be released back into their own home. 

If you have an aviary or large bird cage you are getting rid of or don't need anymore, please email via the link provided above. There is also a pressing need for release sites for brushtail possums - a species that is very territorial and where release into a site already lived in by one possum can result in serious problems and injury. 

If you have a decent backyard and can help out, Lyn and husband Dave can supply you with a simple drey for a nest and food for their first weeks of adjustment.

Bushcare In Pittwater: Where + When

For further information or to confirm the meeting details for below groups, please contact Council's Bushcare Officer on 9970 1367 or visit Council's bushcare webpage to find out how you can get involved.

BUSHCARE SCHEDULES 
Where we work                      Which day                              What time 

Avalon     
Angophora Reserve             3rd Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 
Avalon Dunes                        1st Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 
Avalon Golf Course              2nd Wednesday                 3 - 5:30pm 
Careel Creek                         4th Saturday                      8:30 - 11:30am 
Toongari Reserve                 3rd Saturday                      9 - 12noon (8 - 11am in summer) 
Bangalley Headland            2nd Sunday                         9 to 12noon 
Catalpa Reserve              4th Sunday of the month        8.30 – 11.30
Palmgrove Park              1st Saturday of the month        9.00 – 12 

Bayview     
Winnererremy Bay                 4th Sunday                        9 to 12noon 

Bilgola     
North Bilgola Beach              3rd Monday                        9 - 12noon 
Algona Reserve                     1st Saturday                       9 - 12noon 
Plateau Park                          1st Friday                            8:30 - 11:30am 

Church Point     
Browns Bay Reserve             1st Tuesday                        9 - 12noon 
McCarrs Creek Reserve       Contact Bushcare Officer     To be confirmed 

Clareville     
Old Wharf Reserve                 3rd Saturday                      8 - 11am 

Elanora     
Kundibah Reserve                   4th Sunday                       8:30 - 11:30am 

Mona Vale     
Mona Vale Beach Basin          1st Saturday                    8 - 11am 
Mona Vale Dunes                     2nd Saturday +3rd Thursday     8:30 - 11:30am 

Newport     
Bungan Beach                          4th Sunday                      9 - 12noon 
Crescent Reserve                    3rd Sunday                      9 - 12noon 
North Newport Beach              4th Saturday                    8:30 - 11:30am 
Porter Reserve                          2nd Saturday                  8 - 11am 

North Narrabeen     
Irrawong Reserve                     2nd Saturday                   2 - 5pm 

Palm Beach     
North Palm Beach Dunes      3rd Saturday                    9 - 12noon 

Scotland Island     
Catherine Park                          2nd Sunday                     10 - 12:30pm 
Elizabeth Park                           1st Saturday                      9 - 12noon 
Pathilda Reserve                      3rd Saturday                      9 - 12noon 

Warriewood     
Warriewood Wetlands             1st Sunday                         8:30 - 11:30am 

Whale Beach     
Norma Park                               1st Friday                            9 - 12noon 

Western Foreshores     
Coopers Point, Elvina Bay      2nd Sunday                        10 - 1pm 
Rocky Point, Elvina Bay           1st Monday                          9 - 12noon

Friends Of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment Activities

Bush Regeneration - Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment  
This is a wonderful way to become connected to nature and contribute to the health of the environment.  Over the weeks and months you can see positive changes as you give native species a better chance to thrive.  Wildlife appreciate the improvement in their habitat.

Belrose area - Thursday mornings 
Belrose area - Weekend mornings by arrangement
Contact: Phone or text Conny Harris on 0432 643 295

Wheeler Creek - Wednesday mornings 9-11am
Contact: Phone or text Judith Bennett on 0402 974 105
Or email: Friends of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment : email@narrabeenlagoon.org.au

Gardens And Environment Groups And Organisations In Pittwater


Ringtail Posses 2023

Ending native forest logging would help Australia’s climate goals much more than planting trees

FiledIMAGE/Shutterstock
Kate DooleyThe University of Melbourne

Australia contains some of the world’s most biologically diverse and carbon-dense native forests. Eucalypts in wet temperate forests are the tallest flowering plants in the world and home to an array of unique tree-dwelling marsupials, rare birds, insects, mosses, fungi and lichen, many of which have not even been catalogued by scientists. Yet our country remains in the top ten list globally for tree cover loss, with almost half of the original forested areas in eastern Australia cleared.

This loss has been devastating for Australia’s native plants and animals and contributes to global warming through vast amounts of carbon emissions. The global biodiversity and climate change crises are inextricably linked – we cannot solve one without the other.

Earth’s ecosystems, such as forests, coastal wetlands and tundra, contain enormous amounts of carbon. But deforestation and degradation by humans is likely to send global warming past 1.5°C, even if we achieve net-zero fossil fuel emissions. Protecting native forests is a critical way to prevent emissions, which must be achieved in parallel with a rapid transition to clean energy.

What is being overlooked in current international climate policy under the Paris Agreement is the crucial role of biodiversity in maintaining healthy ecosystems and their integrity, which keeps carbon stored in forests, not the atmosphere. Healthy ecosystems are more stable and resilient, with a lower risk of trees dying and lower rates of carbon emissions.

The way we currently count carbon stores risk creating incentives to plant new trees rather than protect existing forests. Yet old-growth forests store vastly more carbon than young saplings, which will take decades or even centuries to reach the same size.

On January 1 this year, both Victoria and Western Australia ended native forest logging in state forests. This is a good start. But the rest of Australia is still logging native forests. Extensive land clearing continues for agriculture and urban development, as well as native forest harvesting on private land.

Two States Down, More To Go

The end of native timber logging in two states is a chance for new approaches to our forests, which recognise the contribution of biodiversity to healthy forest ecosystems, as well as endangered species protection and clean water supplies.

Ending native forest logging isn’t entirely simple. In Victoria, consultation on the future of state forests is ongoing. The Victorian Environmental Assessment Council is due to release its final recommendations in July.

The Victorian government has also put in place a Forestry Transition Program to help forest contractors find alternative work in forest and land management. Some of these transition programs are proving controversial.

In Western Australia, around 2.5 million hectares of the state’s south-west forests will be protected under a new Forest Management Plan. Protection of these landscapes is critical, as they have been hit by another die-back event due to drought and record heat.

These forests hold significant cultural and ecological value. Known in Noongar as “djarilmari”, they are vital habitats for diverse plants and animals, including endemic species such as the ngwayir (western ringtail possum) and the giant jarrah trees.

What About Other States And Territories?

In New South Wales, the government is looking into proposals for a Great Koala National Park, which would bring together state forests from the Clarence Valley to south of Coffs Harbour. But with no decision yet made, logging continues along both the north and south coasts, which were also hard hit by the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20.

In Tasmania, native forest logging fell sharply between 2012 and 2019. This cut emissions by around 22 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, equivalent to almost a quarter of Australia’s transport emissions.

Recent policy changes protecting giant trees will help protect some patches of forests. But native forest logging is set to expand in other areas, including clear felling of old-growth rainforest and tall wet eucalypt forest.

Native forest logging is slated to end in 70,000 hectares of south-east Queensland state forests at the end of this year, under a longstanding Native Timber Action Plan. But logging and widespread land clearing continues elsewhere in the state, ensuring Australia’s place in the top 10 deforestation hotspots.

karri forest
Old forests such as this karri forest in Western Australia hold much more carbon than newly established forests. Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock

Can Ending Native Forest Logging Help The Climate?

We’ll need to go further and ban logging in all native forests in Australia to help meet our net-zero emissions target, while meeting timber demand from better-managed and increased plantations.

Stopping native forest logging avoids the emissions released when forests are cut and burned. It would also allow continued forest growth and regrowth of previously logged areas, which draws down carbon from the atmosphere and increases the amount held in the forest ecosystem.

The natural biodiversity of our native forests makes them more resilient to external disturbances such as climate change. These forests have larger and more stable carbon stocks than logged areas, newly planted forests and plantations.

If we compare forests protected for conservation with those harvested for commodity production in the Victorian Central Highlands, research shows conservation delivers the greatest climate benefits through continued forest growth and accumulating carbon stocks.

There are growing calls to create the Great Forests National Park to the north and east of Melbourne, which would protect a further 355,000 hectares and more than double protected forests in the Central Highlands.

Net Zero: Deep, Rapid, Sustained Cuts Needed

The world’s nations are aiming to reach “net zero” by mid-century. Meeting this target will require deep and rapid cuts in carbon dioxide emissions as well as pulling carbon out of the atmosphere into land sinks, especially forests.

The land sector is unique in that it can be both a source (logging, agriculture) and a sink (forest regrowth, for instance) for carbon. The natural way forests take up carbon can be increased through natural regrowth or plantations.

Unfortunately, the current approach, based on IPCC guidelines, to counting this type of natural carbon storage can lead to perverse outcomes.

The carbon sink from forest regrowth only counts towards the “removals” part of net zero when it results from changes we make, such as ending native forest logging. It doesn’t count if it’s regrowth after a natural event such as a bushfire. It’s important to count only human-induced changes in our climate targets.

Tree planting, on the other hand, can be counted towards net-zero targets, despite the fact that newly planted trees will take centuries to sequester as much carbon as found in an old-growth forest.

This type of accounting – known as flow-based accounting – can mean a premium is placed on planting and maintaining young forests with high carbon uptake rates, overlooking the substantial benefits of protecting larger trees in native forests.

That is, this approach favours carbon sequestration (the process of taking carbon out of the atmosphere and storing it in wood) over carbon storage (the total carbon stocks already contained in a forest).

comprehensive approach to forest carbon accounting would recognise both flows of carbon (as sequestration) and carbon stocks (as storage) contribute to the benefits that native forests offer for reducing emissions.

Revegetation in forest
Replanting trees is good – but protecting existing forests is better. Janelle Lugge/Shutterstock

Carbon Accounting Needs More Clarity

This becomes a problem when forests and fossil fuels are included in a net accounting framework, such as the one used in Australia’s national greenhouse gas inventory.

In net accounts, emissions (from fossil fuel and land sectors) within a year are added to removals, which includes the sequestration of carbon into forests and other ecosystems.

Because this type of accounting only counts the flows of carbon – not existing stocks – it omits the climate benefits of protecting existing forests, whose stored carbon dwarfs the amount Australia emits from fossil fuels each year.

But if we separated out targets for the fossil fuel and land sectors, we could properly treat forest carbon stocks as an asset, giving us incentives to protect them.

Another problem with net accounting is it treats all carbon as equivalent, meaning a tonne of carbon sequestered in trees compensates for a tonne of carbon from burned fossil fuels. This has no scientific basis. Carbon dioxide emissions are effectively permanent, as the buried carbon we dig up and burn stays in the atmosphere for millennia, while carbon in trees is temporary in comparison.

As trees grow, their carbon storage compensates for earlier logging and clearing emissions, which is an important climate benefit. But we’re not comparing apples and apples – forest carbon doesn’t compensate for fossil fuel emissions.

Logging Bans Are Important – But No Substitute For Ending Oil And Gas

While ending the clearing and logging of native vegetation is vital for both climate and biodiversity, it’s no substitute for preventing emissions from fossil fuels.

To make this clearer, we must urgently set separate targets for emissions cuts for fossil fuels and increased carbon removal in the land sector. This will ensure phasing out fossil fuel use is not delayed by planting trees, and that the carbon stocks of biodiverse and carbon-dense native forests are protected.The Conversation

Kate Dooley, Research Fellow, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Known unknowns: controversy over CSIRO’s electricity report reveals an uncomfortable truth

PanicAttack/Shutterstock
Bruce MountainVictoria University

CSIRO’s latest annual GenCost update, released last month, was billed as Australia’s “most comprehensive electricity generation cost report”.

GenCost has proven to be highly controversial. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton previously levelled robust criticism at the report, specifically the high costs attributed to building nuclear power in Australia, and called for a rerun of the numbers. In turn, CSIRO’s chief made a similarly robust defence of the report and of his agency.

This debate speaks to a key problem with GenCost and similar reports that strive to nail down numbers for the cost of new power sources.

The problem is, these numbers depend on many, many variables. We can’t simply say one type of power is cheaper than another.

graphic showing different types of power plant
Comparing costs of power from different plants is extremely difficult. petovargo/Shutterstock

Seeking Impossible Certainty

In 2018, Australia’s energy market operator (AEMO) asked CSIRO to help provide costings as it developed its Integrated System Plan, a blueprint for the development of the electricity system in Australia’s southern and eastern states.

This is where GenCost comes from. Every year, CSIRO experts work to compare the average cost of electricity from different sources, by reporting the capital (construction) and operating costs of electricity generation of different types of power sources.

It also estimates a measure of average costs, formally known as the “levelised cost of electricity”.

Trouble is, CSIRO is trying to do the impossible. We simply cannot know for sure how the economics of specific plants compare. There are many reasons for this.

1. Upfront cost

The cost of renewables is concentrated up front in construction; they cost very little to run. By contrast, the cost of nuclear, fossil fuel and biomass plants is spread out over their lifespan, because they have large fuel costs and cost much more to operate and maintain. Comparing these two groups requires many subjective assumptions on lifetime, fuel costs, closure costs and the operating regime. Different assumptions give radically different results.

2. Technical characteristics

Wind, solar and run-of-river hydro generators produce electricity at rates which vary with the weather, while those with stored fuels (nuclear, coal, biomass, hydro and gas) can produce electricity on demand. Weather-dependent generation is often cheaper than stored-fuel generation but to fairly compare it to stored-fuel generation it requires storage. How much storage you need is heavily contested. Power systems depending only on renewable electricity and storage will be prohibitively expensive with current technologies, according to our research. In South Australia, our modelling shows the first 5 GWh of storage displaces substantially more stored fuel power than the next 15 GWh, which displaces about as much as the next 180 GWh of storage.

3. New transmission

Some solar and wind farms might need new transmission lines to connect their power to the grid, while others can tap into existing transmission lines. Blanket calculations – such as those in GenCost of transmission costs associated with new wind and solar – are not meaningful.

4. Upstream infrastructure

A coal power plant needs a coal mine, a gas plant needs gas fields and pipelines. These costs are often (but not always) fully accounted for in the calculation of stored-fuel generator operating costs.

5. Local environment

Both weather-dependent and stored-fuel generators can damage the local environment and affect local communities through air, land and water pollution and loss of amenity. These are real economic costs, though sometimes called social costs, and impacts vary greatly from one generator to another.

6. Fossil fuels differ

Fossil-fuel generators are worsening global warming, but there are significant differences among different generators. CSIRO has not accounted for greenhouse gas emissions in its comparisons.

wind and coal power
How do you properly compare different sources of power? posteriori/Shutterstock

7. Substitute or complement?

Generators, storage and transmission can be substitutes, meaning building one avoids building another (locating generators close to cities might avoid building transmission lines), while at other times they can complement (building renewables creates incentives to build batteries). A realistic comparison must account for this. Again, blanket generalisations are not possible – it has to be case by case.

8. Convention

Conventions on the allocation of costs greatly affect comparison. For example, the way transmission costs (or access rights) are allocated between new entrants and incumbents affects comparison of generators. Different approaches produce quite different costs.

9. Assumptions versus reality

There’s often a wide gap between how generators are assumed to operate, and how they actually operate. Once built, generators respond not just to the availability of wind, sun, coal, water, gas and so on, but also to the physical system and market prices. Most coal plants in the National Electricity Market no longer produce electricity consistently, due to being pushed out by renewable generators which cost almost nothing to operate. Similarly, wind farm operators respond to abundant solar by cutting generation during the middle of the day.

GenCost does not account for this. But it can be very significant. Our analysis suggests market prices and transmission could push average costs for solar power in Victoria’s Murray region 62% higher than the market operators is modelling.

Known Unknowns

Of these nine factors, GenCost ignores the last five. While the report takes the other factors into account, different approaches for each of these would give very different answers.

Comparing the average costs of wind, solar, nuclear, hydro and coal power sounds like a simple thing to do. But the only plausible answer is: “it depends on many barely known and many unknown things”.

It would be constructive to seek to identify those things and their relationships to each other, rather than attempting to provide certainty.

Our energy market operator and chief scientific agency have got themselves into the position of providing supposedly definitive, objective answers to questions that do not lend themselves to definitive, objective answers.

In response to the claims made in this article, a CSIRO spokesperson said:

GenCost reports are updated annually to provide cost range estimates for new build electricity generation technologies using the best available data and modelling common in the industry.

Open to transparent public consultation and industry input, Gencost is policy- and technology-neutral and provides representative cost range estimates. Specific projects are not in scope for GenCost and investors must do their own deeper studies and analysis to determine all potential costs to a specific project.

What Should We Do?

In place of commissioning grand plans, our governments should instead broadly indicate their desired direction, consistent with the legislated economy-wide emission reduction targets.

If our government finds it politically unviable to price greenhouse gas pollution, it must provide financial support for clean generation expansion consistent with the legislated emission reduction policy and the governments’ broad direction.

Beyond that, policymakers, CSIRO and the market operator, AEMO, should get out of the way and leave it to the industry, customers and other interested parties to find agreement.

This is roughly how things worked before GenCost and the ISP. We can move forward by winding the clock back.The Conversation

Bruce Mountain, Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Climate holdout Japan drove Australia’s LNG boom. Could the partnership go green?

Sakarin Sawasdinaka/Shutterstock
Wesley MorganGriffith University

Without funding from Japan, many of Australia’s gas projects wouldn’t have gone ahead. Massive public loans from Japanese taxpayers are propping up Australia’s now-enormous fossil gas industry. Japan is also becoming a major gas trader and today exports more gas to other countries than it imports from Australia.

Even as the world rapidly shifts to a clean energy future, Japan is emerging as a fossil fuel holdout. The world’s fourth biggest economy, Japan has long been dependent on foreign sources of fossil fuels. Even as China has filled its deserts with solar farms, Japan has focused on gas.

These projects make it harder for Australia to achieve its climate goals and undermine the shift to clean energy industries. New gas projects threaten to divert workforce and investment away from these export industries.

But this can change. As Australia spends big on green power, green manufacturing and green exports – as part of the government’s Future Made in Australia policies – the enduring partnership between the two nations could go green.

Developing new clean energy partnerships with energy-hungry Asian nations such as Japan, China and South Korea could boost climate cooperation, grow new clean energy exports and promote investment.

Japanese Funding, Australian Gas

Worried about energy security, Japan is subsidising new offshore gas projects in Australia which probably wouldn’t go ahead otherwise.

Japan is the world’s largest provider of international public finance for gas production. While other nations – including Australia – have pledged to end international finance for fossil fuels, Japan has kept the money flowing.



For example, last month, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation provided Australia’s biggest gas corporation, Woodside, with A$1.5 billion in loans to develop the Scarborough gas field offshore from Western Australia. Japanese power utility JERA also received $1.2billion from the Japanese bank to acquire a 15% stake in the project, gaining rights to a share of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced.

Without this kind of financial support, new gas projects would be less likely to proceed.

It is not certain other funders would step in. Gas production in Australia is relatively expensive, due to remote locations and high operating costs. Over the past decade, Australian gas projects have typically been delivered late and over budget and have delivered poor returns for investors.

In the years ahead, Australian gas projects will struggle to deliver gas at internationally competitive prices. In 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a surge in demand for LNG. Now, the world is facing a massive oversupply of gas.

In two years time, large new LNG volumes will come online from lower-cost producers in the Middle East – mainly Qatar – and in North America, just as demand for gas falls in key markets. The Australian government’s own analysis projects a much lower price of LNG from these producers than the cost of production in Australia.



If we left it up to the market, Australia’s increasingly uncompetitive gas exports would lose market share. But it’s not being left up to the market. Japan is underwriting new gas projects to make money-losing projects seem viable. And that makes it much harder for Australia to shift to a lucrative green economy.

Tokyo’s Neon Lights Will Keep Glowing

Last year, Japanese ambassador Yamagami Shingo claimed Australian gas exports were crucial to keeping the neon lights of Tokyo glowing.

In reality, Japan is now reselling more LNG to other Asian nations than it imports from Australia. Japanese gas corporations are contracted to buy more gas over the next decade than Japan will use at home, and are planning to sell excess gas in other markets in Asia.



This is a direct result of official policy, which aims to create new demand for gas in Southeast Asia by offering financial support for gas import terminals and gas-fired power plants and supporting Japanese corporations to supply that demand.

This is not hidden. It’s an open goal. By 2030, the Japanese government wants its corporations to “handle” 100 million tonnes of LNG each year – far more than Japan will use to meet its own energy needs.

Why? Japan’s government sees maintaining influence in the region’s LNG market as important to its own energy security.

Renewables Offer Japan True Energy Security

The gas industry has tried to brand gas as cleaner than coal or a transition fuel. In reality, gas is a dangerous fossil fuel. It’s largely methane, 80 times more potent in heating the planet than carbon dioxide. Methane has added almost a third (30%) of the extra heat building up since the industrial revolution.

Woodside chief Meg O’Neill claims Australian gas exports “can help Asia to decarbonise by replacing coal”. But gas can be just as polluting as coal. Methane leaks are very common across the gas supply chain. You only need a very low amount of leakage for gas to be on par with coal for pollution.

While Japan buys and resells Australian gas, it’s own power grid is greening. The government now plans to double the role of renewables – rising from 18% of power generation in 2019 to 37% by 2030 – while gas-fired power shrinks.

Japan’s demand for gas at home is already falling. It fell 18% in the decade to 2022. In 2023 alone, demand for gas fell by 8%.

Shifting to renewables even faster would improve Japan’s energy security by reducing dependence on imported gas. Recent analysis suggests Japan could achieve a 90% clean energy system by 2035.

Without Japanese Funds, Australian Gas Would Be Dwindling

In the five years to 2017, Australia’s gas industry grew enormously. By 2019 Australia became the world’s largest LNG exporter. Analysis from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis points out this is remarkable given how remote and relatively small Australia’s gas reserves are.

International subsidies – including Japan’s largesse – helped turn Australia into a fossil fuel giant. But these subsidies will not serve our interests long term. Continuing to allow subsidised investment in new gas projects diverts investment, workforce, and supply-chain capacity away from the green industries the government wants to grow for the future.

This doesn’t mean turning our back on Japan. Japan has a huge need for energy. But it can get it without resorting to fossil fuels. Japan could partner with Australia to supply critical minerals and green metals for batteries and renewables, green ammonia for fertilisers and industry, and green hydrogen for transport and industry.

Acknowledgements: Ben McLeod (Quantitative analyst, Climate Council) and Josh Runciman (Lead analyst, Australian Gas, IEEFA) provided data used in the article.The Conversation

Wesley Morgan, Research Fellow, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Peter Dutton’s latest salvo on Australia’s emissions suggests our climate wars are far from over

Matt McDonaldThe University of Queensland

Opposition leader Peter Dutton on Tuesday reiterated the Coalition’s support for the Paris climate agreement, following suggestions he might walk away from the deal. But he fuelled speculation the Coalition plans to scrap Australia’s current 2030 emissions target and confirmed he won’t announce the Coalition’s proposed target before the election.

Dutton’s comments follow days of confusion about where the Coalition stands on Australia’s emissions reduction goals. Nationals MPs Barnaby Joyce and Keith Pitt reportedly want the Coalition to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. And over the weekend, Dutton said the Albanese government “just have no hope of achieving the [2030] targets and there’s no sense signing up to targets you don’t have any prospect of achieving”.

Speaking on Tuesday, Dutton said of the Coalition’s climate policy:

we’re not going to send the economy into freefall, and families bankrupt, through an ideologically based approach, which is what Anthony Albanese is doing at the moment.

So what would happen if a Dutton government weakened Australia’s 2030 targets – a 43% cut on 2005 levels – or if the Coalition’s more conservative elements succeeded and the Coalition abandoned Australia’s Paris commitment altogether?

At this stage, it’s virtually impossible to imagine Australia walking away from the Paris deal. But even watering down our 2030 targets would have significant diplomatic and economic repercussions. Either way, climate policy is looming as a major issue heading into the next election.

The 2030 Targets Must Stay

Let’s say a Coalition government decided to drop Australia’s 2030 targets, but remain signed up to the Paris agreement, and the broader goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

This would technically be possible. However, it is clearly inconsistent with the spirit of the Paris agreement, which asks that nations ratchet-up their emissions reduction commitments over time.

And abandoning the 2030 goal would make it incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for Australia to reach net-zero by 2050. As others have noted, the 43% target already falls short of what is needed for Australia to do its share on emissions reduction under the Paris Agreement, and is less ambitious than the targets adopted by our international peers.

This brings us to Coalition suggestions that Australia has no prospect of meeting the 43% target, and so should not be signed up to it. This is a ridiculous argument.

First, the 43% target is not unachievable. The latest forecasts suggest Australia is on track to cutting emissions by 42% by 2030.

Emissions targets signal that a government is working towards something. They encourage aspiration and action. They incentivise investment in some areas – such as renewable energy – and disincentivise investment elsewhere, such as in fossil fuels. A target’s legitimacy isn’t determined by whether it is wholly met.

Having said that, the Coalition’s line of attack should be a wake-up call to the Albanese government to make sure the 43% target is achieved.

What About Nuclear?

The Coalition’s climate and energy policy hinges, controversially, on the introduction of a nuclear power industry in Australia.

Nationals leader David Littleproud on Monday said the Coalition remains committed to the goal of net-zero by 2050, but most emissions reduction would occur towards the end of that period when nuclear power is up and running. He said the Coalition would have interim targets out to 2050 “but we won’t have a linear pathway” to net-zero.

The idea that nuclear could be part of the solution to Australia’s energy transition is nonsense. Evidence abounds to support this, including a report by the CSIRO last month which found a nuclear plant would cost at least A$8.6 billion, and electricity from nuclear power in Australia would be at least 50% more expensive than solar and wind.

Establishing a nuclear energy capacity in Australia would be prohibitively expensive and just not feasible. What’s more, the long-term economic costs would be huge. Not least are the eye-watering costs of dealing with the effects of climate change should the world, including Australia, not reduce emissions dramatically.

Australia On The Global Stage

Increasingly around the world, nations that fail to act on climate change risk being penalised economically in the form of carbon tariffs. These are taxes applied to imports, according to the volume of greenhouse gas emissions released in their production.

The policy is designed to ensure manufacturers operating in nations with strict emissions policies in place, such as a carbon price, are not undercut by manufacturers in higher-emitting countries. The European Union introduced such a policy in 2023. The US is also considering a version of the policy.

Australian exporters risk significant economic costs if our federal government does not adopt a serious emissions reduction strategy.

Then there is the question of Australia’s international reputation. Stepping back on climate change goals does not align with the image we have of ourselves: as a good international citizen that helps advance responses to challenging transnational problems.

More directly, it would badly undermine Australia’s relationships with its Pacific neighbours, for whom climate change is an existential threat – perhaps even pushing those countries closer to China.

The results of the next presidential election in the United States, however, pose a danger. There, conservatives have reportedly drafted a plan for a future Trump administration to leave the Paris agreement, as it did in 2020.

If a major global power, and Australia’s biggest ally, withdraws from the deal, it may provide cover for a future Australian government to do the same.

The Climate Wars Continue

From a domestic political point of view, it’s unclear what the Coalition hopes to achieve by raising the prospect of a walk-back on climate action. Such a policy would, for example, make it acutely difficult for the Coalition to win back teal seats it lost at the last election.

A recent Lowy poll found 57% of Australians think global warming “is a serious and pressing problem and that we should begin taking steps now, even if it involves significant costs”.

Following the last election, hopes were high that Australia’s frustrating climate wars may be over. The results suggested the Coalition’s only pathway back to power would have to involve a legitimate climate policy. The Coalition’s latest rhetoric suggests it does not agree.The Conversation

Matt McDonald, Professor of International Relations, The University of Queensland

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Global demand for oil could peak soon – NZ’s plan to revive offshore exploration doesn’t add up

Getty Images
Jen PurdieUniversity of Otago

This week’s announcement of the government’s plans to reopen New Zealand’s territorial waters to oil drilling comes as no surprise. All three coalition parties campaigned on reversing the 2018 ban on offshore oil exploration.

But it flies in the face of projections that demand for oil could peak as early as this decade.

Minister for Resources Shane Jones has confirmed the government plans to reverse the ban later this year and seeks to incentivise oil investors by paying them a bond in case their drilling rights are cancelled by future governments.

The government is also considering weakening a law that requires oil and gas permit holders to pay for the decommissioning and clean-up of wells. This law was passed in 2021 in response to taxpayers having to pick up a NZ$400 million bill for decommissioning the Tui oil field after the financial collapse of the oil company.

The government’s decisions go against projections by many sources, including the International Energy Agency, that demand for oil will decline soon as we electrify the global transport fleet. Consequently, investment in oil exploration is projected to decline too.

Peak Oil Demand

The use of fossil fuels is due to decline this decade, according to several major oil companies. A 2023 report by Shell projects fossil fuel use dropping rapidly in coming decades, while BP thinks oil demand for combustion has already peaked.

Many large organisations think peak oil demand will happen this decade or the 2030s. This includes the International Energy Agency (IEA), which has predicted demand for oil will peak before 2030.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Exxon Mobil are bullishly stating they see oil growth continuing, albeit at a slower rate, into the 2040s. But at the same time, Exxon Mobil is investing significantly in renewable energy, lithium mining and carbon capture technology.

Even if oil demand peaks later than forecast, the progression from prospecting to exploration and mining can take decades. Projects prospected now may not yield fuel until demand is already in decline.

We Have Enough Oil To Make The Energy Transition

We’ve known for some time that remaining fossil fuels must stay in the ground to meet the Paris Agreement goal of keeping the world below 2°C above pre-industrial temperatures.

The last UN climate summit – COP28 held late last year – agreed to “transition away from fossil fuels” and signalled the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era.

But further to this, the IEA has stated we don’t need any new fossil fuel exploration or development, with enough projects already in existence or planned to meet global energy demand forecasts to 2050. New research agrees, saying governments around the world should stop issuing new oil, gas and coal licences.

In line with decreasing oil demand, BP also projects declining investment in new oil and gas infrastructure globally in coming decades. The IEA’s World Energy Investment report notes an ongoing hesitancy about oil and gas investment comes partly from concerns about downward long-term demand projections.



New Zealand does not import natural gas, but our gas fields have been yielding less than forecast for some years. Therefore, to remain independent, some more maintenance drilling or limited new expansion may be needed to see us through the energy transition. But using taxpayer dollars to pay international oil companies to come to New Zealand doesn’t make economic or environmental sense.

The Momentum For The Energy Transition Is Unstoppable

The good news is that the world’s energy sector, which produces almost 75% of global emissions, is now transitioning at an ever increasing rate. Significant amounts of renewable electricity generation (which is now far cheaper than fossil fuel generation) are being built, with global renewable capacity set to double this decade.

New Zealand’s electricity system is already 85% renewable. Significant investment in renewable generation is under way ($42 billion by 2030) to supply the approximate doubling of electricity needed for the expected mass electrification of transport and industrial heat by 2050.

Renewables are also being built to replace retiring coal plant. Global coal consumption peaked in 2013 and has flatlined since. In 2021, the COP26 global climate meeting in Glasgow agreed to phase down coal, and 60 national (and 51 sub-national) governments have joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance, committing them to phasing out all coal-fired power plants and not building new ones.

Other uses of fossil fuels are in industrial heat and transport. Electric vehicle demand is skyrocketing globally, with the global fleet growing from 300,000 vehicles in 2013 to 41 million in 2023. With prices falling, electric vehicles are expected to reach price parity with internal combustion engine cars as early as 2025.

Most large global vehicle manufacturers have pledged to produce only electric vehicles by 2030 or 2040. And 30 countries, including New Zealand, have signed the Zero Emissions Vehicle declaration to ban new petrol or diesel vehicle sales entirely by 2040.

New Zealand Should Be Enabling The Energy Transition

The world is moving very rapidly away from coal and oil, and eventually all fossil fuels. A growing number of countries require adherence to Paris Agreement pledges by their trading partners. The recently signed free trade deal between New Zealand and the EU imposes trade sanctions if Paris pledges are not met.

New Zealand’s current emissions reduction policies take us on a track that is much less than our per capita global fair share to limit warming.

New Zealand should be moving away from oil drilling and instead invest in the energy transition, including decarbonisation of industrial heat, subsidising low-emitting vehicles and charging high emitters, better public transport and bike lanes, increased EV charging infrastructure, and “urban mining” (recycling) of batteries and other technology currently filling rubbish dumps.The Conversation

Jen Purdie, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

South Australia’s enigmatic pink sand was born in ice-covered Antarctic mountains, new research shows

University of Adelaide
Stijn GlorieUniversity of AdelaideJack MulderUniversity of Adelaide, and Sharmaine VerhaertUniversity of Adelaide

In parts of South Australia, long stretches of beach are often blanketed in large patches of pink sand. Strong swells can dump drifts of reddish grains of garnet along the shore – but the origin of these colourful crystals has until now been a mystery.

Garnet is rare in beach sand, as it is destroyed by prolonged exposure to the waves and currents of the ocean. If we find large amounts of garnet in beach sand, it means there must be a local source of garnet-bearing rock. But where is this rock?

The hunt for the source of South Australia’s pink sand took us thousands of kilometres and half a billion years back in time, to a previously undiscovered mountain range we believe is now buried deep beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. Our new study is published in Communications Earth & Environment.

A Local Source?

Geologists get excited when we find garnet in beach sand or other sediments, because these minerals grow deep in Earth’s crust, in the same kind of conditions in which diamonds are formed.

One way diamonds or garnets can reach the surface is via carrot-shaped volcanic structures called kimberlite pipes. There are kimberlites (and diamonds) to be found in South Australia – at Eurelia, for example. However, these deposits are far from the coast, are not very abundant, and are only around 170–190 million years old – so they are unlikely to be the source of our beach garnets.

Another way garnet can reach the surface is via prolonged erosion.

A photo of a person holding a handful of dark pinkish-red sand.
Pink sand on South Australian beaches has been a geological mystery. Stijn Glorie

Garnet typically forms in greater volumes in places where the crust is thick, such as under mountains. As the mountains erode, the garnet may be revealed as a record of the former mountain belt.

So another possible origin for the beach garnets is the erosion of the Adelaide Fold Belt. This mountain belt, which stretched north from Adelaide for hundreds of kilometres, developed between 514 million and 490 million years ago.

A third possible source is the Gawler Craton, a huge slab of ancient rock beneath South Australia with outcrops in the Adelaide Fold Belt. The Gawler Craton contains plenty of garnet, which formed in several episodes between 3.3 billion and 1.4 billion years ago.

To find the source of our beach sand garnets, we set out to find their ages. Very old garnets could be from the Gawler Craton, while younger ones would have the Adelaide Fold Belt as a more likely origin.

A Timing Mismatch

We analysed several hundred grains of coastal garnet, and found the majority of them formed around 590 million years ago. Far from answering our questions, this result only raised more.

The beach sand garnets were far too young to have come from the Gawler Craton, but too old to have come from the eroding Adelaide Fold Belt. In fact, this time around 590 million years ago is thought to have been a tectonically quiet period in the region, where we would not expect garnet to grow.

Our dating results effectively ruled out a local source for the garnets. So what was left?

Long-Distance Travellers

If the garnets did not come from a local source, we can say two things about them. First, they must have travelled in a way that would not grind them to smithereens. Second, they must have been stored locally in a protected environment before finding their way onto the beaches.

A possible solution that meets both these criteria can be found at Hallet Cove Conservation Park, located on the South Australian coast around 20 kilometres south of Adelaide.

Here we find exposed sedimentary rocks that were formed around 280 million years ago, during a very icy phase of Earth’s history. The ice is important, because glaciers and icebergs can transport large volumes of rock over long distances without damaging their internal structure.

Furthermore, garnets found in glacial sediments on Kangaroo Island, which were deposited around the same time as the Hallet Cove sediments, were dated to around 590 million years as well. The garnets were not born in these deposits, but were transported into them by ice flow.

A Former Land Bridge

So, if the beach garnets were stored in sedimentary glacial deposits along the South Australian coast since the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age, before being washed onto the shore, where did they come from originally?

During the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age around 280 million years ago, Australia was connected to Antarctica in a large landmass called Gondwana, covered by a massive ice sheet.

Reconstructions of ice flow at this time suggest glaciers would have brought ice northwest from what are now the Transantarctic Mountains in East Antarctica.

The Transantarctic Mountains are the expression of an older mountain belt, the Ross Orogen, which started developing around 550 million years ago but was not experiencing any peak garnet-forming conditions until around 520 million years ago – 60 million years after the garnet in the pink sands. So we are getting warmer, but the Transantarctic Mountains are not a suitable source either.

A Hidden Treasure

There is one outcrop of rock in East Antarctica where garnets of the right age have been found, near the Skelton Glacier in Southern Victoria Land. However, such a small outcrop could not have produced the large volume of garnet we see on Australian shores.

This outcrop sits at the edge of a colossal area of some 2 million square kilometres buried beneath a thick ice sheet. We postulate that this area contains abundant garnet that grew in an unknown mountain belt around 590 million years ago.

It is currently not possible to sample the rock under this ice sheet to confirm our theory. But it is conceivable that millions of years of ice transport eroded the bedrock beneath, and transported the ground-up rock – including garnets – northeastwards towards the area that has now split into the coastlines of Antarctica and Australia.

The transported rock was then delivered to the South Australian coast some 280 million years ago and stored in sedimentary deposits such as Hallet Cove. Here it sat undisturbed until erosion eventually released the garnets into the sea – and then, finally, onto South Australia’s beaches.The Conversation

Stijn Glorie, Associate Professor of Geology, University of AdelaideJack Mulder, Lecturer in Geology, University of Adelaide, and Sharmaine Verhaert, PhD Candidate, Geology, University of Adelaide

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Playful young male dolphins grow up to have more offspring

Shark Bay Dolphin Research
Kathryn HolmesThe University of Western Australia

As humans, we grow up playing with other children. Animals of many species likewise play with their peers. But why?

Play has its costs, especially for young animals. It uses energy that could help them grow, and it can make them more vulnerable to predators.

Of course, play is fun and highly rewarding. However, it’s not clear that these immediate benefits are worth the potentially great costs.

In a new study, my colleagues and I shed light on why play is so important – at least for the male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins of Shark Bay in Western Australia. Among these famously frisky cetaceans, those who spend more time playing as juveniles end up siring more offspring as adults. The research is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

What’s The Point Of Play?

One possible explanation for juvenile play is that it serves as practice of adult behaviours, such as mating and fighting. If this is correct, we would expect it ultimately makes individuals better able to survive or reproduce as adults.

It’s not unusual for juvenile animals to engage in sexual or combat-like play behaviours. However, there is little evidence to link play to long-term reproductive benefits. In some species (such as yellow-bellied marmots) this kind of play may lead to having more offspring, but in others (such as meerkats) it appears to have no effect.

Dolphins have a reputation for being playful, but we know very little about how and why dolphins play.

How Young Dolphins Play

Our study was conducted on dolphins in Shark Bay in WA. At this site, more than 40 years of research has revealed lifelong friendships among adult males, who repeatedly cooperate in alliances to find mates and compete for them against rival alliances. Two to three males work together to keep an individual female with them for hours to weeks using joint action, in which they synchronise their physical and vocal behaviour.

Short aerial video of dolphins chasing each other around in the water.
Juvenile male dolphins playing at the kinds of coordinated behaviours of adult males. Dr Simon Allen, Shark Bay Dolphin Research

In Shark Bay, juvenile play resembles these adult events, termed consortships. In small same- or mixed-sex groups, juveniles take turns playing the adult “female” and “male” roles. As in adult mating, the “males” contact the “female’s” genital slit with their beaks or genitals. Sometimes, the “males” take turns, but other times they synchronise their actions.

We examined whether male juvenile play occurred in ways that make sense if playing together is practice for key adult reproductive behaviours. We also wanted to find out whether play is associated with greater success at siring offspring years later in adulthood.

Play Roles, Allies And Pops

To study patterns of play, we observed specific juvenile males for hours at a time to record details of their behaviour and that of their groupmates. We observed each male several times over a period of two years, and also recorded the dolphins’ vocalisations using underwater microphones.

A photo of three people on a boat watching dolphins in the distance
The research team spotting dolphins and identifying individuals from dorsal fin features at Shark Bay. Shark Bay Dolphin Research

We found juvenile males spent more time in the “male” role during play than females. Juvenile males with strong social bonds, who are likely to form an alliance as adults, were more likely to synchronise their play behaviour. If play is practice of synchronised adult behaviour, it makes sense for males to practice with their future allies.

During play, juvenile males also produced pops, a coercive vocal signal used by adult males to tell females to stay close. As in consortships, juvenile males specifically produced pops when females were present and both sexes were in their adult roles. Compared to the regular rhythm of adult male pops, juvenile male pops were erratic, suggesting they need practice to achieve the adult rhythm.

More Time Playing Linked To Siring More Offspring

Juvenile male dolphins play in ways that appear to be practice of future adult mating behaviour. The final test of this was to see whether spending more time playing in the “male” role as juveniles led to siring more offspring in adulthood.

For this analysis, we leveraged past observations of juvenile male play from 1998 to 2003, along with up to 22 years of genetic paternity data for each male.

Dolphins in this population can live well into their 40s, and undergo an extended juvenile period where males do not sexually mature until between the ages of 12 and 15 years. We therefore needed decades of data on individual males to look at long-term benefits of social play.

Males who spent more time as juveniles playing at their future adult roles sired more offspring as adults.

This tells us social play is more than just fun. It’s an important behaviour for male dolphins that gives them time to practice critical reproductive skills several years before they are needed, and, it appears to make them more successful as adults.

As this practice is happening, the young males are also strengthening friendships that will mature into lifelong alliances. Does play also help them choose their friends? In future research, we plan to find out.The Conversation

Kathryn Holmes, Staff Scientist, Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, Brookfield Zoo Chicago, and PhD Researcher, The University of Western Australia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Is collapse of the Atlantic Ocean circulation really imminent? Icebergs’ history reveals some clues

Icebergs that break off from Greenland’s glaciers carry enormous amounts of fresh water that can affect Atlantic currents. Hubert Neufeld via Unsplash CC BY-SA
Yuxin ZhouUniversity of California, Santa Barbara and Jerry McManusColumbia University

When people think about the risks of climate change, the idea of abrupt changes is pretty scary. Movies like “The Day After Tomorrow” feed that fear, with visions of unimaginable storms and populations fleeing to escape rapidly changing temperatures.

While Hollywood clearly takes liberties with the speed and magnitude of disasters, several recent studies have raised real-world alarms that a crucial ocean current that circulates heat to northern countries might shut down this century, with potentially disastrous consequences.

That scenario has happened in the past, most recently more than 16,000 years ago. However, it relies on Greenland shedding a lot of ice into the ocean.

Our new research, published in the journal Science, suggests that while Greenland is indeed losing huge and worrisome volumes of ice right now, that might not continue for long enough to shut down the current on its own. A closer look at evidence from the past shows why.

Blood And Water

The Atlantic current system distributes heat and nutrients on a global scale, much like the human circulatory system distributes heat and nutrients around the body.

Warm water from the tropics circulates northward along the U.S. Atlantic coast before crossing the Atlantic. As some of the warm water evaporates and the surface water cools, it becomes saltier and denser. Denser water sinks, and this colder, denser water circulates back south at depth. The variations in heat and salinity fuel the pumping heart of the system.

If the Atlantic circulation system weakened, it could lead to a world of climate chaos.

Two illustrations show how the AMOC looks today and its expected weaker state in the future
How the Atlantic Ocean circulation would change as it slowed. IPCC 6th Assessment Report

Ice sheets are made of fresh water, so the rapid release of icebergs into the Atlantic Ocean can lower the ocean’s salinity and slow the pumping heart. If the surface water is no longer able to sink deep and the circulation collapses, dramatic cooling would likely occur across Europe and North America. Both the Amazon rain forest and Africa’s Sahel region would become dryer, and Antarctica’s warming and melting would accelerate, all in a matter of years to decades.

Today, the Greenland ice sheet is melting rapidly, and some scientists worry that the Atlantic current system may be headed for a climate tipping point this century. But is that worry warranted?

To answer that, we need to look back in time.

A Radioactive Discovery

In the 1980s, a junior scientist named Hartmut Heinrich and his colleagues extracted a series of deep-sea sediment cores from the ocean floor to study whether nuclear waste could be safely buried in the deep North Atlantic.

Sediment cores contain a history of everything that accumulated on that part of the ocean floor over hundreds of thousands of years. Heinrich found several layers with lots of mineral grains and rock fragments from land.

The sediment grains were too large to have been carried to the middle of the ocean by the wind or ocean currents alone. Heinrich realized they must have been brought there by icebergs, which had picked up the rock and mineral when the icebergs were still part of glaciers on land.

The layers with the most rock and mineral debris, from a time when the icebergs must have come out in force, coincided with severe weakening of the Atlantic current system. Those periods are now known as Heinrich events.

As paleoclimate scientists, we use natural records such as sediment cores to understand the past. By measuring uranium isotopes in the sediments, we were able to determine the deposition rate of sediments dropped by icebergs. The amount of debris allowed us to estimate how much fresh water those icebergs added to the ocean and compare it with today to assess whether history might repeat itself in the near future.

Why A Shutdown Isn’t Likely Soon

So, is the Atlantic current system headed for a climate tipping point because of Greenland melting? We think it’s unlikely in the coming decades.

While Greenland is losing huge volumes of ice right now – worryingly comparable to a midrange Heinrich event – the ice loss will likely not continue for long enough to shut down the current on its own.

Icebergs are much more effective at disrupting the current than meltwater from land, in part because icebergs can carry fresh water directly out to the locations where the current sinks. Future warming, however, will force the Greenland ice sheet to recede away from the coast too soon to deliver enough fresh water by iceberg.

A map showing fast ice loss around the edges and a chart showing rapid decline.
Greenland’s ice loss, measured from the Grace and Grace-FO satellites. NASA

The strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, is projected to decline 24% to 39% by 2100. By then, Greenland’s iceberg formation will be closer to the weakest Heinrich events of the past. Heinrich events, in contrast, lasted 200 years or so.

Instead of icebergs, meltwater pouring into the Atlantic at the island’s edge is projected to become the leading cause of Greenland’s thinning. Meltwater still sends fresh water into the ocean, but it mixes with seawater and tends to move along the coast rather than directly freshening the open ocean as drifting icebergs do.

That Doesn’t Mean The Current Isn’t At Risk

The future trajectory of the Atlantic current system will likely be determined by a combination of the decelerating but more effective icebergs and the accelerating but less influential surface runoff. That will be compounded by rising ocean surface temperatures that could further slow the current.

So, the Earth’s pumping heart could still be at risk, but history suggests that the risk is not as imminent as some people fear.

In “The Day After Tomorrow,” a slowdown of the Atlantic current system froze New York City. Based on our research, we may take some comfort in knowing that such a scenario is unlikely in our lifetimes. Nevertheless, robust efforts to stop climate change remain necessary to ensure the protection of future generations.The Conversation

Yuxin Zhou, Postdoctoral Scholar in Earth Science, University of California, Santa Barbara and Jerry McManus, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Australia’s ‘learning by doing’ approach to managing large mines is failing the environment

Matthew Currell
Matthew CurrellGriffith University and Adrian WernerFlinders University

High-profile legal disputes, such as the current case between coal giant Adani and the Queensland government, show Australia’s approach to managing large mining projects is flawed.

Many projects are allowed to go ahead even though the environmental impacts are uncertain. The idea is any damage to the environment can be managed along the way. This has been the norm for large coal mines and gas developments in Australia since 2013. That’s when legislation known as the Water Trigger came into effect – ironically, to protect water resources from these industries.

But our research shows this approach – known as “adaptive management” – often creates more problems than it solves. This is particularly true when it comes to groundwater, where impacts are difficult to predict in advance, and monitoring may only detect problems when it is too late to act.

These problems include depleting or contaminating groundwater, drying up springs of major cultural and ecological significance, altering river flows and reducing water quality. There are worrying signs the Adani mine is putting the Doongmabulla springs at risk.

What Is Adaptive Management?

Adaptive management seeks to address uncertainty in environmental impact assessments. The approach can be broadly summarised as “learning by doing”.

The original intention was to allow decisions to be made about development proposals without full certainty about the environmental impacts. Ongoing monitoring and continuously updated modelling is then supposed to improve the knowledge base over time. This should help identify new or improved management strategies.

Environmental objectives are supposed to be clearly outlined at the outset. Objectives may include the protection of a key habitat, water resource or region of high ecological significance.

Establishing these objectives is a lengthy process of consultation with groups who have a stake in the project, such as people who live nearby and Traditional Owners with deep connections to the land. These discussions are meant to continue throughout the project as new data and knowledge come to light.

However our research shows adaptive management is often poorly suited to managing impacts on groundwater. This is especially true in cases where:

  • there are long lag times between project activity (such as groundwater extraction lowering the water table before pit excavation) and the full effects on the groundwater system

  • the impacts could be irreversible, meaning actions taken to address a change in the condition of the environment may come too late to stop permanent damage.

Drone footage of Doongmabulla Springs, December 2014.

Protecting Doongmabulla Springs

The Adani coal mine was embroiled in many years of controversy about potential impacts on water, climate and endangered animals. When it began operating, scientists warned it was too close to the sacred Doongabulla Springs and risked permanently drying them up.

Our analysis published in 2020 found problems with the miner’s reported understanding of the groundwater system supporting the Doongmabulla Springs. Little effort was made to plan specific actions to protect the springs if monitoring later showed such action was required.

We argue Adani’s use of adaptive management, which the environment minister accepted in approving the mine, was not fit for the agreed purpose of protecting the springs.

The Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation appeared to echo these views in the Supreme Court last month.

The legal action was brought by Adani in 2023, after the Department refused to accept updated groundwater modelling the company had to submit within two years of opening the mine. Instead, the Department issued an Environment Protection Order, which prevents any underground mining until the company:

can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the department that the activity can be conducted in a way that does not exceed the approved impacts

This followed a review by CSIRO and Geoscience Australia. The review found the company’s groundwater model was “unable to support a robust uncertainty analysis and therefore confidence in the range of predicted impacts is low”.

In court, Department staff testified that deficiencies in modelling and gaps in groundwater monitoring mean the “risk of potential impacts (which are potentially irreversible) to the [Doongmabulla] springs is increased while [mining] continues”.

This echoes similar warnings by groundwater researchers prior to the initial approval of the mine.

These springs are vital to the cultural life of the Wangan and Jagalingou people, who testified to the United Nations that the loss of these springs would decimate their culture.

A Way Forward

Protracted reform of Australia’s environmental laws provides an opportunity to establish clear criteria for when adaptive management can be used.

We argue alternative, more precautionary approaches should be adopted when there is a long interval between the mining activity and potentially irreversible damage.

For example, limits should be placed on the mine’s location, size and water extraction rates. This should be informed by detailed upfront research into the site’s water systems, geology and the ecosystem’s tolerance for changes in water levels and quality.

If adaptive management is to be used in mining projects, there must be a reasonable prospect (and a clear mechanism) to detect and prevent environmental harm. There must also be clarity around when project activities must cease. In line with best practice adaptive management, guidance should be provided to ensure miners clearly outline:

  • how monitoring data will be used, in an ongoing process of revising both impact predictions and management strategies
  • what specific actions will be taken, and at what point in time if data show unpredicted greater than expected impacts
  • how stakeholders will be involved throughout the process of setting and reviewing environmental objectives and monitoring criteria.

Unless these issues are urgently addressed, the “learning by doing” approach will continue to put Australian ecosystems and water resources at risk.The Conversation

Matthew Currell, Professor of Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Griffith University and Adrian Werner, Professor of Hydrogeology, Flinders University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Santos just copped a large fine. What did the oil and gas company do?

noomcpk/Shutterstock
Samantha HepburnDeakin University

South Australian oil and gas company Santos has been hit with a A$2.75 million fine for breaching its record-keeping obligations.

The Federal Court ordered the fine for Santos Direct, a wholly owned subsidiary, for over 4,700 breaches of the National Gas Rules. The fine follows proceedings brought by the Australian Energy Regulator.

It’s not the first energy company the regulator has pursued recently for breaches to the gas rules. Last year, energy retailer EnergyAustralia and chemical company Incitec Pivot paid $406,000 and $223,000, respectively, for alleged infringements. Energy distributor Jemena also paid an infringement.

So what are these rules? Why do the breaches matter?

Of Gas Rules And Record-Keeping

The breaches themselves sound dense. They concerned the non-reporting of what are known as “renominations” for uncontracted gas in day ahead auctions, which are conducted to determine if there’s excess capacity in pipelines which can be sold.

The fossil gas used in homes and industries is transported around Australia largely by pipeline. To boost competition in the east coast gas market, Australian state and federal governments introduced the day ahead auction in 2019 to let companies bid for access to unused capacity in these pipelines.

Day-ahead nominations determine the transportation capacity available in gas pipelines available for auction. To make this auction possible, companies that have existing entitlements to capacity have to make a nomination a day in advance of when they intend to move gas from one location to another, specifying how much capacity they intend to use the next day. Any spare capacity is then made available in the auction.

Renominations occur after the cut-off times on a gas day and they vary an earlier nomination for the use of transportation capacity.

Renominations can only be made in limited circumstances for specific reasons. Recording renominations is important because variations can affect auction prices if, for example, there ends up being less capacity so that participants pay more than they needed to.

Santos admitted it failed to make contemporaneous records for material gas renominations across six different gas auction facilities in breach of the National Gas Rules.

The Federal Court held that while the breach was not intentional and arose from inadequate internal compliance mechanisms, the significant penalty was necessary. It took account of the multiple reporting breaches, as well as the size and financial position of Santos, whose net profit from 2019 to 2022 ranged between $720 and $894 million per year.

Justice Penelope Neskovcin noted compliant record keeping is a critical part of ensuring the integrity and capacity of the auction. Proper records allow the regulator to understand the nature and frequency of renominations, and in so doing, ensure it is able to properly monitor the market.

While no actual loss occurred, the court focused on the potential damage that could have occurred given this action could have meant participants paid more in the auction.

gas pipeline
Gas pipeline capacity is sold at auction. huyangshu/Shutterstock

Why Did The AER Pursue This?

As the regulator states in its media release:

timely and accurate record keeping is crucial in allowing the AER to effectively monitor the compliance of participants in the capacity auction.

In particular, the AER’s role of investigating and enforcing provisions […] [prohibiting] participants from making false or misleading day ahead nominations may be significantly hampered without the benefit of compliant records of material renominations.

In her judgement, Neskovcin said the penalty should be a “deterrent” against such conduct. She separately stated:

[t]he failure to comply with [the rule], which has a substantive role in protecting the proper functioning of the capacity auction, heightens the need for deterrence in respect of this conduct

The court emphasised the public interest underpinning clear, transparent and compliant reporting in accordance with the requirements of the National Gas Laws. It noted that Santos, as a major Australian gas and oil exploration and production company making hundreds of millions of dollars in profits over the relevant period, had to take full responsibility for its contraventions.The Conversation

Samantha Hepburn, Professor, Deakin Law School, Deakin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

We know the seas are rising – so why are Australian governments not planning for it?

KarenHBlack/Shutterstock
Anthony BoxshallThe University of MelbourneAnna GrageUniversity of Adelaide, and Tom KompasThe University of Melbourne

The vast majority of Australians (87%) live within 50 kilometres of a coastline. The coast offers scenery, swimming and cooling from the sea.

But the problem is, coastlines as we know them are going to change. Sea-level rise is accelerating. As seas inch higher, storm surges can reach further inland and coastal erosion intensifies. Australia’s coasts are not immune.

Low-lying areas are particularly vulnerable, such as towns around Western Port Bay in Victoria.

So why aren’t we planning for what will happen? In this year’s federal budget funds were allocated to many long-term needs, such as submarines for defence (around a 20-year timeframe), the Inland Rail project for freight (around 15 years), Sunshine Coast rail link for transport (at least 10 years) and long term policies for green manufacturing. State budgets also make long-term commitments.

But there was nothing to prepare our coastal communities for the water. Sea level rise and storm surge are problems which get steadily worse. If we spend to avoid A$1 billion of damage in 2040, that’s the same as avoiding $4 billion in 2070 and $10 billion by 2100, according to the Kompas report released last year by co-author Tom Kompas and colleagues.

cyclists on top of flooded seawall
As seas inch upwards, storm surges can reach further inland. This image shows cyclists atop a seawall as a storm surge hits Brisbane in 2013. Silken Photography/Shutterstock

The Economic Costs Are Known

If we don’t prepare, we risk damage to housing, the environment, towns and fast-growing coastal and marine industries.

What does sea-level rise cost? The Kompas report found within 75 years, the projected sea-level rise of 0.82 metres coupled with 19% more storm surges would cause staggering economic loss in Victoria, to the tune of $442 billion, flooding 45,000 hectares of inhabited land and affecting almost every coastal community.

Overseas, the scale of the problem is staggering. Estimates for damage to coastal towns and cities in the European Union and United Kingdom are up to $1.4 trillion.

Why Aren’t We Taking This Seriously?

It is good practice to strategically plan for known risks and needs. And we do make long-term plans in many areas. But so far, coastal adaptation is not one of them.

Because greenhouse gas emissions aren’t dropping as needed, we have already locked in a certain level of sea-level rise. That’s because there’s a lag time between emitting gases, warming the atmosphere and oceans, and melting ice flowing into seas.

What does adaptation look like? We have six options:

1. Non-intervention: authorities deliberately let impacts occur. You might use this strategy if it would be too expensive or impossible to protect a coastal area, or if there are no people living there.

2. Avoid: make sure new houses, infrastructure and human uses for coastline are moved away from the area to be affected.

In Australia, local or state-wide sea-level planning benchmarks are used to denote areas where permanent development needs justification. Benchmarks and assessments differ markedly around the nation.

3. Nature-based methods: boost or restore natural systems able to reduce damage.

This method involves working to bring back or improve natural habitats such as coral reefs, sand, shellfish reefs, mangroves, wetlands, saltmarshes, or seagrasses to build up sediment, adding height and natural ways to absorb some of the force of higher seas.

Many Australian states already have examples up and running. In the EU, the REST-COAST program is working on many nature-based restoration projects, while the United States has many examples, such as oyster reef restoration.

4. Managed retreat: relocate away from the danger.

The community of Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana was the first community globally to retreat inland in a planned way. In Vietnam, farms and villages in Hue province have had to relocate away from the sea.

While no Australian community has gone through a managed retreat due to sea level, the Summerlands estate on Phillip Island was relocated to protect Australia’s most famous penguin colony.

5. Accommodate: rebuild to reduce risk.

When disaster strikes, it makes sense to rebuild to reduce future risk. Australian authorities often use this technique after river floods. But there are no known examples of similar work on our coasts. In the US, areas of New Orleans were rebuilt to let future floodwaters escape rather than stay trapped for weeks, as they did after Hurricane Katrina.

6. Protect: build hard physical barriers to stop the water getting through.

Historically, building seawalls and dikes has been the first response authorities reach for. The problem is, these barriers are expensive to build and maintain, especially at the scale that will be needed.

Where To From Here?

What will nudge authorities to start preparing in earnest? Time, for one. As sea-level rise accelerates, authorities will have to act.

But acting late is much more expensive than acting early. We need to avoid the Tragedy of the Horizon, where catastrophe seems far enough away in time that we can delay acting.

What our policymakers need is the social license to act. The planned retreat of the Welsh town of Fairbourne became controversial because when the council’s plans became public, house values plummeted.

To be able to focus on coastal adaptation means decoupling from the political cycle so politicians are supported to make hard but necessary decisions in the interests of the next generation.

A national approach would help. Not everywhere can be protected. It makes sense to focus our efforts on places where many people live, or the special habitats we want to keep.

If we keep putting our heads in the sand, we’ll get soaked.

Acknowledgement: Alan Stokes of the Australian Coastal Councils Association contributed to this articleThe Conversation

Anthony Boxshall, Enterprise Fellow, The University of MelbourneAnna Grage, Visiting Research Fellow, University of Adelaide, and Tom Kompas, Professor of Environmental Economics and Biosecurity, The University of Melbourne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Sleight of hand: Australia’s Net Zero target is being lost in accounting tricks, offsets and more gas

Bill HareMurdoch University

In announcing Australia’s support for fossil gas all the way to 2050 and beyond, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pushed his government’s commitment to net zero even further out of reach.

When we published our analysis in December on Climate Action Tracker, a global assessment of government climate action, we warned Australia was unlikely to achieve its net zero target, and rated its efforts as “poor.”

That’s because Australia’s long-term emissions reduction plan – released under the Morrison Coalition government and not yet revised by the Albanese Labor government – resorts to unrealistic technological fixes and emissions offsets.

But it’s also because Labor’s legislated target of a 43% emission cut by 2030 is not aligned with a 1.5°C pathway to net zero by 2050. Studies now show we need around a 70% reduction in net emissions – including the land use, land-use change and forestry sector – by 2030 to put Australia on track to net zero by 2050.

Why is this? Emissions from fossil fuel use, industry, agriculture and waste (for brevity, fossil fuel and industry) are the main driver of global warming. Most studies show these emissions (excluding land use) need about 50% reduction below 2005 levels by 2030 to be on path to net zero by 2050.

But when we take the government’s projections for how much carbon the land use sector will soak up by 2030 into account, the cuts required for fossil fuel and industry emissions are even sharper: around a 70% fall in net emissions by 2030 to give us any chance of reaching net zero by 2050.

Policies designed to increase gas use and production for domestic use and export will make this harder still. Emissions from gas in Australia, including domestic use and the emissions from liquefying natural gas so it can be exported as LNG totalled about 24% of emissions in 2022. Processing gas into LNG accounted for about 9% of national emissions.

Gas Cannot Be Green

Since our assessment, several huge gas projects have moved forward, including the carbon-intensive Barossa Pipeline and the development of the Beetaloo Basin fracking project to supply gas for domestic use in the Northern Territory and for export.

These projects will add between 3.5% and 15% to Australia’s emissions, depending upon the scale of development. Our LNG export industry is by far the largest user of gas, accounting for 84% of all gas production.

Despite what Madeleine King, the federal minister for resources, might say, fossil gas is not a “transition fuel”.

In the last decade it was the leading driver of the global increase in carbon dioxide emissions, contributing to close to half of their growth. In Australia coal and oil domestic emissions fell over the last decade but gas emissions increased by at least 16%.

At present, the only really effective climate action in the Australian economy is the decarbonisation of the power sector. By 2023, renewable energy had reached around 37% of generation.

The states are responsible for the majority of this action, with the exception of Western Australia. While the latest federal budget spent on long-overdue climate measures such as green hydrogen, it’s still far outweighed by spending on fossil fuels.

The government has allocated $22.7 billion over the next decade to the new “Future Made in Australia” policy, which is significant but outweighed by the $14.5 billion per year spent subsidising fossil fuel use.

The policy’s main incentive for hydrogen production is $6.7 billion over ten years, which does not start until 2027-28.

fields seen from above
What role does land use have in cutting emissions? Ecopix/Shutterstock

A Paucity Of Policies

In March last year, the Labor government passed its flagship climate policy, the revised Safeguard Mechanism, which it claimed would address industry emissions, including gas production.

But by allowing almost unlimited offsets, this mechanism in fact enables more LNG export and development, with gas producers openly stating the mechanism will not change their plans.

And it hasn’t.

A clear example is the NT government’s recent contract with Tamboran Resources to take gas from the fracking of the Beetaloo basin.

Tamboran is also planning a massive new LNG export facility in Darwin at Middle Arm Point. Not only is this unimpeded by the safeguard mechanism, the federal government intends to support the Middle Arm hub with $1.5 billion. If this plant goes ahead at the scale Tamboran proposes, it would produce emissions equivalent to 11-14% of Australia’s total emissions in 2022 due to upstream development of the gas, as well as energy and gas used in LNG manufacture.

The government’s future gas strategy appears to offer an open door for Woodside Energy to extend the life of its massive North West Shelf gas plant until 2070, decades after when the world should be at net zero.

The Land Sleight Of Hand

Because we have very few real emissions policies, our emissions in many sectors are actually rising. The best way to understand this trend is to remove the energy and land use sectors, so we can clearly see how much other areas are rising.

When you do, the data shows Australia’s emissions jumped by 3% from 2022 to 2023 and are now 11% above 2005 levels, with the largest growth from transport.

Yet just as the Coalition did, our current government says emissions are dropping. How can this be?

Yes, energy emissions are dropping. But the real rub is in the famously malleable land use change and forestry sector.

This area is the only sector which can act as either a carbon sink or carbon source. If forests are regrowing fast, the sector acts as a sink, offsetting emissions from elsewhere.

If we include land and energy, emissions have now fallen 25% below 2005 levels as of 2023.



But if you exclude land use change, it’s only a 1% decline in emissions.



Our own calculations show that successive governments have kept increasing their projections for how much carbon they believe the land use sector is storing. That’s happened every year since 2018.

If you keep changing how big a carbon sink land use is, you seem to make the task of cutting emissions a lot easier. The topline figure of a 25% fall in emissions sounds great. But in reality, there’s been very little change, if we avoid land use.

The Albanese government has now repeatedly changed how it calculates how much carbon the land sector is storing, as well as future projections. Between the end of 2021 and 2023, the government’s figures changed markedly. Land use as a way to capture carbon soared, from 16 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year to a whopping 88 megatonnes a year as of 2022.

This is a staggering 17% of Australia’s 2022 fossil fuel and industry emissions. By changing these projections, our national emissions over 2022-23 magically appear to have fallen 6% in a year.

Every time the government recalculates how much carbon the land use sector is storing, the less work it has to do on actually cutting emissions from fossil fuels and industry sectors. That means it only needs emissions from fossil fuel use, industry, agriculture and waste to fall 24% by 2030, rather than 32%.

These changes to land use accounting may sound arcane, but they have very real consequences.

Offsets Now In Question

The Albanese government came to power promising action on climate and action on the environment. In the Government’s Future Gas Strategy we are seeing clear avoidance of the scientific evidence on the need to rapidly reduce fossil gas use to limit warming 1.5C, and on how rubbery and questionable carbon offsets are. Its net zero target strategy includes 10% of offsets.

Scientists have recently published work showing that of 143 projects registered under the government’s “Human Induced Regeneration” (HIR) offset program, the vast majority had seen minimal increases in carbon storage of less than 20%.

Most of these revegetation schemes had given us little or no real, additional and long-term increase in carbon storage, although the offsets have allowed real, additional carbon dioxide emissions to be pumped into the atmosphere, where they will remain for thousands of years.

No Credible Pathway

The only pathway we have left to limit warming to 1.5°C is political. Leaders must take up their responsibility to actually act and develop measures to rapidly cut carbon emissions.

Cutting emissions means not emitting them. Relying on offsets or changing how much we think the land is absorbing is not enough.

Sadly, our current government seems set on a sleight of hand. Rather than cutting fossil fuel and industry emissions 50% or more by 2030, as it should, the Australian government’s changes to land use accounting mean it has to do much less.

This is not a credible pathway towards net zero.The Conversation

Bill Hare, Adjunct Professor of Energy, Murdoch University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Groundwater is heating up, threatening life below and above the surface

Gabriel C. RauCC BY-SA
Gabriel C RauUniversity of NewcastleBarret KurylykDalhousie UniversityDylan IrvineCharles Darwin University, and Susanne BenzKarlsruhe Institute of Technology

Under your feet lies the world’s biggest reservoir. Groundwater makes up a whopping 97% of all usable freshwater. Where is it? In the voids between grains and cracks within rocks. We see it when it rises to the surface in springs, in caves, or when we pump it up for use.

While groundwater is often hidden, it underpins ecosystems around the world and is a vital resource for people.

You might think groundwater would be protected from climate change, given it’s underground. But this is no longer the case. As the atmosphere continues to heat up, more and more heat is penetrating underground. There is already considerable evidence that the subsurface is warming. The heat shows up in temperature measurements taken in boreholes around the world.

Our team of international scientists have combined our knowledge to model how groundwater will heat up in the future. Under a realistic middle of the road greenhouse gas emission scenario, with a projected mean global atmospheric temperature rise of 2.7°C, groundwater will warm by an average of 2.1°C by 2100, compared to 2000.

This warming varies by region and is delayed by decades compared to the surface, because it takes time to heat up the underground mass. Our results can be accessed by everyone globally.

cenote, groundwater
A sinkhole, cave or pit offers us a rare chance to see groundwater below ground. Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock

Why Does It Matter?

You might wonder what the consequences of hotter groundwater will be.

First, the good news. Warming beneath the land’s surface is trapping 25 times less energy than the ocean, but it is still significant. This heat is stored in layers down to tens of metres deep, making it easier to access. We could use this extra heat to sustainably warm our homes by tapping into it just a few meters below the surface.

The heat can be extracted using heat pumps, powered by electricity from renewable energies. Geothermal heat pumps are surging in popularity for space heating across Europe.

Unfortunately, the bad news is likely to far outweigh the good. Warmer groundwater is harmful for the rich array of life found underground – and for the many plants and animals who depend on groundwater for their survival. Any changes in temperature can seriously disrupt the niche they have adapted to.

To date, the highest groundwater temperature increases are in parts of Russia, where surface temperatures have risen by more than 1.5°C since 2000. In Australia, significant variations in groundwater temperatures are expected within the shallowest layers.

Groundwater regularly flows out to feed lakes and rivers around the world, as well as the ocean, supporting a range of groundwater dependent ecosystems.

If warmer groundwater flows into your favourite river or lake, it will add to the extra heat from the sun. This could mean fish and other species will find it too warm to survive. Warm waters also hold less oxygen. Lack of oxygen in rivers and lakes have already become a major cause of mass fish deaths, as we’ve seen recently in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin.

Cold water species such as Atlantic salmon have adapted to a water temperature window provided by continuous cool groundwater discharge. As these thermal refuges heat up, it will upend their breeding cycle.

atlantic salmon
Atlantic salmon rely on areas with constant water temperature facilitated by reliable groundwater discharge to time their spawning. Marek Rybar/Shutterstock

Groundwater Is Vital

In many parts of the world, people rely on groundwater as their main source of drinking water. But groundwater warming can worsen the quality of the water we drink. Temperature influences everything from chemical reactions to microbial activity. Warmer water could, for instance, trigger more harmful reactions, where metals leach out into the water. This is especially concerning in areas where access to clean drinking water is already limited.

Industries such as farming, manufacturing and energy production often rely on groundwater for their operations. If the groundwater they depend on becomes too warm or more contaminated, it can disrupt their activities.

Our study is global, but we have to find out more about how groundwater is warming and what impact this could have locally. By studying how groundwater temperatures are changing over time and across different regions, we can better predict future trends and find strategies to adapt or reduce the effects.

Global groundwater warming is a hidden but very significant consequence of climate change. While the impacts will be delayed, they stretch far and wide. They will affect ecosystems, drinking water supplies and industries around the world.The Conversation

Gabriel C Rau, Lecturer in Hydrogeology, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of NewcastleBarret Kurylyk, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Coastal Water Resources, Dalhousie UniversityDylan Irvine, Outstanding Future Researcher - Northern Water Futures, Charles Darwin University, and Susanne Benz, Freigeist Fellow, Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (IPF), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

What will Australia’s proposed Environment Information Agency do for nature?

Hugh PossinghamThe University of QueenslandJaana DielenbergCharles Darwin UniversityMichelle WardGriffith University, and Peter BurnettAustralian National University

Last week, the Albanese government introduced legislation to create a new statutory body called Environment Information Australia. The bill is due for debate in parliament today. The government clearly expects the bill will pass, because the new body has already been allocated A$54 million over four years in the May budget.

Why do we need it? Australia’s natural world is in steep decline – based on what we know. But there’s much we don’t know.

Australia has a fairly poor track record of effectively monitoring biodiversity. It’s hard to care for and restore nature if we don’t know how we are tracking, where to invest our efforts and into which activities.

The proposed agency will make environmental data more accessible by creating a platform where data from multiple sources can be pooled. These sources include: federal, state and territory governments, universities, research infrastructure platforms such as the Atlas of Living Australia and the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network, industry and citizen scientist data.

Increased access to relevant data would enable governments to better report on how well our environment is being managed.

The agency fills a gap in our environmental management regime. But by itself, it won’t improve outcomes for nature.

The most important actions needed to reduce Australia’s rapid losses of nature are the long-promised stronger environmental protection laws, which have been delayed indefinitely and a many-fold increase in funding for on-ground conservation programs.

Why Do We Need This?

In 2018, a national review of how Australia monitors its threatened species found 33% had never been monitored, while many others were only poorly monitored.

Without robust information, we can’t focus our efforts where there is most need. We need to know where threatened plants and animals are still surviving, whether their populations are rising or falling, and what threatens them.

While some of this data already exists, it is owned by hundreds of different organisations.

Many of these monitoring activities are already undertaken inside the federal environment department. But there are some notable steps forward in what is being proposed in the new legislation.

Firstly, efforts to increase the public sharing of data should be applauded.

One of the three objects of the proposed act is to “improve the availability and accessibility of high quality national environmental information and data,” though the detail is yet to be released.

Another good change is requiring the important State of the Environment snapshot reports to be produced every two years, rather than every five.

The legislation also mandates the production of comprehensive and ongoing national environmental economic accounts by law.

These accounts – also called “natural capital accounts” – are useful to track the health of different environmental assets at all scales, from the habitat of a single threatened species to the entire continent.

While this is a positive step, it could be better. As the laws stand, these accounts would be narrowly focused on describing the condition of the environment and its relationship with the economy.

Because environmental accounts are standardised and ongoing, they offer an ideal platform for measuring changes in environmental conditions. They could support a major expansion of our small set of useful environmental indicators, such as the Threatened Species Index.

Ideally we should have annual robust indices for a wide range of national environmental assets such as soil, water, plants, animals, ecosystems, and nature’s contribution to people at all scales.

Measuring Progress Against Targets

One of the goals of the proposed agency will be to measure our progress toward becoming “nature positive”.

The nature positive concept has been embraced internationally. The goal is ambitious: halt biodiversity decline by 2030 against a 2020 baseline and achieve recovery by 2050.

Unfortunately, the government is proposing to embed a watered-down version of nature positive, leaving out the target dates and leaving the baseline open.

In response many Australian environmental scientists are urging the government to align with the international definition.

In November 2023, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek talked proudly of the leading role Australia played in securing an ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework. This agreement has 23 targets which signatory nations have agreed to in an effort to stop the loss of species and nature.

To measure progress toward the target of protecting 30% of lands and seas by 2030, we will need data on what areas are protected, how they’re managed and which bioregions and plant communities they represent. That’s a job for the new agency.

Towards True Nature Positive Development

Despite the recent deferral, the government has committed to reform our national environmental laws. These reforms need to include strong protections for habitat crucial to the survival and recovery of threatened species and ecological communities.

Here, too, the proposed agency should have a role, by modelling and mapping these critical habitats, which will help mark important areas as off limits to development. This could actually help accelerate building approvals by avoiding developers spending time on proposals unlikely to meet approvals.

If the agency is to be truly independent, as the government has promised, it will need to tackle tricky issues governments tend to shy away from, including a fully transparent account of environmental expenditures.

That covers not just the tiny amount the federal government spends on biodiversity protection, which languishes below 0.1% of total government spending, but total investment across all levels of government and different sectors.

If we want to tackle Australia’s biodiversity crisis we have to be absolutely clear about the problems we are seeking to solve and get the basics right. The Conversation

Hugh Possingham, Professor of Conservation Biology, The University of QueenslandJaana Dielenberg, University Fellow in Biodiversity, Charles Darwin UniversityMichelle Ward, Lecturer, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, and Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

A renewable energy transition that doesn’t harm nature? It’s not just possible, it’s essential

Shutterstock
Brendan WintleThe University of MelbourneAndrew RogersThe University of MelbourneJames WatsonThe University of QueenslandMichelle WardThe University of Queensland, and Sarah BekessyRMIT University

Earth is facing a human-driven climate crisis, which demands a rapid transition to low-carbon energy sources such as wind and solar power. But we’re also living through a mass extinction event. Never before in human history have there been such high such rates of species loss and ecosystem collapse.

The biodiversity crisis is not just distressing, it’s a major threat to the global economy. More than half of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) directly depends on nature. The World Economic Forum rates biodiversity loss in the top risks to the global economy over the next decade, after climate change and natural disasters.

Human-driven climate change damages nature – and loss of nature exacerbates climate change. So if humanity’s efforts to mitigate climate change end up damaging nature, we shoot ourselves in the foot.

Australia, however, must face up to an uncomfortable truth: we are putting renewable energy projects in places that damage the species and ecosystems on which we depend.

wind turbines on cleared land
Wind turbines North Queensland. Australia is putting renewable energy projects in places that damage the species and ecosystems we depend on. Steve Nowakowski, Rainforest Reserves Australia

Renewables On The Run

Renewable energy projects are being developed that damage nature and culturally significant sites. Others are resented by communities, or fail at regulatory hurdles.

Environmentally damaging projects put another nail in the coffin of species and ecosystems already under immense pressure. Even those that affect a relatively small area contribute to nature’s “death by a thousand cuts”.

Take, for example, the proposed Euston wind farm in southwest New South Wales. It would entail 96 turbines built near the Willandra Lakes World Heritage area, potentially affecting threatened birds.

And in North Queensland, the Upper Burdekin wind farm proposal will remove 769 hectares of endangered species habitat relied on by Sharman’s wallabies, koalas and northern greater gliders. The cleared area would be almost 200 times bigger than the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The simple overlay below, which we prepared, illustrates the problem in Queensland. The analysis, part of a research project funded by Boundless Earth, shows in stark detail the crossover between energy projects, transmission lines and nationally listed threatened species habitats and ecosystems.

SNES count
Map of Queensland. Darker green indicates habitats for a larger number of species. Existing and proposed renewable energy projects are in bright red. Existing transmission infrastructure in blue. Source data - https://fed.dcceew.gov.au/datasets/9d313bb078b9421ebebc835b3a69c470/about. Source: Authors

The ‘Fast-Track’ Can Also Be The Good Track

In their understandable haste to get more clean energy projects built, state and federal governments are promising to “streamline” approvals processes. Fast-tracked approvals will only provide net social benefit if they are based on good data, sound analysis and genuine community engagement.

Two successive reviews of our national environmental laws, most recently by Graeme Samuel, identified what’s needed to improve the efficiency of development approvals and get better outcomes for nature. The answer? Good planning at the regional scale, underpinned by good data.

At a minimum, we need to know the locations of threatened or culturally significant species and places, high-value agriculture and valuable natural areas. A proposed new federal body, Environmental Information Australia, would seek to centralise existing biodiversity data. But significantly more data are required to fill important knowledge gaps.

Good planning can create shared purpose and bring positive environmental and social outcomes, including certainty to developers and conservationists. In Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park has enjoyed strong planning support based on good data and high community participation for more than 30 years, with some conservation success.

In contrast, poor planning polarises stakeholders and communities. It erodes trust between stakeholders, developers and government by reducing the integrity and quality of planning decisions. This leads to ongoing conflict over land use, as has been observed in Queensland.

A proposal to build a renewable energy microgrid in Queensland’s Daintree rainforest is a case in point. It is causing pain for local communities, pitting renewable energy advocates against conservation organisations.

When projects fail to gain community support and necessary approvals, the proponent’s money is wasted, and we lose precious time in the urgent transition to renewables.

Renewables Projects Should Enhance Nature

It’s surprising and disappointing how few proponents of Australian renewables projects actively seek to enhance the habitat values of the land their projects occupy.

In part, this is because planning regulations are still firmly focused on avoiding impacts to nature, and offsetting damage when it occurs.

Instead, we need policies and laws that compel nature-positive approaches that regenerate biodiversity.

In California, for example, a test project to grow native plants under solar panels is restoring prairie land and pollinator habitat at the site of a decommissioned nuclear power station. In Australia, there are occasional signs we may move in a similar direction.

It’s not hard to envisage a renewables rollout that prioritises projects on degraded, ex-agricultural land, avoiding damage to critical habitats and benefiting nature. Wind turbines should be built away from natural vegetation and migratory routes for birds and bats.

Our mapping for potential wind and solar projects in southern Queensland shows strong potential west of the Great Dividing Range for energy generation without the same level of land-use conflict with natural values and productive agriculture.

wind capacity in queensland
The wind capacity factor with infrastructure in red and blue. Bright yellow indicates high wind capacity. Authors with source data from Geoscience Australia: https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/api/records/0b2f1c73-0358-4ff0-9572-2d1ab5077566

A major challenge to energy project development in Queensland, as in some other parts of Australia, is a lack of transmission infrastructure, or “poles and wires”, in the places where renewable energy and nature could most happily coexist. This infrastructure should urgently be developed in a way that does not impact natural vegetation and species habitats.

Rapidly reaching net zero is not negotiable to avoiding the worst ravages of climate change. But doing so in a way that damages nature is self-defeating. We have the planning tools and data needed to create a nature-positive climate transition. Now we need adequate state and Commonwealth government investment, leadership and political will.

The Conversation

Brendan Wintle, Professor in Conservation Science, School of Ecosystem and Forest Science, The University of MelbourneAndrew Rogers, Biodiversity lead analyst, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of MelbourneJames Watson, Professor in Conservation Science, School of the Environment, The University of QueenslandMichelle Ward, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Queensland, and Sarah Bekessy, Professor in Sustainability and Urban Planning, Leader, Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Research Group (ICON Science), RMIT University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

What’s that in my nest? How the evolutionary arms race between cuckoos and hosts creates new species

A superb fairy wren foster parent about to feed a Horsfield’s bronze cuckoo chick. Mark Lethlean
Naomi LangmoreAustralian National UniversityAlicia GrealyCSIROClare HolleleyCSIRO, and Iliana MedinaThe University of Melbourne

How do new species arise? And why are there so many of them? One possible reason is the arms race between animals such as predators and parasites, and the victims they exploit.

Many predators and parasites have evolved specialised strategies to avoid detection, such as mimicking their prey or host. In these cases, when the exploiter adopts a new victim, it needs to mimic the new victim to succeed.

As a result, the exploiter can diverge from its original population and ultimately become a new species. Charles Darwin proposed this process more than 160 years ago, but it has been difficult to observe in practice.

In new research published in Science, we show how this process drives the creation of new species of cuckoos. These birds lay their eggs in the nests of other species, and their chicks mimic the appearance of their host’s chicks to avoid detection.

An Escalating Arms Race

The deceptive behaviour of bronze-cuckoos imposes heavy costs on their hosts. They lay their eggs in the nests of small songbirds, such as fairy wrens and gerygones, and abandon their young to the care of the host.

Soon after hatching, the cuckoo evicts the host eggs or chicks from the nest to become the sole occupant. The host parents not only lose all their own offspring, but also invest several weeks rearing the cuckoo, which eventually grows to around twice the size of its foster parents.

Short video loop of an adult bird grabbing a chick from a nest
A large-billed gerygone evicting a cuckoo chick from its nest. Hee-Jin Noh

Not surprisingly, given these high costs, hosts have evolved the ability to recognise and reject odd-looking chicks from their nests.

Only the cuckoo chicks that most closely resemble the host’s chicks will evade detection, and so with each generation, the cuckoo chicks become a closer and closer match to the host chicks. This is why the chicks of each species of bronze-cuckoo look almost identical to their hosts’ chicks.

Photos of four pairs of chicks, each similar in appearance.
Each bronze-cuckoo species mimics the appearance of its host’s chicks. Naomi Langmore

Divergence Between Populations That Exploit Different Hosts

This exquisite mimicry has evolved to an even more fine-tuned level. Within a single species of bronze-cuckoo that exploits several different hosts, the appearance of the chicks tracks that of their hosts.

In response to chick rejection by hosts, both the little bronze-cuckoo and the shining bronze-cuckoo have diverged into several separate subspecies. Each subspecies exploits a different host and produces a chick that matches that of the host.

Photos of different appearances of different cuckoo subspecies.
Subspecies of the little bronze-cuckoo and the shining bronze-cuckoo track the appearance of their host’s chicks across their geographic range. A. Little bronze-cuckoo and mangrove gerygone host. B. Little bronze-cuckoo and large-billed gerygone host. C. Little bronze-cuckoo and fairy gerygone host. D. Shining bronze-cuckoo and yellow-rumped thornbill host. E. Shining bronze-cuckoo and fan-tailed gerygone host. F. Shining bronze-cuckoo and grey warbler host. Naomi Langmore, Hee-Jin Noh, Rose Thorogood, Alfredo Attisano

This divergence can happen even when two hosts live in the same geographic area. In northern Queensland, the little bronze-cuckoo exploits both the large-billed gerygone and the fairy gerygone. The cuckoos have undergone selection to match the chicks of their respective hosts, leading to genetic divergence into two separate subspecies.

This shows the split into subspecies cannot be explained by geographic separation.

A Higher Cost For Hosts Leads To More New Species

It was difficult to find out exactly what was happening with these birds, because we couldn’t easily find cuckoo chicks in host nests in the wild. So we developed a non-destructive method for extracting DNA from the shells of tiny cuckoo eggs (2.5cm long), which allowed us to sample museum egg specimens that have been collected over many decades.

Photo of a tiny egg with an even tinier hole drilled in it.
A museum cuckoo eggshell specimen, showing the original blowhole in the specimen and the tiny expansion of the blowhole to extract DNA. Naomi Langmore

Our results also suggest that the evolution of cuckoos and their hosts is most likely to drive the creation of new species when the cuckoos impose a high cost on their hosts – such as by killing off all the host’s own offspring. This leads to an “evolutionary arms race” between the host’s defences and the cuckoo’s counter-adaptations.

This finding was supported by our broad analysis using evolutionary modelling across all cuckoo species. We found lineages that are most costly to their hosts split into new species more often than less costly cuckoo species (those that live alongside their host’s chicks) and their non-parasitic relatives.

Interactions between exploiters and their victims may be one of the main drivers of biodiversity. The process of speciation we described, in which the exploiter shows very specialised adaptations to their victim, may occur in other parasites and hosts, and in predators and prey. These tightly coupled interactions might even explain why there are millions, rather than thousands, of uniquely specialised species across the globe.The Conversation

Naomi Langmore, Professor, Australian National UniversityAlicia Grealy, Research Projects Officer, CSIROClare Holleley, Senior Research Scientist, Australian National Wildlife Collection, CSIRO, and Iliana Medina, Lecturer in Ecology, The University of Melbourne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

How Many Hairs Are On Your Head?

Depending on hair colour, the average person has between 90,000 and 150,000 hairs on their head.

American scientists tell us this averages, via hair colour, as:

Blonde 150,000 brown haired 110,000 black haired 100,000 red haired 90,000. 

In the scalp, each hair grows steadily, approximately 1 cm per month, and continuously for 3 to 5 years (called the 'anagen' phase). Growth then stops and is followed by a brief transient stage (catagen) and a 2- to 4-month resting stage (telogen), during which old hair is shed. 

With the onset of the anagen stage, new hair starts to grow from the same follicle. Anagen is the active phase of the hair. The cells in the root of the hair divide rapidly. A new hair is formed and pushes the club hair (a hair that has stopped growing or is no longer in the anagen phase) up the follicle and eventually out. 

During this phase, hair grows about 1 cm every 28 days. Scalp hair stays in this active phase of growth for 2 to 6 years. The growth process functions independently in each follicle, therefore, hairs are not shed simultaneously as they are in many animals. At any given time, some hairs are growing, some are resting, and some are being shed. 

Normally, of approximately 150,000 scalp hairs, 90% are in the anagen phase, and the remaining 10% are in the catagen and telogen phases, with 50 to 100 hairs being shed daily.

In addition, we all have around 25,000 body hairs, 420 eyelashes, and 600 eyebrows!

Eyebrows prevent sweat, water, and other debris from above from falling down into the eye.

Eyelashes are hairs on the edges of the eyelids that catch dust and dirt when the eye is blinked.

Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The soft, fine hair found on many non-human mammals is typically called 'fur'.

The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin (where hair does not grow - the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet), is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fine vellus hair. 


Polar bears use their fur for warmth and while their skin is black, their transparent fur appears white and provides camouflage while hunting and serves as protection by hiding cubs in the snow. Photo: Steve Amstrup - United States Fish and Wildlife Service, USFWS

Each strand of hair is made up of the medulla, cortex, and cuticle. 

The innermost region, the medulla, is an open and unstructured region which is not always present. The highly structural and organized cortex, or second of three layers of the hair, is the primary source of mechanical strength and water uptake. The cortex contains melanin, which colours the fibre based on the number, distribution and types of melanin granules. The melanin may be evenly spaced or cluster around the edges of the hair.


Anatomy of the hair shaft and bulb.

The shape of the follicle determines the shape of the cortex, and the shape of the fibre is related to how straight or curly the hair is. People with straight hair have round hair fibres. Oval and other shaped fibres are generally more wavy or curly. The cuticle is the outer covering. Its complex structure slides as the hair swells and is covered with a single molecular layer of lipid that makes the hair repel water. The diameter of human hair varies from 0.017 to 0.18 millimetres (0.00067 to 0.00709 in).

Some of these characteristics in humans' head hair vary by race: people of mostly African ancestry tend to have hair with a diameter of 60-90 μm and a flat cross-section, while people of mostly European or Middle Eastern ancestry tend to have hair with a diameter of 70-100 μm and an oval cross-section, and people of mostly Asian or Native American ancestry tend to have hair with a diameter of 90-120 μm and a round cross-section.

There are roughly two million small, tubular glands and sweat glands that produce watery fluids that cool the human body by evaporation. The glands at the opening of the hair produce a fatty secretion that lubricates the hair.


A scanning electron microscope image showing the difference in size and texture between a superfine Merino wool fibre (top) and a human hair. Image: CSIRO

All natural hair colors are the result of two types of hair pigments. Both of these pigments are melanin types, produced inside the hair follicle and packed into granules found in the fibres. 

Eumelanin is the dominant pigment in brown hair and black hair, while pheomelanin is dominant in red hair. Blond hair is the result of having little pigmentation in the hair strand. Grey hair occurs when melanin production decreases or stops, while poliosis is white hair (and often the skin to which the hair is attached), typically in spots that never possessed melanin at all, or ceased for natural reasons, generally genetic, in the first years of life.

The world's longest documented hair belongs to Xie Qiuping (in China), at 5.627 m (18 ft 5.54 in) when measured on 8 May 2004. She has been growing her hair since 1973, from the age of 13.


Marianne Ernst, a German "Long hair model".

Arcus 'Roll' Clouds: Palm Beach

Photographed by Adriaan van der Wallen, June 4 2024
An arcus cloud is a low, horizontal cloud formation, usually appearing as an accessory cloud to a cumulonimbus. Roll clouds and shelf clouds are the two main types of arcus clouds. They most frequently form along the leading edge or gust fronts of thunderstorms; some of the most dramatic arcus formations mark the gust fronts of derecho-producing convective systems. Roll clouds may also arise in the absence of thunderstorms, forming along the shallow cold air currents of some sea breeze boundaries and cold fronts.

A roll cloud is a low, horizontal, tube-shaped, and relatively rare type of arcus cloud. They differ from shelf clouds by being completely detached from other cloud features. Roll clouds usually appear to be "rolling" about a horizontal axis. They are a solitary wave called a soliton, which is a wave that has a single crest and moves without changing speed or shape. This rolling is due to the variation in speed and direction of the winds with altitude (wind shear).

One of the most famous frequent occurrences is the Morning Glory cloud in Queensland, Australia, which can occur up to four out of ten days in October. One of the main causes of the Morning Glory cloud is the mesoscale circulation associated with sea breezes that develop over the Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Such coastal roll clouds have been seen in many places, including California, the English Channel, Shetland Islands, the North Sea coast, coastal regions of Australia, and Nome, Alaska.

However, similar features can be created by downdrafts from thunderstorms or advancing cold front, and are not exclusively associated with coastal regions. They have been reported at different locations inland.

Laura Jones wins the 2024 Archibald Prize with a portrait of Tim Winton, part of a grand artistic tradition

Winner Archibald Prize 2024, Laura Jones, Tim Winton, oil on linen, 198 x 152.5 cm. © the artist, image © Art Gallery of New South Wales, Jenni Carter
Joanna MendelssohnThe University of Melbourne

In awarding this year’s Archibald Prize to Laura Jones’ portrait of the writer Tim Winton, the Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales are doing what they do best: catapulting a relatively unknown artist to instant fame and possible fortune.

Her portrait of Winton is a study of a man in emotional pain, as he contemplates the possible futures of the world around him.

One of the great disadvantages of being a writer or an artist is that they can see what politicians do not: the long-term consequences of abusing the environment. Both Winton the subject and Jones the artist see our planet is on a path to environmental doom.

Jones met Winton when she was undertaking a residency to study the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, so it is appropriate the tones she has chosen as the background to his portrait are dull and muted like a degraded world.

Most of the painting is thinly painted with the exception of his face. This gives the portrait an extra impact.

Although Laura Jones has been a finalist in four previous Archibald Prize exhibitions and has exhibited widely, her profile indicates the only significant collection to hold her work is Artbank, the collection of the Australian government.

That is all about to change.

Winner Archibald Prize 2024, Laura Jones with her winning work Tim Winton, oil on linen, 198 x 152.5 cm. © the artist, image © Art Gallery of New South Wales, Diana Panuccio

In what may be a coincidence, another exhibition on the same floor is a solo exhibition by a previous Archibald winner, Wendy Sharpe, whose painterly approach is similar to Jones.

Sharpe’s work not only relates to Jones’ painting in style, but also the circumstance of her winning the prize. In 1996, Sharpe was a relatively unknown artist when she too was awarded the Archibald Prize. The prize was the trigger for a career that has included a stint of being a Gallery Trustee.

The Archibald really does sprinkle fairy dust.

Djakaŋu Yunupiŋu Wins The Wynne Prize

When the board president of the trustees, David Gonski, announced the Wynne Prize he took great joy in noting this year the majority of the entrants selected for hanging were Aboriginal artists.

Awarded to “the best landscape painting of Australian scenery in oils or watercolours or for the best example of figure sculpture by Australian artists”, this oldest of all Australian art prizes has come a long way from when it was dominated by paintings of gum trees in pastoral landscapes.

Djakaŋu Yunupiŋu’s painting, Nyalala gurmilili, is a celebration of sunrise in Miḏawarr (the harvest season following the wet) when sudden showers surprise during the day.

A black and white bark painting.
Winner Wynne Prize 2024, Djakaŋu Yunupiŋu, Nyalala gurmilili, natural pigments on bark, 263 x 154 cm. © the artist, image © Art Gallery of New South Wales, Jenni Carter

It is probably the largest bark painting to be exhibited in the gallery, a glorious undulating pattern of rhythms and shapes.

There is a special significance in this artist being awarded the prize for this work at this gallery.

Many years ago her father, Muŋgurrawuy Yunupiŋu, was one of a group of Yolngu elders who sat with the gallery’s assistant director, Tony Tuckson, and showed him the connection between painting and lore. Muŋgurrawuy Yunupiŋu’s bark paintings are among the treasures of the Art Gallery of NSW’s collection.

Naomi Kantjuriny Wins The Sulman Prize

Unlike the Archibald and Wynne Prizes, which are judged by the trustees, the Sulman Prize for best subject painting, genre painting or mural project has a single judge, usually an artist.

This means every year the exhibition has a different flavour, reflecting the judge’s taste. This year’s judge, Tom Polo, selected an exhibition ranging from the traditional formalism of David Eastwood to the conceptual humour of Kenny Pittock.

He has awarded the prize to Naomi Kantjuriny for her painting Minyma mamu tjuta, from the Tjala Arts Centre. She has described her painting as being about the stories told and her culture.

It is a lively painting of spirits, good and bad, dancing in the land, gathering around people, always present.

The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2024 are on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, until September 8.The Conversation

Joanna Mendelssohn, Honorary (Senior Fellow) School of Culture and Communication University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, The University of Melbourne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Fee-Free Training To Deliver Almost 40,000 New Apprentices And Trainees

June 13, 2024
The Minns Labor Government has announced it will invest $16.3 million to continue fee-free training for apprentices and trainees across the state, which will fund more than 20,000 new apprentices and 19,000 trainees.

The investment covers student fees of up to $2000 for apprentices and up to $1000 for trainees, removing any up-front costs for those taking up apprenticeship and traineeship opportunities.

''This ensures that anyone who wants to access vocational training and education can afford to do so.

The program is critical to build a future workforce in areas such as carpentry, plumbing and electrical – all critical skills to the delivery of the NSW Government’s housing supply strategy.'' the government stated

The most popular traineeships are also in high-demand areas such as early childhood education and care, aged care, disability care and other sectors of the economy such as retail, hospitality and administration.

''Importantly, the program reduces administrative red tape and business costs for employers, and addresses cost of living pressures on our emerging skilled workforce, who are predominantly young people. The places will be available to all new apprentices and trainees starting their courses during the next financial year.

Additionally, the Minns Labor Government has stated it will invest $190.2 million to undertake urgent repairs at TAFE NSW campuses across the state.''

''This will help to address chronic underfunding by the former government which resulted in dilapidated buildings, outdated digital devices, and unreliable Wi-Fi.

The new funding builds on a record $300 million capital investment in last year’s budget, which has gone towards building repairs and updating Wi-Fi systems at 28 of our regional campuses.

This investment sits alongside the joint Commonwealth and NSW Government Fee-Free TAFE initiative which has delivered over 156,000 enrolments in vocational education since April 2023.

This announcement is part of the Minns Labor Government’s commitment to addressing skills shortages in critical sectors, delivering apprentices and trainees across housing, construction, manufacturing, childcare, disability, and aged care.'' the government stated

Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education Steve Whan said:
“The 2024 to 2025 Budget continues to demonstrate the Minns Labor Government’s commitment to addressing skills shortages in critical sectors supported by apprentices and trainees including housing, construction, manufacturing, childcare, disability and aged care.

“We are reducing costs to employers and removing financial barriers for those wanting to move into the skills workforce in highly paid, highly skilled jobs.

“The Minns Labor Government also has an absolute focus on trying to overcome the shortage that we have in residential accommodation in NSW and developing the skills to build those houses is a key part of delivering on that commitment.

“In order to attract and retain a skilled workforce in NSW, we know we have to deliver world-class educational facilities. We have over 1700 TAFE buildings in the state and know that they were left to ruin after the neglect of the Liberal and National Government.

“We’ll invest in fixing our TAFE NSW infrastructure and expanding the access to Wi-Fi across our regional campuses in order to give our apprentices and trainees the best possible starts to their careers”. 

Your Voice Our Future: Have Your Say

The NSW Government is seeking feedback from young people on how the government can better support them in NSW.

The Minister for Youth, the Hon. Rose Jackson, MLC and the NSW Government is seeking feedback from young people aged 14 to 24 years on how the government can better support young people in NSW. The online survey asks about:

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Your feedback will be summarised and and shared with the Minister for Youth, the Hon. Rose Jackson to inform ministerial priorities. It will also be promoted across NSW Government departments to help deliver better programs and services for young people. By completing the survey, you can go in a monthly draw to win a gift card of your choice up to the value of $250*.

This survey has been developed by the Minister for Youth, the Hon. Rose Jackson, MLC, the Office of the Advocate of Children and Young People (ACYP) and the Office for Regional Youth.

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If you opt in to receive more communications about this work, you will be asked to provide your contact details so that you can be kept updated. You may also be contacted to see if you would like to participate in further surveys or activities.

If you opt in to enter the monthly draw, your contact details will be needed to request your preferred e-gift card so we can deliver it via email, if you win. If you win, we may publicise your first name, age and suburb on NSW Government webpages, social media and other public communications.

If you are under 18, you will also need to provide the contact details of your parent/guardian who may be contacted directly to confirm consent for you to participate.

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Have your say by Tuesday 31 December 2024.

You can submit your feedback via an online survey, here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/have-your-say/your-voice-our-future


The internet of animals? An inside account of an ambitious plan to track animal movements across the globe

Paul McGreevyUniversity of Sydney

The Internet of Animals is a clever, tempting book title and author Martin Wikelski draws us in with the promise of “discovering the collective intelligence of life on earth”. This book reflects on decades of work tracking animals, offering a vision of future technologies.

Wikelski is director of Germany’s Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior where he and his colleagues investigate global animal migrations. They have pioneered a system for continuously remotely tracking thousands of animals, called ICARUS, short for International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space. Their aim is to create an intelligent sensor network of animals (dubbed the “internet of animals”) and protect animals worldwide.


Review: The Internet of Animals – Martin Wikelski (Scribe)


Wikelski’s core research team has mounted an antenna on a satellite, enabling it to track various species, including vultures and toucans, with small, solar-powered trackers.

Its current ICARUS project began collecting data in September 2020. This 18-year journey depended on interactions with the European Space Agency, the European Research Council and Roscosmos (the Russian space agency).

The team’s ultimate goal is to have little GPS devices on representative samples of numerous species to reveal what decisions they make in the world, what knowledge they accumulate over their lifetimes and all the places they have been. The ambition is totally worthy even if the returns on investment so far may seem elusive to some.

Animal gatherings may catch the human eye but their biological functions can be complex. For instance, starlings may learn, from observing each other during their balletic evening murmurations, to identify individuals who have found the best feeding sites.

The ICARUS project has an impressive vision of anticipated data streams and future studies. These are largely intended to study the movements of birds and insects and may well reveal how natural hazards and human interactions affect animal populations. They should also provide data on the possible spread of plant seeds and pathogens.

Rats, Cats And Storks

Wikelski’s work has taken him all over the world, especially to isolated places. Time spent in isolation has clearly given him the opportunity to reflect on lessons learned from observing animals. The account of his academic journey is peppered with charming anecdotes intended to remind us what we do not yet know about animal behaviour.

These include the tale of a domestic cat he encountered, which responded to human pointing gestures, and a wild fox that spontaneously retrieved thrown sticks.

Wikelski gives names to individual animals whose behaviour lies outside the species norm. Thus we meet Hanzi, the European white stork who took a series of detours and survived a Bavarian winter only because he was cared for by a farming family, and Baby Caruso, a delightfully vocal young, male sea lion.

Details of his time spent in the Galapagos Islands are truly remarkable, allowing rice rats with negligible experience of predators to take a starring role. The author developed a fondness for these rodents. He makes a gallant attempt to remediate the profile of rats in general although he had to accept these rats would merrily eat through his tent and occasionally bite his buttocks.

A secondary purpose of this tale is to illustrate the rats’ extraordinary homing ability. When one annoying rice rat was relocated a 20-minute walk away from Wikelski’s campsite, it turned up within a couple of hours of departure.

Homing behaviour in various species lends itself to tracking because of its predictability. It has provided an excellent test-bed for telemetry – the remote collection and automatic transmission of data to receiving equipment for monitoring.

The conclusions Wikelski draws from these fascinating observations may alarm those who have been sensitised to anthropomorphism, but they have merit. In keeping with its call for humility on the part of conventional scientists, his book also acknowledges how many First Nations people have drawn on the behaviour of animals to inform strategies for their survival.

Technical Questions

Wikelski has developed transmitters small enough to be carried by dragonflies. This deserves praise from a technological perspective but leaves the reader wondering how many animals were impacted by being captured and fitted with prototypes.

We are told birds adjust their own body-weight to accommodate the centre of mass of the tiny transmitters used by Wikelski’s team. In a similar vein, 6-inch (15 cm) long antennae were used on blackbirds even though they projected beyond the tail-feathers. This specification was required for transmission to the satellite but one wonders how authentic the resultant data are when birds are moving with the burden of a foreign body occupying space immediately around them.

Also, Wikelski and many other telemetrists’ use of collars limits research to adult animals because radio collars sized for young wearers become too tight as the animal grows.

Furthermore, as it ages, the epoxy above the solar panel on a tracker can become cracked and grey. This can mean charging is compromised. Meanwhile, the base of the housing touching the back of the animal may be too rough and may damage the pelage or plumage or even the skin of the wearer.

The Sixth Sense?

Wikelski anticipates the next waves of wearable tracking technology will reveal the sixth sense animals are often said to have. For instance, in apparent anticipation of earthquakes, elephants will travel to higher ground.

In animal behaviour circles, revealing this sixth sense and its true nature is akin to the search in physics for gravitational waves or the Higgs boson particle.

We are introduced to Move Bank, an open source archive of the movement of animals across the planet. Resources such as this help to reveal the costs of migration in songbirds (for example, how much energy is being used or the risk of being eaten by predators, or being exposed to dangerous weather systems) and how migrations trend over time. Move Bank was established 25 years ago to help animal tracking researchers manage, share, protect, analyse and archive their data.

Since then Move Bank has been the source of hundreds of research articles but Wikelski gives us a sense of how vulnerable “blue-sky” science projects are to the whims of government and the global economy. Who knew pandemics and wars could also disrupt the best laid plans for international research collaborations?

In a twist of fate, the ICARUS project eventually went live on 20th March 2020 at almost the same time the global COVID pandemic started. This meant human activity on the globe shut down – the so-called anthropause. Fortuitously it meant animal movements could be studied with a minimum amount of human impact.

In the wake of the pandemic, the prospects of using animals’ GPS locations to monitor the spread of zoonotic disease is truly beguiling. For instance, all countries should be interested in the migration of wild birds given its clear relationship to the spread of avian flu.

The collegiality and tenacity multidisciplinary teams require for intercontinental tracking of animals are celebrated in this book and the author demonstrates great humility in listening to technicians and senior authors from related disciplines. The call for greater collaboration among competing research groups is loud and clear.

But Wikelski leaves us in no doubt his discipline’s dependence on satellite tracking has been characterised by serial frustrations. The war on Ukraine has meant the International Space Station is no longer available to host the key tracking satellite involved in the ICARUS Project. (We are told only one receiving device could be made – and mounted – on the satellite.)

Instead, from late 2024, the transmitters fitted to the animals will transmit their position and other data to a receiver on a mini satellite (a CubeSat). From there, the data will be sent to a ground station and published in the Movebank database, which is freely accessible.

Cover of The Internet of Animals
Goodreads

A great deal of research work thus hinges on single items of technology. Nevertheless, Wikelski’s book ends with a veritable shopping list of anticipated research projects.

We are reminded that the “internet of animals” is still in its infancy. But this doesn’t stop the author envisioning what he calls a daily life-cast (not weather forecast) about our planet and the animals in it. He even foresees modern technology allowing a representative online “parliamentary gathering of animals” in which thousands of species can be monitored in the wild by individuals all over the world.

This process of witnessing endangered animals in the wild, he suggests, would be linked to an animal protection payout system levied on the world’s wealthiest people, ensuring their habitats were cared for by local peoples. This, we are assured, would mean animals were no longer persecuted by humans or disadvantaged by decisions we make to further our own lives.The Conversation

Paul McGreevy, Professor of Animal Behaviour and Welfare, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

School Leavers Support

Explore the School Leavers Information Kit (SLIK) as your guide to education, training and work options in 2022;
As you prepare to finish your final year of school, the next phase of your journey will be full of interesting and exciting opportunities. You will discover new passions and develop new skills and knowledge.

We know that this transition can sometimes be challenging. With changes to the education and workforce landscape, you might be wondering if your planned decisions are still a good option or what new alternatives are available and how to pursue them.

There are lots of options for education, training and work in 2022 to help you further your career. This information kit has been designed to help you understand what those options might be and assist you to choose the right one for you. Including:
  • Download or explore the SLIK here to help guide Your Career.
  • School Leavers Information Kit (PDF 5.2MB).
  • School Leavers Information Kit (DOCX 0.9MB).
  • The SLIK has also been translated into additional languages.
  • Download our information booklets if you are rural, regional and remote, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, or living with disability.
  • Support for Regional, Rural and Remote School Leavers (PDF 2MB).
  • Support for Regional, Rural and Remote School Leavers (DOCX 0.9MB).
  • Support for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander School Leavers (PDF 2MB).
  • Support for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander School Leavers (DOCX 1.1MB).
  • Support for School Leavers with Disability (PDF 2MB).
  • Support for School Leavers with Disability (DOCX 0.9MB).
  • Download the Parents and Guardian’s Guide for School Leavers, which summarises the resources and information available to help you explore all the education, training, and work options available to your young person.

School Leavers Information Service

Are you aged between 15 and 24 and looking for career guidance?

Call 1800 CAREER (1800 227 337).

SMS 'SLIS2022' to 0429 009 435.

Our information officers will help you:
  • navigate the School Leavers Information Kit (SLIK),
  • access and use the Your Career website and tools; and
  • find relevant support services if needed.
You may also be referred to a qualified career practitioner for a 45-minute personalised career guidance session. Our career practitioners will provide information, advice and assistance relating to a wide range of matters, such as career planning and management, training and studying, and looking for work.

You can call to book your session on 1800 CAREER (1800 227 337) Monday to Friday, from 9am to 7pm (AEST). Sessions with a career practitioner can be booked from Monday to Friday, 9am to 7pm.

This is a free service, however minimal call/text costs may apply.

Call 1800 CAREER (1800 227 337) or SMS SLIS2022 to 0429 009 435 to start a conversation about how the tools in Your Career can help you or to book a free session with a career practitioner.

All downloads and more available at: www.yourcareer.gov.au/school-leavers-support

Word Of The Week: Podger

Word of the Week remains a keynote in 2024, simply to throw some disruption in amongst the 'yeah-nah' mix. 

Noun

1. tool in the form of a short commonly-tapered metal rod, principally used to align holes in two items, so that a bolt, rod or other item can be inserted through them; sometimes incorporating a spanner at the larger end, to tighten nuts onto bolts. 2. a short bar of iron or steel used as a lever, especially for tightening a box spanner. 3. a small drift used to bring rivet holes into alignment. 4. tommy

The earliest known use of the noun podger is in the 1810s. Oxford English Dictionary's earliest evidence for podger is from 1888, in Lockwood's Dictionary Mechanical Engineering.


A podger spanner


Ratchet podger spanners

A podger spanner, or podger, is a tool in the form of a short bar, usually tapered and often incorporating a wrench at one end.

Podgers are used for erecting scaffolding and steel scenery - The pointed end is used to align the bolt holes while the spanner end is used to tighten the nuts.

The Welsh name Podger is a patronymic surname created from the Welsh personal name Roger. The surname Podger was originally ap-Roger: the distinctive Welsh patronymic prefix "ap," means "son of," but the prefix has been assimilated into the surname over the course of time.

Podge from perhaps from UK informal Podge and pudsy (“plump”), which could be a diminutive of pud (“child's hand, forepaw”). 

Noun podge (plural podges) (UK, dialect) A puddle; a plash[17th century]. (UK, dialect) porridge[17th century]

Compare Hodge-podge:

Hodgepodge or hotchpotch describes a confused or disorderly mass or collection of things; a "mess" or a "jumble".

Hodge-podge may refer to:

Hodge-Podge (comics), a character from the comic strip Bloom County

Hodge-Podge (soup), a type of mutton soup

From: also hodge podge, hodge-podge, early 15c., hogpoch, alteration of hotchpotch (late 14c.) "a kind of stew," especially "one made with goose, herbs, spices, wine, and other ingredients," earlier an Anglo-French legal term meaning "collection of property in a common 'pot' before dividing it equally" (late 13c.), from Old French hochepot "stew, soup." First element from hocher "to shake," from a Germanic source (such as Middle High German hotzen "shake").

100-million-year-old fossil find reveals huge flying reptile that patrolled Australia’s inland sea

Gabriel Ugueto
Adele PentlandCurtin University

One hundred million years ago, during the Cretaceous period, much of northeastern Australia was underwater. The inland Eromanga Sea was home to a myriad of marine creatures, from turtles and dolphin-like ichthyosaurs to the bus-sized predator Kronosaurus queenslandicus and other plesiosaurs.

The forested outskirts of the sea were home to dinosaurs and the skies above were filled with birds. But all of them would have been shaded by the largest flying creatures of the age – the pterosaurs.

In November 2021, an avocado farmer turned museum curator named Kevin Petersen discovered a fossilised skeleton near Richmond in Queensland. The previously unknown species turned out to be the most complete pterosaur fossil found in Australia. It comprises around 22% of the skeleton of an animal with a wingspan of some 4.6 metres.

My colleagues and I have now described the fossil in the journal Scientific Reports. It represents a new species of pterosaur, and we’ve named it Haliskia peterseni, meaning Petersen’s sea phantom.

Pterosaur Fossils Are Rare

Pterosaur fossils have been found on every continent. However, they are far less common than fossils of dinosaurs or ancient marine reptiles.

Pterosaurs had hollow, thin-walled bones. This was a great evolutionary adaptation for life in the air, but the lightweight skeletons are not easily fossilised.

Few complete pterosaur skeletons are known worldwide, and most come from a handful of sites with unusually excellent conditions for fossil preservation. When pterosaur bones have been found at other sites, they are often crushed and distorted.

As a result, many pterosaur fossils are the only one of their kind. This includes the oldest flying reptile fossils ever found in Australia.

What The Skeleton Tells Us About How Haliskia Lived

The newly described fossil is only the second partial pterosaur skeleton ever found in Australia. It preserves twice as many bones as Ferrodraco lentoni.

Haliskia preserves a complete lower jaw, the tip of the upper jaw, 43 teeth, vertebrae, ribs, bones from both wings, and a partial leg. Also preserved are delicate, spaghetti-thin hyoid bones which would have helped support a strong muscular tongue.

Photo of a woman inspecting a slab of rock in a laboratory.
The author, Adele Pentland, studying Haliskia peterseni. Adele Pentland

We can tell Haliskia was fully grown when it died because its shoulder bones, and others in the skeleton, have fused.

Almost all pterosaur fossils described from Australia (including Haliskia’s contemporaries Mythunga camaraAussiedraco molnari and Thapunngaka shawi) have been placed in the same family. These species, collectively known as Anhangueria, have long been viewed as fish-eaters.

Although fish fossils are often found in rocks laid down in the Eromanga Sea, squid-like cephalopods called belemnites are even more common. Based on Haliskia‘s long hyoid bones and conical, interlocking teeth, it would have eaten a diet of fish and squid.

A Labour Of Love

The Haliskia specimen was prepared by fossil enthusiast Kevin Petersen using a combination of pneumatic tools, the paleontological equivalent to a dentist’s drill, and a hand-wielded metal pin. The pterosaur bones are flattened, and although one surface has been exposed, they remain encased in rock to provide stability and support to the fossil.

Kevin spent many hours preparing the pterosaur fossil. However, when we asked if he would like to join the team of researchers studying this specimen, he politely declined, stating he was happy to simply be acknowledged for his efforts.

Photo of a man lying prone digging in dirt
Haliskia peterseni finder Kevin Petersen digging for fossils. Krokosaurus Korner

Without Kevin, this specimen wouldn’t be on public display or known to science. It seemed only fitting that this new species Haliskia peterseni be named in honour of its discoverer.

More Fossils To Be Found

This was not the first pterosaur fossil Kevin had found. He uncovered his first flying reptile fossil a few years earlier, when he visited Richmond in Queensland as a tourist.

Since the discovery of the Haliskia specimen in 2021, even more pterosaur fossils have been found at the public dig pits outside Richmond.

Kevin is proof you do not need a degree to make significant contributions to science and the field of palaeontology. It takes dedication and determination – and it helps to be in the right spot at the right time.

It requires some imagination to visualise pterosaurs at sea, hunting fish and squid-like creatures alongside massive marine reptiles millions of years ago, in what is now the dry Australian outback. But the process is made easier with the fossils in front of you.

Haliskia provides a tantalising glimpse into an ancient ecosystem, and provides hope we might find more complete skeletons of these winged reptiles.The Conversation

Adele Pentland, PhD candidate, Curtin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Fresh water and key conditions for life appeared on Earth half a billion years earlier than we thought

Ralf Lehmann/Shutterstock
Hugo OlierookCurtin University and Hamed GamaleldienCurtin University

We need two ingredients for life to start on a planet: dry land and (fresh) water. Strictly, the water doesn’t have to be fresh, but fresh water can only occur on dry land.

Only with those two conditions met can you convert the building blocks of life, amino acids and nucleic acids into tangible bacterial life that heralds the start of the evolutionary cycle.

The oldest life on Earth left in our fragmented rock record is 3.5 billion years old, with some chemical data showing it may even be as old as 3.8 billion years. Scientists have hypothesised life might be even older, but we have no records of that being the case.

Our new study published in Nature Geoscience provides the first evidence of fresh water and dry land on Earth by 4 billion years ago. Knowing when the cradle of life – water and land – first appeared on Earth ultimately provides clues as to how we came to be.

Water And Land: The Essences Of Life

Imagine you’ve stepped into a time machine and gone back 4 billion years ago. As the dials whirr to a halt, you look out and see a vast ocean all around you. Not blue as you know it, but brown with iron and other dissolved minerals. You look up into the sky and it’s dark orange, with a smog of carbon dioxide and regular flashes from incoming meteors. Inhospitable to life.

This is what scientists think Earth looked like 4 billion years ago. But did it?

Just as you abandon all hope for life, you spot it on the horizon: land. Kicking the time machine into travel mode, you fly across to this expanse of emerged rock and touch down.

You quickly realise you’ve stepped onto a volcanic island, with lava spewing across its flanks. But you also feel raindrops on your nose, and you spot water collecting in little pools at the base of the volcano. Cautiously you cup your hands and have a taste … it’s fresh! The first proof there was fresh water on Earth, at least by 4 billion years ago.

Fresh water and emerged land go hand in hand. If all land is underwater, then you can only have salty, ocean water. This is because salty water wants to encroach under land, a phenomenon known as seawater intrusion.

So, if you find fresh water, you must have dry land – and a reasonably large expanse of it.

A small round lake of blue surrounded by grey rocks and a patch of fir trees.
Today, fresh water is found all over Earth in lakes, ponds and rivers. But the early Earth looked very different. Jonny Gios/Unsplash

How Do We Know There Was Fresh Water And Land On The Early Earth?

Fresh water is very different from sea water. Obviously, you might say, but how do you know if one or both were present on Earth if you can’t actually go back in a time machine?

The answer is in the rock record and chemical signals preserved in that time capsule. Earth is a bit over 4.5 billion years old, and the oldest rocks scientists have found are just a little older than 4 billion years.

To really understand our planet in its first 500 million years, we have to turn to crystals that once came from older rocks and ended up deposited in younger rocks.

Unlike rocks, the oldest preserved crystals go back as far as 4.4 billion years. And the bulk of these super-old crystals comes from one place on Earth: the Jack Hills in Western Australia’s midwest.

This is precisely where we went. We dated over a thousand crystals of a mineral called zircon, famed for its extreme resistance to weathering and alteration.

That’s quite important, as over the span of billions of years, a lot of later processes can erase the primary chemical signal when the crystals first formed. Most other types of minerals are much easier to alter, a process that would erase their original chemistry and not provide us with clues into Earth’s deep past.

An irregular shape with several colours of blue, yellow, teal, pink and orange on a black background.
A zircon crystal under the microscope. Hugo Olierook/Curtin University

Truly Ancient Grains

Our work shows that about 10% of all the crystals we analysed were older than 4 billion years. That might seem small, but it’s an enormous amount of super-old grains compared to other places around the world.

To figure out whether these grains held a record of fresh water, we used tiny beams of ions on these dated zircon grains to measure the ratio of heavier to lighter oxygen. This ratio, known as an oxygen isotopic ratio, is thought to be nearly constant through time for seawater, but much lighter for fresh water.

Conspicuously, a small portion of zircon crystals from 4 billion years ago had a very light signature that could only have formed from the interaction of fresh water and rocks.

Zircon is extremely resistant to alteration. For the Jack Hills’ zircon to obtain this light oxygen signature, the rock altered by fresh water had to melt and then re-solidify to impart the light oxygen isotopic signature into our zircon.

Thus, fresh water had to be present on Earth before 4 billion years ago.

Whether life also began so early in Earth’s history is a question we can’t quite be sure of yet. But we’ve at least found evidence for the cradle of life on Earth some time before 4 billion years ago – extremely early in our planet’s 4.5-billion-year history.The Conversation

Hugo Olierook, Senior Research Fellow in Geology, Curtin University and Hamed Gamaleldien, Assistant Professor in Geochemistry, Curtin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

A strange intermittent radio signal from space has astronomers puzzled

Shutterstock
Manisha CalebUniversity of Sydney and Emil LencCSIRO

When astronomers turn our radio telescopes out towards space, we sometimes detect sporadic bursts of radio waves originating from across the vast expanse of the universe. We call them “radio transients”: some erupt only once, never to be seen again, and others flicker on and off in predictable patterns.

We think most radio transients come from rotating neutron stars known as pulsars, which emit regular flashes of radio waves, like cosmic lighthouses. Typically, these neutron stars spin at incredible speeds, taking mere seconds or even a fraction of a second to complete each rotation.

Recently, we discovered a radio transient that isn’t like anything astronomers have seen before. Not only does it have a cycle almost an hour long (the longest ever seen), but over several observations we saw it sometimes emitting long, bright flashes, sometimes fast, weak pulses – and sometimes nothing at all.

We can’t quite explain what’s going on here. It’s most likely a very unusual neutron star, but we can’t rule out other possibilities. Our research is published in Nature Astronomy.

A Lucky Find

Meet ASKAP J1935+2148 (the numbers in the name point to its location in the sky). This periodic radio transient was discovered using CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope on Wajarri Yamaji Country in outback Western Australia.

The telescope has a very wide field of view, which means it can survey large volumes of the universe very quickly. This makes it very well suited for detecting new and exotic phenomena.

Using ASKAP, we were simultaneously monitoring a source of gamma rays and searching for pulses from a fast radio burst, when we spotted ASKAP J1935+2148 slowly flashing in the data. The signal leapt out because it was made up of “circularly polarised” radio waves, which means the direction of the waves corkscrews around as the signal travels through space.

Our eyes cannot differentiate between circularly polarised light and ordinary unpolarised light. However, ASKAP functions like a pair of polaroid sunglasses, filtering out the glare from thousands of ordinary sources.

After the initial detection, we conducted further observations over several months using ASKAP and also the more sensitive MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.

The Slowest Radio Transient Ever Found

ASKAP J1935+2148 belongs to the relatively new class of long-period radio transients. Only two others have ever been found, and ASKAP J1935+2148’s 53.8 minute period is by far the longest.

However, the exceptionally long period is just the beginning. We have seen ASKAP J1935+2148 in three distinct states or modes.

An animated image showing a dark region of space with a cloud of glowing red and what appear to be three fixed stars and one slowly blinking on and off.
ASKAP J1935+2148 blinking on and off. The glowing cloud above is the remains of a long-ago exploded star called a supernova remnant. Emil LencCC BY-NC

In the first state, we see bright, linearly (rather than circularly) polarised pulses lasting from 10 to 50 seconds. In the second state, there are much weaker, circularly polarised pulses lasting only about 370 milliseconds. The third state is a quiet or quenched state, with no pulses at all.

These different modes, and the switching between them, could result from an interplay of complex magnetic fields and plasma flows from the source itself with strong magnetic fields in the surrounding space.

Similar patterns have been seen in neutron stars, but our current understanding of neutron stars suggests they should not be able to have such a long period.

Neutron Stars And White Dwarfs

The origin of a signal with such a long period remains a profound mystery, with a slow-spinning neutron star the prime suspect. However, we cannot rule out the possibility the object is a white dwarf – the Earth-sized cinder of a burnt-out star that has exhausted its fuel.

White dwarfs often have slow rotation periods, but we don’t know of any way one could produce the radio signals we are seeing here. What’s more, there are no other highly magnetic white dwarfs nearby, which makes the neutron star explanation more plausible.

One explanation might be that the object is part of a binary system in which a neutron star or white dwarf orbits another unseen star.

This object might prompt us to reconsider our decades-old understanding of neutron stars or white dwarfs, particularly in how they emit radio waves and what their populations are like within our galaxy. Further research is needed to confirm what the object is, but either scenario would provide valuable insights into the physics of these extreme objects.

The Search Continues

We don’t know how long ASKAP J1935+2148 has been emitting radio signals, as radio astronomy surveys don’t usually search for objects with periods this long. Moreover, radio emissions from this source are only detected for a mere 0.01% to 1.5% of its rotation period, depending on its emission state.

So we were quite fortunate we happened to catch sight of ASKAP J1935+2148. It’s quite likely there are many other objects like it elsewhere in our galaxy, waiting to be discovered.The Conversation

Manisha Caleb, Lecturer, University of Sydney and Emil Lenc, Research Scientist, Space and Astronomy, CSIRO

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Eat a rock a day, put glue on your pizza: how Google’s AI is losing touch with reality

Shutterstock AI Generator
Toby WalshUNSW Sydney

Google has rolled out its latest experimental search feature on Chrome, Firefox and the Google app browser to hundreds of millions of users. “AI Overviews” saves you clicking on links by using generative AI — the same technology that powers rival product ChatGPT — to provide summaries of the search results. Ask “how to keep bananas fresh for longer” and it uses AI to generate a useful summary of tips such as storing them in a cool, dark place and away from other fruits like apples.

But ask it a left-field question and the results can be disastrous, or even dangerous. Google is currently scrambling to fix these problems one by one, but it is a PR disaster for the search giant and a challenging game of whack-a-mole.

Screenshots of Google AI Overviews recommending eating rocks and putting glue on pizza.
Google’s AI Overviews may damage the tech giant’s reputation for providing reliable results. Google / The Conversation

AI Overviews helpfully tells you that “Whack-A-Mole is a classic arcade game where players use a mallet to hit moles that pop up at random for points. The game was invented in Japan in 1975 by the amusement manufacturer TOGO and was originally called Mogura Taiji or Mogura Tataki.”

But AI Overviews also tells you that “astronauts have met cats on the moon, played with them, and provided care”. More worryingly, it also recommends “you should eat at least one small rock per day” as “rocks are a vital source of minerals and vitamins”, and suggests putting glue in pizza topping.

Why Is This Happening?

One fundamental problem is that generative AI tools don’t know what is true, just what is popular. For example, there aren’t a lot of articles on the web about eating rocks as it is so self-evidently a bad idea.

There is, however, a well-read satirical article from The Onion about eating rocks. And so Google’s AI based its summary on what was popular, not what was true.

Screenshots of results recommending putting gasoline in pasta and saying parachutes are ineffective.
Some AI Overview results appear to have mistaken jokes and parodies for factual information. Google / The Conversation

Another problem is that generative AI tools don’t have our values. They’re trained on a large chunk of the web.

And while sophisticated techniques (that go by exotic names such as “reinforcement learning from human feedback” or RLHF) are used to eliminate the worst, it is unsurprising they reflect some of the biases, conspiracy theories and worse to be found on the web. Indeed, I am always amazed how polite and well-behaved AI chatbots are, given what they’re trained on.

Is This The Future Of Search?

If this is really the future of search, then we’re in for a bumpy ride. Google is, of course, playing catch-up with OpenAI and Microsoft.

The financial incentives to lead the AI race are immense. Google is therefore being less prudent than in the past in pushing the technology out into users’ hands.

In 2023, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said:

We’ve been cautious. There are areas where we’ve chosen not to be the first to put a product out. We’ve set up good structures around responsible AI. You will continue to see us take our time.

That no longer appears to be so true, as Google responds to criticisms that it has become a large and lethargic competitor.

A Risky Move

It’s a risky strategy for Google. It risks losing the trust that the public has in Google being the place to find (correct) answers to questions.

But Google also risks undermining its own billion-dollar business model. If we no longer click on links, just read their summary, how does Google continue to make money?

The risks are not restricted to Google. I fear such use of AI might be harmful for society more broadly. Truth is already a somewhat contested and fungible idea. AI untruths are likely to make this worse.

In a decade’s time, we may look back at 2024 as the golden age of the web, when most of it was quality human-generated content, before the bots took over and filled the web with synthetic and increasingly low-quality AI-generated content.

Has AI Started Breathing Its Own Exhaust?

The second generation of large language models are likely and unintentionally being trained on some of the outputs of the first generation. And lots of AI startups are touting the benefits of training on synthetic, AI-generated data.

But training on the exhaust fumes of current AI models risks amplifying even small biases and errors. Just as breathing in exhaust fumes is bad for humans, it is bad for AI.

These concerns fit into a much bigger picture. Globally, more than US$400 million (A$600 million) is being invested in AI every day. And governments are only now just waking up to the idea we might need guardrails and regulation to ensure AI is used responsibly, given this torrent of investment.

Pharmaceutical companies aren’t allowed to release drugs that are harmful. Nor are car companies. But so far, tech companies have largely been allowed to do what they like.The Conversation

Toby Walsh, Professor of AI, Research Group Leader, UNSW Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Of ice and fire: what sea salt in Antarctic snowfall reveals about bushfires worse than the Black Summer

CherylRamalho/Shutterstock
Danielle UdyUniversity of TasmaniaAnthony KiemUniversity of NewcastleNeil HolbrookUniversity of TasmaniaNerilie AbramAustralian National University, and Tessa VanceUniversity of Tasmania

Australia has a long history of bushfires. The 2019-2020 Black Summer was the worst in recorded history. But was that the worst it could get?

Our new research has reconstructed the past 2,000 years of southeast Australia’s bushfire weather, drawing on evidence of past climates laid down in changing patterns in deep ice in East Antarctica. The high and low pressure weather systems south of Australia are so large they connect the two continents, even though they are more than 3,000 km apart.

These historic weather patterns are recorded in the ice. Not with ash which might first come to mind, but in sea-salt spray from the Southern Ocean. When southeast Australia experiences extreme bushfire weather over summer, there is less wind around Antarctica, which means less sea-salt spray is laid down at the ice core site.

Buried in the ice is a warning. At least seven times over the last two millennia, our new research shows bushfire-prone southeast Australia has endured bushfire weather as bad or worse than what was experienced during the devastating Black Summer bushfires. The Black Summer bushfires burned through about 1.5 million hectares, or more than six times the size of the Australian Capital Territory.

This means natural climate variability can toss up more severe bushfire weather than we have yet seen. Given human-caused climate change is also loading the dice for worse and worse bushfire weather, it suggests we are underestimating how bad bushfires can be in Australia.

bushfire australia
We can read patterns of fire weather in Australia in the ice cores of Antarctica. Leah-Anne Thompson/Shutterstock

What Makes Bushfire Weather?

If the weekend is forecast to be hot, dry and windy, we would say this is bushfire weather. Bushfire weather does not mean bushfires are inevitable, only they are more likely to start and more likely to be intense and fast-spreading once they ignite.

Australia’s Black Summer was caused by several climate factors combining. We had a multi-year drought, which coincided with climate variability bringing strong and hot northwesterly winds, and all against a backdrop of increasing heat and falling humidity over land brought by climate change.

Climate change is bringing more frequent and more severe bushfire weather. This trend is projected to continue into the future.

But quantifying the impacts of climate change on bushfire weather over the southeast Australian regions hardest hit by the Black Summer bushfires is difficult. This is because the climate in these mostly coastal or alpine regions varies a lot and we only have a relatively short record of observations.

Our previous research on droughts – a key ingredient for extreme bushfire seasons – showed our roughly 120 years of rainfall observations does not fully cover the range of drought conditions which have occurred in the past 1,000 years. This is supported by recent palaeoclimate work reconstructing 2,000 years of eastern Australian climate variability and research using climate models to show evidence of megadroughts lasting 20 years or more in southeastern Australia.

Australia’s bushfire weather observations only extend back to 1950. In short, this means we have limited insights based on observations alone into how bad bushfire weather can be.

Answers In The Ice

To reach back further in time, we looked to Antarctica. This is because Australia and Antarctica are linked through a “weather bridge”, meaning the enormous, powerful weather systems of the Southern Ocean affect both at the same time.

Year after year, these systems lift and carry different amounts of sea salt from the ocean surface and transport it to Antarctica, where it is laid down in layers of snow and ice.

Map of the world focussed on Antarctica with Australia above with weather systems linking Antarctica to Australia
The weather bridge between Australia and Antarctica. Weather systems, including cyclones and cold fronts, are represented by wind arrows. Colours represent temperatures: red = hot, blue = cold. Danielle UdyCC BY-NC-ND

About 125 km from Casey Station in Australia’s Antarctic territory lies Law Dome. This small, coastal ice cap is very useful for climate scientists, because it is regularly hit by cold cyclones from the Southern Ocean. These intense winds bring sea salt and trigger high snow accumulation – about 1.5 metres a year.

Drilling ice cores from places such as Law Dome has given us rich data sets of past climatic events. We have used these changing levels of sea salt in the ice to reconstruct rainfall and drought over two millennia in eastern Australia. Our new research focuses on Australia’s bushfire weather.

What Did We Find?

Using this evidence, we found an important relationship between the ice core record and the Forest Fire Danger Index, used by authorities to measure bushfire weather.

We then grouped similar weather patterns together over time, so we could get what we were really after: the connection between high and low pressure systems in the Southern Ocean, sea salt, and bushfire weather.

In the observational record, most of Australia’s bushfire disasters have been linked to intense summer cold fronts, including Ash Wednesday (1983), the Canberra bushfires (2003), Black Saturday (2009) and the Black Summer. These cold fronts direct hot, dry and intense winds from the Australian desert to the coast. This increases the chance of bushfires starting and can turn bushfires already burning into enormous conflagrations.

Using our ice core and weather datasets, we found the same weather conditions are behind periods of lower levels of sea salt in the ice and elevated bushfire weather in southeast Australia. These conditions are when the strong westerly winds circling Antarctica move north towards Australia, bringing summer cold fronts. In technical terms, this is when the Southern Annular Mode is negative.

In the last 2,000 years, we found seven years where bushfire weather was the same or even worse than the 2019-2020 Black Summer, in the summers of 485, 683, 709, 760, 862, 885 and 1108 CE.

Ice And Bushfire

Climate change is making extreme bushfire weather steadily more likely.

What our research shows is that natural climate variability can also produce bushfire weather similar or worse than the Black Summer.

Fire authorities should take these possible natural extremes into account, in addition to the increasing intensity of bushfire weather from climate change. The Conversation

Danielle Udy, Research associate in Climatology, University of TasmaniaAnthony Kiem, Associate Professor – Hydroclimatology, University of NewcastleNeil Holbrook, Professor of Ocean and Climate Dynamics, University of TasmaniaNerilie Abram, Professor in Climate Change and Paleoclimatology, Australian National University, and Tessa Vance, Palaeoclimatologist, Australian Antarctic Program Partnership, University of Tasmania

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Why doesn’t water help with spicy food? What about milk or beer?

Hello Dinny/Shutterstock
Daniel EldridgeSwinburne University of Technology

Spicy foods taste spicy because they contain a family of compounds called capsaicinoids. Capsaicin is the major culprit. It’s found in chillies, jalapeños, cayenne pepper, and is even the active ingredient in pepper spray.

Capsaicin doesn’t actually physically heat up your mouth. The burning sensation comes from receptors in the mouth reacting to capsaicin and sending a signal to the brain that something is very hot.

That’s why the “hot” chilli sensation feels so real – we even respond by sweating. To alleviate the heat, you need to remove the capsaicin from your mouth.

So why doesn’t drinking water help make that spicy feeling go away? And what would work better instead?

Water-Loving And Water-Hating Molecules

To help us choose what might wash the capsaicin away most effectively, it’s helpful to know that capsaicin is a hydrophobic molecule. That means it hates being in contact with water and will not easily mix with it.

Look what happens when you try to mix hydrophobic sand with water.

On the other hand, hydrophilic molecules love water and are very happy to mix with it.

You’ve likely seen this before. You can easily dissolve hydrophilic sugar in water, but it’s hard to wash away hydrophobic oils from your pan using tap water alone.

If you try to wash hydrophobic capsaicin away with water, it won’t be very effective, because hydrophilic and hydrophobic substances don’t mix.

Going for iced water will be even less effective, as hydrophobic capsaicin is even less soluble in water at lower temperatures. You may get a temporary sense of relief while the cold liquid is in your mouth, but as soon as you swallow it, you’ll be back where you started.

Instead, a good choice would be to consume something that is also hydrophobic. This is because of an old-but-true adage in chemistry that “like dissolves like”.

The idea is that generally, hydrophobic substances will not dissolve in something hydrophilic – like water – but will dissolve in something that is also hydrophobic, as this video shows:

My Mouth Is On Fire. What Should I Drink Instead Of Water?

A swig of oil would likely be effective, but is perhaps not so palatable.

Milk makes for an ideal choice for two reasons.

The first is that milk contains hydrophobic fats, which the capsaicin will more easily dissolve in, allowing it to be washed away.

The second is that dairy products contain a protein called casein. Casein is an emulsifier, a substance that helps oils and water mix, as in this video:

Casein plays a large role in keeping the fat mixed throughout your glass of milk, and it also has a strong affinity for capsaicin. It will readily wrap up and encapsulate capsaicin molecules and assist in carrying them away from the receptor. This relieves the burning sensation.

OK But I Hate Drinking Milk. What Else Can I Try?

What about raita? This dish, commonly served with Indian curries, is made primarily from yoghurt. So aside from being its own culinary experience, raita is rich in fats, and therefore contains plenty of hydrophobic material. It also contains casein, which will again help lock up and remove the capsaicin.

Ice cream would also work, as it contains both casein and large amounts of hydrophobic substances.

Some studies have also shown that consuming drinks with large amounts of sugar can relieve spiciness.

What about reaching for that ice cold beer?

A woman spoons spicy Thai food onto her plate.
Ever paired a beer with some spicy Thai food? John Stocker/Shutterstock

This is commonly suggested as a suitable approach to stop the burning. At first glance, this may seem a good idea because capsaicin is highly soluble in alcohol.

However, most beers only contain between 4–6% alcohol. The bulk of the liquid in beer is water, which is hydrophilic and cannot wash away capsaicin. The small amount of alcohol in your beer would make it slightly more effective, but not to any great degree.

Your curry and beer may taste great together, but that’s likely the only benefit.

In truth, an alcoholic beverage is not going to help much unless you go for something with a much, much higher alcohol content, which comes with its own problems.The Conversation

Daniel Eldridge, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, Swinburne University of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

How do I keep my fruit, veggies and herbs fresh longer? Are there any ‘hacks’?

Dragon Images/Shutterstock
Senaka RanadheeraThe University of Melbourne

We all know fresh produce is good for us, but fruit, vegetables and herbs have a tendency to perish quickly if left uneaten.

This is because even after harvesting, produce from living plants tends to continue its biological processes. This includes respiration: producing energy from stored carbohydrates, proteins and fats while releasing carbon dioxide and water vapour. (Ever found a sprouting potato in your pantry?)

On top of that, fresh produce also spoils easily thanks to various microbes – both harmless and ones that can cause disease, called pathogens.

Simply chucking things in the fridge won’t solve the problem, as different types of plants will react differently to how they’re stored. So, how can you combat food waste and keep produce fresh for longer? Fortunately, there are some helpful tips.

Freshness And Quality Begin At The Farm

Farmers always aim to harvest produce when it’s at an optimal condition, but both pre-harvest and post-harvest factors will affect freshness and quality even before you buy it.

Pre-harvest factors are agricultural, such as climatic conditions, soil type and water availability. Post-harvest factors include washing and cleaning after harvesting, transportation and distribution, processing and packaging, and storage.

As consumers we can’t directly control these factors – sometimes the veggies we buy just won’t be as good. But we can look out for things that will affect the produce once we bring it home.

One major thing to look out for is bruised, wounded or damaged produce. This can happen at any stage of post-harvest handling, and can really speed up the decay of your veggies and fruit.

Moisture loss through damaged skin speeds up deterioration and nutrient loss. The damage also makes it easier for spoilage microbes to get in.

To Wash Or Not To Wash?

You don’t need to wash your produce before storing it. A lot of what we buy has already been washed commercially. In fact, if you wash your produce and can’t get it completely dry, the added moisture could speed up decay in the fridge.

But washing produce just before you use it is important to remove dirt and pathogenic bugs.

Don’t use vinegar in your washing water despite what you see on social media. Studies indicate vinegar has no effect on lowering microbial loads on fresh produce.

Similarly, don’t use baking soda. Even though there’s some evidence baking soda can remove pesticide residues from the surface of some produce, it’s not advisable at home. Just use plain tap water.

Location, Location, Location

The main thing you need is the correct type of packaging and the correct location – you want to manage moisture loss, decay and ripening.

The three main storage options are on the counter, in the fridge, or in a “cool, dry and dark place”, such as the pantry. Here are some common examples of produce and where best to put them.

Bananas, onion, garlic, potatoes, sweet potato and whole pumpkin will do better in a dark pantry or cupboard. Don’t store potatoes and onions together: onions produce a gas called ethylene that makes potatoes spoil quicker, while the high moisture in potatoes spoils onions.

In fact, don’t store fruits such as apples, pears, avocado and bananas together, because these fruits release ethylene gas as they ripen, making nearby fruits ripen (and potentially spoil) much faster. That is, unless you do want to ripen your fruits fast.

All leafy greens, carrots, cucumbers, cauliflower and broccoli will do best in the low-humidity drawer (crisper) in the fridge. You can put them in perforated plastic bags to retain moisture but maintain air flow. But don’t put them in completely sealed bags because this can slow down ripening while trapping carbon dioxide, leading to decay and bad smells.

Some fruits will also do best in the fridge. For example, apples and citrus fruits such as oranges can keep fresh longer in the fridge (crisper drawer), although they can stay at room temperature for short periods. However, don’t store watermelon in the fridge for too long, as it will lose its flavour and deep red colour if kept refrigerated for longer than three days.

Most herbs and some leafy vegetables – like celery, spring onions and asparagus – can be kept with stems in water to keep them crisp. Keep them in a well-ventilated area and away from direct sunlight, so they don’t get too warm and wilt.

Experimenting at home is a good way to find the best ways to store your produce.

Fight Food Waste And Experiment

Don’t buy too much. Whenever possible, buy only small amounts so that you don’t need to worry about keeping them fresh. Never buy bruised, wounded or damaged produce if you plan to keep it around for more than a day.

“Process” your veggies for storage. If you do buy a large quantity – maybe a bulk option was on sale – consider turning the produce into something you can keep for longer. For example, banana puree made from really ripe bananas can be stored for up to 14 days at 4°C. You can use freezing, blanching, fermentation and canning for most vegetables.

Consider vacuum sealing. Vacuum packaging of vegetables and berries can keep them fresh longer, as well. For example, vacuum-sealed beans can keep up to 16 months in the fridge, but will last only about four weeks in the fridge unsealed.

Keep track. Arrange your fridge so you can see the produce easily and use it all before it loses freshness.

Experiment with storage hacks. Social media is full of tips and hacks on how best to store produce. Turn your kitchen into a lab and try out any tips you’re curious about – they might just work. You can even use these experiments as a way to teach your kids about the importance of reducing food waste.

Grow some of your own. This isn’t feasible for all of us, but you can always try having some herbs in pots so you don’t need to worry about keeping them fresh or using up a giant bunch of mint all at once. Growing your own microgreens could be handy, too.The Conversation

Senaka Ranadheera, Associate Professor, The University of Melbourne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Friday essay: ‘an engineering and biological miracle’ – how I fell for the science, and the poetry, of the eye

Hessom RazaviThe University of Western Australia

My first encounter came as a medical student. Under high magnification, I examined a colleague’s iris, the coloured part of their eye encircling the pupil.

I watched as the muscle fibres moved rhythmically, undulating between dilation and constriction. It looked like an underwater plant, swaying in a current.

Mesmerising. But in a busy university curriculum the experience quickly faded, to be replaced by the next clinical rotation. I forgot ophthalmology; “maybe orthopaedic surgery or emergency medicine are for me”, I thought.

But eyes returned, this time while I was a junior doctor in residency. Assisting in surgery, I observed a patient’s retina through an operating microscope. Here was a cinematic view of the orb, as if viewed from a spacecraft over a Martian landscape.

The internal surface glowed blood orange (the colour once ascribed to its rich blood supply, now attributed to a layer of underlying pigmented cells). Within this landscape ran red rivulets, a network of branching blood vessels.

The Greek anatomist Herophilus thought this pattern resembled a casting net, leading to “retiform” (meaning reticular or netlike), which became “retina” in contemporary language (the light-sensitive film at the back of the eye). I was struck by the intricacy of this secret globe, this gallery of miniature art.

The term “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” took on new connotations, and I turned to pursuing ophthalmology. Aside from the organ’s intrinsic appeal, I was struck by the technicality of eye surgery, and the apparent mystique of ophthalmologists themselves.

These unruffled surgeons appeared to float above the general fray, waltzing around the hospital with fancy eye equipment and clever jargon. No one really knew what they did, but they looked cool.

Acceptance into ophthalmology specialist training was notoriously competitive, with only one or two doctors accepted each year in our state. “Why not,” I thought, and went for it, planning my campaign for eligibility. Among other things, this included me experiencing blindness for 24 hours, by using a blindfold as part of a fundraising event, and conducting research on childhood eye disease in Iran, my country of origin.

Nine years later I was a qualified ophthalmologist, having learned the eye’s workings in both health and when diseased. I had come to view the eye as an engineering and biological miracle.

A photo of a man (the author) looking into the eye of a female patient.
Hessom Razavi examining a patient’s eye. Photographer: Frances AndrijichCC BY

Mammals With Seeing Brains

A wonderfully elastic ball, the eye can be thought of as housing a camera at the front. This camera focuses incoming light through compound lenses (the cornea and crystalline lens), which are separated by an aperture (the pupil), to form a fine beam.

This beam travels towards a transducer (an electronic device turning one form of energy into another) at the back of the eye (the retina). The transducer converts photons into electrical signals at a rate of around 8.8 megabits (million bits) per second, just shy of a decent ethernet connection.

Carried in an insulated cable (the optic nerve), this electrical current runs backwards through the brain, to the visual cortex. This is the part of the brain that sits just in front of the bony bulge at the back of your skull.

Here is vision’s supercomputer, where incoming, semi-processed data is organised into a final experience of shapes, colours, contrast and movement. Et voila, there you have it: high-definition, stereoscopic human vision.

A close-up of a young woman's eye.
The front part of the eye is composed mainly of water. kei907/shutterstock

While the front part of the eye is mainly composed of water, the back is nature’s version of bioelectronics (the convergence of biology and electronics).

Eyesight, then, is an interplay of light, water and electricity, in networks both elemental and complex. This exquisite balance may be further demonstrated through two examples.

First, consider the structure of the cornea. This is the clear “windscreen” at the front of the eye, the only completely transparent tissue in the human body. Its living cells are a plexus of water and collagen, glass-like and liquid enough to permit light, sturdy enough to withstand trauma. Here again lies a balance between the eye’s delicacy and its resilience.

Second, let’s look at the eyes’ development, as direct extensions of our brains. When we are embryos from weeks three to ten, two folds appear on our forebrains (the forward-most portion of our brain). These folds extend forwards, becoming stalks. In turn, they are capped with little cups that turn into globes, later encased in eyelids and lashes.

The brain stretches forward, in other words, to form its own eyes. It’s brain tissue, then, that watches the world – we are the mammals with seeing brains.

Photographs Revert To Negatives

The descriptions above could perhaps be characterised as a meeting of science and lyricism. This is no accident. While ophthalmology concerns itself with optics, a mathematical affair, I was the schoolkid who loved English class.

Whether writing short stories, or nodding to hip-hop’s street poetry, I was drawn to language. These days I’m predominantly a doctor and family man, and only a dilettante as a writer. Still, I seek language out in the micro-gaps of a day, predawn before the kids wake, or on train rides to and from work.

There’s nothing glamorous about this, and nor is it special. Doctor-writers are far from rare – think of history’s Anton Chekhov or William Carlos Williams, the US’s Atul Gawande, or our own Karen Hitchcock or Michelle Johnston. So far, I’m the only writerly eye surgeon I know of (any others out there – shout!).

Author Margaret Lobenstine believes this sort of “renaissance soul” resides in all of us; after all, we have two cerebral hemispheres, one for reason and one for art (in truth though, the hemispheres cooperate on most tasks).

Let’s pivot fully from eyeballs to writing then, and specifically to poetry, my favoured sandpit.

Robert Frost said, “to be a poet is a condition, not a profession”. Most poets write, I believe, because they must, not because it’s fun or easy (although occasionally it’s both). Sometimes we write to understand or at least to name something, to gather up the events and emotions that move us, dangling like threads to be spooled up into something resembling sense.

In a medical day, I am periodically struck by a patient encounter that leaves me reeling. Perhaps it’s an unexpected confession, or a scrap of a life story. Either way, it’s the emotional charge that, like a vein of gold, points towards a buried poem.

Let’s take a real-life example from my practice, an elderly lady whom we shall call Iris (pun intended).

Iris presents to me with failing vision. Examining her eyes, I see “geographic atrophy”, little islands of missing retinal tissue worn away over time. This is a form of incurable, age-related, macular degeneration. It results in permanent loss of central vision, with peripheral vision remaining intact.

It’s not good news; my stomach tightens as I prepare to deliver it.

Iris replies, tearily, that she just lost her husband of 60 years. She’s now alone and becoming blind. I’m taken aback – what can one honestly say to this?

Sure, there are visual magnifiers, home modifications, other practical aids that may guardrail her physical safety. But her anguish goes beyond this; she’s on the edge of a personal precipice, and teetering. There’s electricity in the consult room, a lightning-rod moment for sure.

How might a poet view this scene? Placing Iris in the centre, let’s start with her appearance – her auburn-dyed hair, her knobbly walking stick, her potpourri perfume – enough to make her real. In addition to portraiture, poetry deals in metaphors; what are some for Iris’s grief?

How about:

Colour photographs revert
to their negatives, old-fashioned film
stark and inverting reality,
her life recognisable
yet draining of hue.

Or this:

Turned over, her hourglass
clumps onto the table,
sand trickling away
from having had, towards loss, the two bulbs
painfully, inextricably linked.

Good poetry must go further, seeking the patterns beneath the surface. What precisely is it about Iris that moves me so? She is losing things, important things. Witnessing this touches my deepest fears, knowing that, like an unwelcome house guest, loss visits us all, sometimes staying for good.

As my Persian countryman Rumi wrote, “this human being is a guest house”. Losing our own physical abilities or our loved ones, what would become of us?

Distilling this further, what exactly is loss, its weight and texture?

Inversions,
your cherished glass of shiraz shatters
on the tiles, your laden table
upended. Warmth whistles
out through the cracks, cold rises up.
Midnight:
your reasons for living dwindle,
walking out the door
one by one.

Dark, heavy material no doubt; well, welcome to medicine, and to real life. No wonder Iris’s visit rattles me. The poet must face this discomfort, exploring the interplay between the miniscule and the panoramic, the worldly and the transcendent.

Tasked with creating visions for life, from its mundane to its profoundest moments, poets, then, are our seers.

Anger And Solace

I’m now in my 18th year working exclusively with eyes, the latter half as a qualified consultant ophthalmologist. These days, the toughest conditions I face are diseases without a cure, such as Iris’s geographic atrophy, or vision loss that could have been prevented, such as solar retinopathy.

In other scenarios, there are eye diseases caused by modern living. An example of this is diabetic eye disease, which disproportionately affects Indigenous people. When compared with non-Indigenous people, Indigenous Australians suffer three times the rate of vision loss from diabetes.

The reasons for this are manifold, and include the easy access to sugar-laden beverages in many Indigenous communities. As ophthalmologists, we deal with the downstream effects of high blood sugar levels. This manifests as “diabetic macular oedema”, where a swelling at the back of the eye leads to loss of vision.

Fortunately, we have good treatments for this condition. But prevention is far better than cure. As one measure, why don’t we impose a sugar tax, as more than 100 other countries have done?. By introducing refined sugars into a healthy traditional diet, modern Australia has arguably created this problem. By corollary, we have a duty to solve it.

This is an opportunity for resistance and empowerment.

Hauled over on ships,
white crystals in barrels -
dispossession’s sweetener - now
sat on shelves, bright bottles
singing cheap songs
to thirsty eyes.
We’ll brand you yet:
mark your barrels ‘poison’.

Conditions like this, where modern society harms people – for astronomical corporate profits, mind you – are infuriating.

Thankfully, there is solace in my ongoing fascination with the eye. There are moments of sheer beauty; images of fluorescein angiography, for example, where the retina’s blood vessels are highlighted with a fluorescent dye as a diagnostic tool.

These angiograms remind me of lightning storms in our state’s northwest, where cloud-to-cloud and sheet lightning flash in the night sky in split-second forks and streams. Much as power and charge flow in the sky, so blood is distributed in the back of the eye.

Also spurring me on are patients’ success stories, where sight is restored or blindness prevented.

Twenty years in a Thai refugee camp,
now sat in front of me,
grandma from Myanmar.
Twenty years to lose light –
this cataract surgery won’t
return your nation, grandma, but at least
it’s restored your sight.

These stories abound, such is the privilege of my profession.

A Race Between Science And Time

There may even be hope for Iris. Her condition, geographic atrophy, is caused in part by her immune system, and its complement proteins. This network of proteins marks selected entities (typically pathogens or tumour cells) for destruction by immune cells such as lymphocytes, phagocytes and macrophages.

For reasons including localised inflammation and reduced oxygen delivery, this response can, in ageing, be misdirected towards healthy retinal tissue, leading to its destruction – a process akin to friendly fire in battle.

For Iris, the cavalry may be cresting the hill. In 2023, two new medications were approved for the treatment of geographic atrophy in the US. Both block targets within our complement system and, while not curative, have been shown to slow (although not reverse or stop) the disease. By late 2024, we should know whether one of these drugs, pegcetacoplan, is approved in Australia.

Starter’s pistol fires! A race afoot
between science and time.
Do the molecules work
and – as the clock chimes –
will they cross the line
to save sight?
The Conversation

Hessom Razavi, Associate professor, The University of Western Australia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Book Of The Month - June/July 2024: Voss By Patrick White


Voss (1957) is the fifth published novel by Patrick White. It is based upon the life of the 19th-century Prussian explorer and naturalist Ludwig Leichhardt, who disappeared while on an expedition into the Australian outback.

The novel centres on two characters: Voss, a German, and Laura, a young woman, orphaned and new to the colony of New South Wales. It opens as they meet for the first time in the house of Laura's uncle and the patron of Voss's expedition, Mr Bonner.

Johann Ulrich Voss sets out to cross the Australian continent in 1845. After collecting a party of settlers and two Aboriginal men, his party heads inland from the coast only to meet endless adversity. The explorers cross drought-plagued desert, then waterlogged lands until they retreat to a cave where they lie for weeks waiting for the rain to stop. Voss and Laura retain a connection despite Voss's absence and the story intersperses developments in each of their lives. Laura adopts an orphaned child and attends a ball during Voss's absence.

The travelling party splits in two and nearly all members eventually perish. The story ends some 20 years later at a garden party hosted by Laura's cousin Belle Radclyffe (née Bonner) on the day of the unveiling of a statue of Voss. The party is also attended by Laura Trevelyan and the one remaining member of Voss's expeditionary party, Mr Judd.

The strength of the novel comes not from the physical description of the events in the story but from the explorers' passion, insight and doom. The novel draws heavily on the complex character of Voss. The spirituality of Australia's indigenous people also infuses the sections of the book set in the desert.

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1973

The Australian Patrick White has been awarded the 1973 Nobel Literature Prize “for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent into literature”, as it says in the Swedish Academy’s citation. White’s growing fame is based chiefly on seven novels of which the earliest masterly work is The Aunt’s Story, a portrayal imbued with remarkable feeling of a lonely, unmarried, Australian woman’s life during experiences that extend also to Europe and America. The book with which White really made his name, however, was The Tree of Man, an epically broad and psychologically discerning account of a part of Australian social development in the form of two people’s long life together, and struggle against outward and inward difficulties.

Another aspect of Australia is shown in Voss, in which a fanatical explorer in the country’s interior meets his fate: an intensive character study against the background of the fascinating Australian wilds. The writer displays yet another kind of art in Riders in the Chariot, with special emphasis on his cystic and symbolic tendencies: a sacrificial drama, tense, yet with an everyday setting, in the midst of current Australian reality. From contrasting viewpoints, The Solid Mandala gives a double portrait of two brothers, in which the sterilely rational brother is set against the fertilely intuitive one, who is almost a fool in the eyes of the world.

White’s last two books are among his greatest feats, both as to size and to frenzied building up of tension. The Vivisector is the imaginary biography of an artist, in which a whole life is disclosed in a relentless scrutiny of motives and springs of action: an artist’s untiring battle to express the utmost while sacrificing both himself and his fellow-beings in the attempt. The Eye of the Storm places an old, dying woman in the centre of a narrative which revolves round, and encloses, the whole of her environment, past and present, until we have come to share an entire life panorama, in which everyone is on a decisive dramatic footing with the old lady.

Particularly, these latest books show White’s unbroken creative power, an ever deeper restlessness and seeking urge, an onslaught against vital problems that have never ceased to engage him, and a wrestling with the language in order to extract all its power and all its nuances, to the verge of the unattainable. White’s literary production has failings that belong to great and bold writing, exceeding, as it does, different kinds of conventional limits. He is the one who, for the first time, has given the continent of Australia an authentic voice that carries across the world, at the same time as his achievement contributes to the development, both artistic and, as regards ideas, of contemporary literature.

_______________________________________________________

Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 1912 – 30 September 1990) was a British-born Australian writer who published 12 novels, three short-story collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987.

White was born in Knightsbridge, London, to Victor Martindale White and Ruth (née Withycombe), both Australians, in their apartment overlooking Hyde Park, London on 28 May 1912.  His family returned to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. As a child he lived in a flat with his sister, a nanny, and a maid while his parents lived in an adjoining flat. In 1916 they moved to a house in Elizabeth Bay that many years later became a nursing home, Lulworth House, the residents of which included Gough Whitlam, Neville Wran, and White's partner Manoly Lascaris.

At the age of four White developed asthma, a condition that had taken the life of his maternal grandfather. White's health was fragile throughout his childhood, which precluded his participation in many childhood activities.

He loved the theatre, which he first visited at an early age (his mother took him to see The Merchant of Venice at the age of six). This love was expressed at home when he performed private rites in the garden and danced for his mother's friends.

At the age of five he attended kindergarten at Sandtoft in Woollahra, in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, followed by 2 years at Cranbrook School.

At the age of ten White was sent to Tudor House School, a boarding school in Moss Vale in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, in an attempt to abate his asthma. It took him some time to adjust to the presence of other children. At boarding school, he started to write plays. Even at this early age, White wrote about palpably adult themes. In 1924 the boarding school ran into financial trouble, and the headmaster suggested that White be sent to a public school in England, a suggestion that his parents accepted.


Lulworth, White's childhood home in Elizabeth Bay, Sydney

White struggled to adjust to his new surroundings at Cheltenham College, England, describing it later as "a four-year prison sentence". He withdrew socially and had a limited circle of acquaintances. Occasionally, he would holiday with his parents at European locations, but their relationship remained distant. But he did spend time with his cousin Jack Withycombe during this period, and Jack's daughter Elizabeth Withycombe became a mentor to him while he was writing his first book of poems, Thirteen Poems between the years 1927–29.

While at school in London White made one close friend, Ronald Waterall, an older boy who shared similar interests. White's biographer, David Marr, wrote that "the two men would walk, arm-in-arm, to London shows; and stand around stage doors crumbing for a glimpse of their favourite stars, giving a practical demonstration of a chorus girl's high kick ... with appropriate vocal accompaniment". When Waterall left school White again withdrew. He asked his parents if he could leave school to become an actor. The parents compromised and allowed him to finish school early if he came home to Australia to try life on the land. They felt he should work on the land rather than become a writer, and hoped his work as a jackaroo would temper his artistic ambitions.

White spent two years working as a stockman at Bolaro, a 73-square-kilometre (28 sq mi) station near Adaminaby on the edge of the Snowy Mountains in south-eastern Australia. Although he grew to respect the land, and his health improved, it was clear that he was not suited to this work.

In 1936, White met the painter Roy De Maistre, 18 years his senior, who became an important influence in his life and work. The two men never became lovers but remained firm friends. In White's own words, "He became what I most needed, an intellectual and aesthetic mentor". They had many similarities: both were gay and felt like outsiders in their own families, for whom both harboured ambivalent feelings yet maintained close lifelong links with them, particularly their mothers. They also both appreciated the benefits of social standing and its connections. Christian symbolism and biblical themes are common to both artists' work.

White dedicated his first novel Happy Valley to De Maistre, and acknowledged De Maistre's influence on his writing. In 1947 De Maistre's painting Figure in a Garden (The Aunt) was used as the cover for the first edition of White's The Aunt's Story. White bought many of De Maistre's paintings, all of which in 1974 he gave to the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Toward the end of the 1930s White spent time in the United States, including Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and New York City – artistic hotbeds at the time, where he wrote The Living and the Dead. By the time World War II broke out he had returned to London and joined the British Royal Air Force. He was accepted as an intelligence officer, and was posted to the Middle East. He served in Egypt, Palestine, and Greece before the war was over. While in the Middle East he had an affair with a Greek army officer, Manoly Lascaris, who was to become his life partner.


White, circa 1940s

White and Lascaris lived together in Cairo for six years before moving in 1948 to a small farm purchased by White at Castle Hill, now a Sydney suburb but then semi-rural. He named the house "Dogwoods", after trees he planted there. They lived there for 18 years, selling flowers, vegetables, milk, and cream as well as pedigree puppies. 


White's house in Castle Hill, Sydney. Photo: By Sardaka 

After the war, when White had settled down with Lascaris, his reputation as a writer increased with publication of The Aunt's Story and The Tree of Man in the United States in 1955 and shortly after in the United Kingdom. The Tree of Man was released to rave reviews in the United States, but in what had become a typical pattern, it was panned in Australia. White had doubts about whether to continue writing after his books were largely dismissed in Australia (three of them having been called 'un-Australian' by critics), but decided to persevere, and a breakthrough in Australia came when his next novel, Voss, won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award.

In 1961, White published Riders in the Chariot, a bestseller and a prize-winner, garnering a second Miles Franklin Award.  A number of White's books from the 1960s depict the fictional town of Sarsaparilla; his collection of short stories, The Burnt Ones, and the play, The Season at Sarsaparilla. Clearly established in his reputation as one of the world's great authors, he remained a private person, resisting opportunities for interviews and public appearances, though his circle of friends widened significantly.

Deciding not to accept any more prizes for his work, White declined both the $10,000 Britannia Award and another Miles Franklin Award. Harry M. Miller proposed to work on a screenplay for Voss but nothing came of it. He became an active opponent of literary censorship and joined a number of other public figures in signing a statement of defiance against Australia's decision to participate in the Vietnam War. His name had sometimes been mentioned as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature, but in 1971, after losing to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, he wrote to a friend: "That Nobel Prize! I hope I never hear it mentioned again. I certainly don't want it; the machinery behind it seems a bit dirty, when we thought that only applied to Australian awards. In my case to win the prize would upset my life far too much, and it would embarrass me to be held up to the world as an Australian writer when, apart from the accident of blood, I feel I am temperamentally a cosmopolitan Londoner".

Nevertheless, in 1973, White did accept the Nobel Prize "for an epic and psychological narrative art, which has introduced a new continent into literature". His cause was said to have been championed by a Scandinavian diplomat resident in Australia.[19] White enlisted Nolan to travel to Stockholm to accept the prize on his behalf. The award had an immediate impact on his career, as his publisher doubled the print run for The Eye of the Storm and gave him a larger advance for his next novel. White used the money from the prize to establish a trust to fund the Patrick White Award, given annually to established creative writers who have received little public recognition. He was invited by the House of Representatives to be seated on the floor of the House in recognition of his achievement. White declined, explaining that his nature could not easily adapt itself to such a situation. The last time such an invitation had been extended was in 1928, to pioneer aviator Bert Hinkler.

White was made Australian of the Year for 1974, but in a typically rebellious fashion, his acceptance speech encouraged Australians to spend the day reflecting on the state of the country. Privately, he was less than enthusiastic about it. In a letter to Marshall Best on 27 January 1974, he wrote: "Something terrible happened to me last week. There is an organisation which chooses an Australian of the Year, who has to appear at an official lunch in Melbourne Town Hall on Australia Day. This year I was picked on as they had run through all the swimmers, tennis players, yachtsmen".

After the death of White's mother in 1963, they moved into a large house, Highbury, in Centennial Park, where they lived for the rest of their lives.

White and Lascaris hosted many dinner parties at Highbury, their Centennial Park home, a leafy part of the Sydney's affluent Eastern Suburbs. In Patrick White, A Life, his biographer David Marr portrays White as a genial host but one who easily fell out with friends.


Patrick White's home Highbury, in Centennial Park, Sydney.  Photo: By Sardaka

White supported the conservative, business oriented Liberal Party of Australia until the election of Gough Whitlam's Labor government and, following the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, he became particularly antiroyalist, making a rare appearance on national television to broadcast his views on the matter. White also publicly expressed his admiration for the historian Manning Clark, satirist Barry Humphries, and unionist Jack Mundey.

Marr dismissed ideas of White's Christian faith, which Patricia Morley has considered a weakness in the biography. Greg J Clarke has argued that Christian faith is central to White's fiction, even in the way that White uses apocalyptic imagery in the landscape of his 1957 work, Voss. He personally found it all but impossible to follow Christ's instruction to forgive, which he believed precluded him from becoming a Christian. Even so, in one essay he revealed, "What I am interested in is the relationship between the blundering human being and God."

During the 1970s, White's health began to deteriorate: he had issues with his teeth, his eyesight was failing and he had chronic lung problems. During this time he became more openly political, and commented publicly on current issues. He was among the first group of the Companions of the Order of Australia in 1975 but resigned in June 1976 in protest at the dismissal of the Whitlam government in November 1975 by the Governor-General Sir John Kerr. In 1979, his novel The Twyborn Affair was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, but White requested that it to be removed to give younger writers a chance to win. (The prize was won by Penelope Fitzgerald, who ironically was just four years younger than White.) Soon after, White announced that he had written his last novel, and thenceforth would write only for radio or the stage.


White in 1972. National Archives of Australia image

Director Jim Sharman introduced himself to White while walking down a Sydney street, some time after White had seen a politically loaded stage revue by Sharman, Terror Australis, which had been panned by Sydney newspaper critics. White had written a letter to the editor of a newspaper defending the show. There was a significant difference in their ages, but the two men became friends. Sharman in his theatrical circle, as well as his visual style as a director, inspired White to write a couple of new plays, notably Big Toys with its satirical portrayal of a posh and vulgar upper-class Sydney society. A few years later, Sharman asked White if he could make a film of The Night the Prowler. White agreed and wrote the screenplay for the film.

In 1981, White published his autobiography, Flaws in the Glass: a self-portrait, which explored issues about which he had publicly said little, such as his homosexuality, his dislike of the "subservient" attitude of Australian society towards Britain and the Royal family, and also the distance he had felt from his mother. On Palm Sunday, 1982, White addressed a crowd of 30,000 people, calling for a ban on uranium mining and for the destruction of nuclear weapons.

In 1986 White released one last novel, Memoirs of Many in One, but it was published under the pen name "Alex Xenophon Demirjian Gray" with White named as editor. In the same year, Voss was turned into an opera, with music by Richard Meale and the libretto adapted by David Malouf. White refused to see it when it was first performed at the Adelaide Festival of Arts, because Queen Elizabeth II had been invited, and chose instead to see it later in Sydney. In 1987, White wrote Three Uneasy Pieces, which incorporated his musings on ageing and society's efforts to achieve aesthetic perfection. When David Marr finished his biography of White in July 1990, his subject spent nine days going over the details with him.

White passed away in Sydney on 30 September 1990.

A 2024 review of White's legacy noted that, while a number of places of significance to his life have been afforded heritage protection, his works are less widely known in Australia than might be expected of one of the country's few Nobel Prize winners, even in literary circles. 

In 2006 a literary hoax was perpetrated whereby a chapter of his novel The Eye of the Storm was submitted to a dozen Australian publishers under the name Wraith Picket (an anagram of White's name). All of the publishers rejected the manuscript and none recognised it as White's work. All those young writers from the peninsula should take note of this - just because your work has been rejected by a publisher does not mean they know or can recognise good work when they have it placed in their hands.

Write on!

Happy 100th Commander Fred Lewis

Mackellar MP Dr Sophie Scamps was among residents wishing Commander Fred Lewis congratulations on his 100th birthday, which occurred on June 9 2024.

Commander Fred Lewis celebrated his 100th birthday at the RSL War Veterans Village in Collaroy/Narrabeen.

''It was an delight and honour to pass on the congratulations and best wishes on behalf of the Australian Parliament and thank him for his committed and distinguished service to our nation.'' Dr. Scamps stated

''It was a very much a delight to meet Commander Lewis who only strengthened my theory that those who live to 100 do so because they have lived their lives with great humour, hope and optimism.''


Dr Scamps and Commander Fred Lewis. Photo: via FB

The NSW War Memorial profiles project provides the following insights on this local gentleman:

FREDERICK LEWIS
Commander, Royal Australian Navy
"I had a love of the Navy and a strong sense of patriotism."

Frederick Lewis enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy during World War II, beginning a career in the services that would span 35 years. “I felt it was my duty. I had a love of the Navy and a strong sense of patriotism,” said Frederick. “I pledged to faithfully serve my Queen and country.”

Frederick completed his initial training and was shore based in New Guinea nearing the end of the Pacific War.

“I was not involved in combat as such. We were flushing out stragglers from the main conflict. Japanese numbers were small by then and although there was an element of danger there was no fear of being killed at that time. We picked up the stragglers to bring them by ship to the mainland. We held the Japanese prisoners on the open deck at the stern of the ship with sentries guarding them day and night. We ended up with about 15 prisoners. They were exposed to the elements and bedded down roughly on the quarterdeck with blankets and pillows. They had to endure this for about three or four months. 

The Japanese were our enemies at the time and we had rather a dislike for them. To us the Japanese seemed like a reasonably cruel people. We felt some hatred towards them because of the atrocities of war, but we didn’t harm them. We certainly had the prisoners under control on the ship and rather than harm them we developed some sympathy towards them.”

Frederick remembers the day the war ended. “We were expecting it at the time. The news was received in radio signals and printed on a signal form. The word went out to ‘splice the mainbrace’ which is a Navy order to issue the crew alcohol – beer in the Australian Navy and rum in the Royal Navy.”

During his lengthy service in the Royal Australian Navy, Frederick Lewis was involved in regular deployments to South East Asia on exercises, flag showing visits, and in shows of force involving shore bombardments against communist forces during the Malayan Emergency and the Vietnam War.

Frederick rose to the rank of Commander before he retired from the Navy in 1980.

“The Navy is a 24-hour-a-day job. I counted it as my duty, but I enjoyed immensely what I was doing. I was at sea for most of the time and there was never a dull moment. There is always something to do on a ship, during wartime and at peace. “

Happy 100th sir! and Thank YOU for your service.

People Aged 65 And Over Urged To Book In For Free Flu Vaccine As Cases Surge Across NSW

June 13, 2024
People aged 65 and over are again being urged to book in now for their free flu vaccine, as the virus continues to surge across the state.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the latest NSW Health Respiratory Surveillance Report shows in the week ending 8 June 2024, there was an increase of more than 25 per cent in people diagnosed with influenza compared with the previous week.

“Flu is rapidly increasing across the state. In the past week alone, presentations to our emergency departments increased by almost 22 per cent for people with influenza-like illness," Dr Chant said.

“We are expecting the flu season will be around for several weeks to come, so now is the time to book in for your free flu vaccine to get the vital protection you need.

“This is particularly important for people aged 65 and over who are at higher risk of severe illness from influenza, and unfortunately our vaccination rates for this group still aren't where we need them to be.

“At present, just half of people 65 and over (52.4 per cent) in NSW have received their flu vaccine."

With influenza, COVID-19 and RSV all circulating in the community, we continue to remind the community to avoid visiting high-risk settings including hospitals and aged care facilities if they are experiencing symptoms of respiratory illness.

Vaccination is the best protection against infection and severe disease. Everyone, but particularly those at increase risk of severe disease, is urged to get vaccinated now. By getting vaccinated you also help protect those around you.

The influenza vaccine is free and readily available for those at higher risk of severe illness from influenza. It is available through GPs for any age group, as well as through pharmacies for everyone aged five years and over.

Those considered to be at higher risk of severe illness from influenza who are eligible for free vaccination include:
  • people aged 65 and over
  • children aged six months to under five years
  • Aboriginal people from six months of age
  • pregnant women
  • those with serious health conditions such as diabetes, cancer, immune disorders, severe asthma, kidney, heart, and lung disease.
There are some simple steps you can take to help protect yourself and your loved ones from respiratory viruses like COVID-19, influenza and RSV, including:
  • Stay up to date with your recommended influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations
  • Stay home if you are sick and wear a mask if you need to leave home
  • Get together outdoors or in large, well-ventilated spaces with open doors and windows
  • Avoid crowded spaces
  • Consider doing a rapid antigen test (RAT) before visiting people at higher risk of severe illness
  • Talk with your doctor now if you are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 or influenza to make a plan about what to do if you get sick, including what test to take, and discussing if you are eligible for antiviral medicines
  • Don't visit people who are at higher risk of severe illness if you are sick or have tested positive to COVID-19 or influenza
  • Practice good hand hygiene, including handwashing.

Investing In A Strengthened Aged Care Quality And Safety Commission

June 3, 2024
The Australian Government states it is ensuring our national aged care system has a world-class regulator to meet the challenges facing the sector – both now and into the future.

The Albanese Government states it accepts all 32 recommendations of the final report of the Independent Capability Review of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, with a number of recommendations already complete. 

Since the Government received and published the final report last year, a senior-level Implementation Steering Committee has been established in line with Recommendation 2.1. 

The Government states it has funded delivery of priority areas including:
  • $25.3 million, to assist the Commission to undertake its core regulatory functions and respond to two early recommendations from the review’s preliminary report (Recs 4.11 and 4.13)
  • $69.4 million for critical ICT and cyber security uplift (Recs 4.9 and 4.10)
  • $4.1 million to implement a new organisational structure (Recs 4.3 and 4.8)
  • $7.1 million to continue funding for the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner and associated complaints resolution staff (Rec 5.7)
  • $10.2 million for additional corporate capability to implement the Government Response. 
Significant investment in ICT is delivering more timely services for providers through improved risk-based decision making and use of data to support the Commission’s regulatory activity. 

Continued support for the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner will improve complaints handling for the sector. The role is increasing the Commission’s capacity to receive and resolve complaints and uses information from complaints to deliver better services. 

The expertise and knowledge base of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Advisory Council has also been expanded with four new appointments and one reappointment (Rec 6.2).

Equipped with a wide range of experience, from aged care nursing and gerontology to human resources management and financial regulation, the refreshed Council will guide the Commission to be the contemporary and capable regulator the sector demands. 


The Hon Anika Wells MP, Minister for Aged Care, stated:

“Delivering safe, high-quality care to older Australians is non-negotiable. We need a well-equipped, high-performing, regulator if we’re going to meet the challenges facing aged care.

“The independent review led by Mr David Tune AO PSM charts a course for service improvement by lifting the capability of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and we’ve accepted all 32 of his recommendations.

“We’ve already made substantial progress in delivering on these recommendations, and I look forward to continue working with the Commission to ensure best-practice regulation and building a system that delivers excellent care for all older people.”

$34 Million For Research To Improve Primary Care And Chronic Pain Treatment And To Better Understand Long COVID

June 13, 2024
The Australian Government is investing $19.6 million for research into primary health care and nearly $14.5 million for research into the impacts of long COVID. Funding is from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).

Nine projects will share in $19.6 million in funding delivered through the Medical Research Future Fund’s Primary Health Care Research Initiative. The benefits of multidisciplinary care, telehealth and preventive health are a focus of the research, with many projects specifically targeted to offer better health care and support to people in rural, regional and remote communities.
 
Four projects will share in $8.8 million in funding to ease the burden for Australians with chronic pain. Researchers from the University of South Australia will work with two rural communities to build the skills of local health professionals and offer a lifestyle program to patients living with chronic pain.
 
Another project will target support at rural Australians with back pain, which causes huge suffering and often coincides with lifestyle risks for chronic disease. Many people don’t get care to manage both, especially in rural regions.
 
University of Sydney researchers will adapt a lifestyle program that can be used by rural primary care practices to reduce disability and ongoing disease.
 
At least one in five Australians aged 45 and over lives with chronic and ongoing pain, which can take an enormous physical and emotional toll on them, their families and loved ones.
 
The research funding is just one way the Government is strengthening Medicare to better fit the needs of 21st century Australia, including a greater incidence of chronic disease.  
 
Recent changes to bulk billing incentives, investments to support multidisciplinary care, Medicare Urgent Care Clinics and workforce investments are making it easier for every Australian to get the care they need, when and where they need it.
 
 
The Hon Mark Butler MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care stated: 
“Primary care is the frontline of Australia’s health care system – GPs, pharmacists and allied health professionals who are often the first point of contact for people who need health care.
 
“The Albanese Government is supporting primary care on a range of fronts as we strengthen Medicare for the needs of 21st century Australia.
 
“For people like Grace, pain has had a life-changing impact. It was there day and night, affecting her ability to live a normal life and do the things that bring joy and fulfilment.
 
“Finding better ways to care for patients like Grace relies on our research sector testing new interventions, devices and clinical approaches.
 
“The Albanese Government is targeting health research funding to where it’s needed most. Where it will improve the lives of everyday Australians and tackle the chronic issues that impact so many of us.”

‘Screaming, chanting, struggling teenagers’: the enduring legacy of the Beatles tour of Australia, 60 years on

Michelle ArrowMacquarie University

The Beatles began their first and only tour of Australia 60 years ago this week. It remains a landmark event in our social and cultural history.

The Beatles spent almost three weeks in Australia and New Zealand. Touching down in a wet and cold Sydney on Thursday June 11 1964, they played 32 concerts in eight cities: first Adelaide (where drummer Ringo Starr, suffering from tonsillitis and pharyngitis, was replaced by Jimmie Nicol), then Melbourne (with Starr again), Sydney, Wellington, Auckland, Dunedin, Christchurch and two final shows in Brisbane on June 29 and 30.

Charming and irreverent as they were, The Beatles themselves were only part of the reason the tour was so memorable.

It was the hordes of screaming fans who followed their every move that astonished onlookers.

The Rise Of Beatlemania

By 1964, Australian teenagers had access to a global youth culture. As the feminist author Anne Summers, then an Adelaide teenager, recalled in her memoir Ducks on the Pond:

It was rare for world-famous pop stars to come to Adelaide and unheard of for a group at the height of their celebrity.

That Australian teenagers had the opportunity to see The Beatles in person in 1964 was due to a stroke of luck for tour promoter Kenn Brodziak. In late 1963, Brodziak secured the then up-and-coming Beatles for a three-week tour of Australia at a bargain rate.

By the time the tour took place, the Beatles were the biggest band in the world.

Their popularity had skyrocketed throughout 1964. I Want To Hold Your Hand went to number one on the Australian charts in mid-January and the top six singles that year were all by The Beatles.

So when the band arrived here, Beatlemania was the predictable result: crowds of surging, screaming young people, who turned out in massive numbers wherever the Beatles appeared.

While the earliest rock ‘n’ roll fans (and even performers) in the late 1950s were often labelled juvenile delinquents, there were too many teenagers swept up in Beatlemania for them to be dismissed in the same way. The crowds became a spectacle in themselves.

‘A Chanting Mass Of Humanity’

Beatlemaniacs were loud and unruly. The Daily Telegraph reported:

50,000 screaming, chanting, struggling teenagers crowded outside Melbourne’s Southern Cross Hotel this afternoon to give the Beatles the wildest reception of their careers.

It was a similar story in Adelaide. The Advertiser described:

police, their arms locked together and forming a tight circle around the car carrying the Beatles, had to force a path through the surging, screaming crowd […] Police said they had never seen anything like it.

The crowds overwhelmed observers with their sheer size – a “solid, swaying, chanting mass of humanity”, according to The Age – and noise. The Daily Telegraph consulted an acoustics expert to conclude “Beatles fans scream like [a] jet in flight”.

Beatlemania was visible (and noisy) evidence of a growing teenage consumer market and the assimilation of rock music, dancing and youth culture into the leisure practices of middle-class youth. It was proof (if anyone still needed it) the youth market was highly developed and extremely lucrative.

The speed with which companies found a ready audience for Beatles merchandise (wigs, souvenirs, magazines) demonstrated the relative affluence of the youthful consumer in mid-1960s Australia. This market would continue to grow throughout the decade.

A New Idea Of Youth

Perhaps the most remarkable characteristic of Beatlemania was its femaleness. While not all Beatles fans were girls, it was the crying, screaming girls who attracted the most media comment.

The Daily Telegraph described them this way:

It was the girls, the nymphets of 1964 in their uniform of black slacks and duffle coats and purple sweaters – who showed the orgiastic devotion due to the young men from the damp and foggy dead end of England […] the girls wept, screamed, grimaced, fainted, fell over, threw things, stamped, jumped and shouted […] [The Beatles] were the high priests of pop culture, taking due homage from a captive, hypnotised hysterical congregation.

The references to “nymphets” with their “orgiastic devotion” tells us many Australians thought these young women were transgressing the norms expected for their era. Young women in the early 1960s were still expected to be demure and responsible. Beatles fans were breaking these rules, and helping to rewrite the meanings of youth and gender in 1960s Australia.

Beatlemania was an expression of female desire. The Beatles were powerful objects of fantasy for many fans in a world where sexual mores were slowly changing but where women were still expected to police male desire, stopping young men from “going too far”. A fantasy relationship with a Beatle became a way for young women to dream about their ideal relationship.

Screaming, chasing a Beatle down the street: these were acts of rebellion and joy that prefigured the rise of women’s liberation, with its embrace of rebellious femininity.

Beatlemania reminds us that, even if women were not always behind the microphone or playing the guitar, they have been important to the history of rock ‘n’ roll music as fans and audience members.

Beatlemania marked the ascendancy of a new idea of youth: these young people weren’t mere replicas of their parents, but they were not juvenile delinquents, either. The Beatles tour drew young Australians more closely into a transnational youth culture, fostering the development of a distinctively Australian variant here.

Beatlemania also demonstrated the massed power of youth. By the end of the 1960s, many Australian teenagers were gathering on the streets to protest, rather than celebrate, and to make political demands, rather than to scream.The Conversation

Michelle Arrow, Professor of History, Macquarie University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Draft New Aged Care Act Consultation Feedback Report Available

The consultation on the draft new Aged Care Act closed on 8 March 2024. The federal government:
  • received 320 submissions and 800 surveys
  • heard from over 10,000 people at their webinars, workshops and roundtables.
Some of the most common matters raised in the feedback received were:
  • the time available to implement the new Act
  • how people’s rights will be upheld
  • how supported decision-making, whistleblower protections and the new definition of high-quality care will work in practice
  • the proposed new due diligence duty on board members and responsible people
  • the Complaints Commissioner’s independence.

Your feedback is informing the final Bill for introduction to Parliament.

Subject to parliamentary processes, the new Act will commence on 1 July 2025 to align with the launch of the new Support at Home program.

Have Your Say: A Digital Inclusion Strategy For NSW

Feedback closes: Friday 19th July, 2024.
The NSW Government is developing the first Digital Inclusion Strategy in our state. 
In today's rapidly evolving world, not all members of our community have been able to fully embrace the online age, leading to a growing digital divide.

For example:
  • >60% of Australians feel they can’t keep up with rapid changes in technology.
  • >$66 million was stolen by online scammers from Indigenous Australians, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and people with a disability in 2021 alone.
  • >46% of Australians say the rising cost of living has affected their ability to get online.
The NSW Digital Inclusion Strategy will look at how everyone in NSW can access, afford and engage with digital technologies, services, and resources – regardless of where they live, their age, race, gender identity and socio-economic status, or if they have a disability.
The Government wants to understand what challenges people face accessing digital technologies, services and resources and how they can be supported to overcome them.

Tell them what you think
Your feedback will help inform the NSW Digital Inclusion Strategy.
You can have your say by completing a survey, taking a quick poll, sharing your story, or making a submission, until Friday 19th July, 2024.

To help you respond, you can refer to the discussion paper.



New Pharmacy Agreement Delivers Cheaper Medicines

June 3, 2024
The Australian Government and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia have signed the 8th Community Pharmacy Agreement (8CPA).

The 8CPA will mean Australian patients continue to receive cheaper medicines, and world-class healthcare from their local pharmacies, the government stated.

The 8CPA, which will commence on 1 July 2024 will provide a better deal for pharmacies and delivers a funding boost of $3 billion and a total $26.5 billion in funding over five years including:
  • $22.5 billion for community pharmacies to dispense prescriptions
  • $2.1 billion for a new Additional Community Supply Support Payment
  • $1.05 billion over five years for other pharmacy services and programs, including Dose Administration Aids, MedsChecks, Staged Supply of medicines, and an increased Regional Pharmacy Maintenance Allowance
  • $484.4 million to cover the costs of a one-year freeze on the maximum Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) co-payment for everyone with a Medicare card and up to a five-year freeze for pensioners and other Commonwealth concession cardholders
  • $196.7 million to increase the number of patients who can receive funded Dose Administration Aid services
  • $103.3 million for new and improved pharmacy programs
The agreement will give community pharmacies more financial certainty and will support a sustainable pharmacy network across Australia.

From 1 July 2024, the Government is establishing a new Additional Community Supply Support Payment, which will replace the Regional Pharmacy Transition Allowance (RPTA).

The Additional Community Supply Support Payment will give pharmacists more confidence to continue delivering services for their patients, particularly cheaper medicines through 60-day prescribing, without increasing patient fees.

The 8CPA will deliver even more cost-of-living relief through cheaper medicines, thanks to the temporary freeze on indexation of PBS co-payments.

This is in addition to the more than $370 million Australians have already saved through last year’s cut to the maximum patient co‑payment and the introduction of 60-day prescriptions.

Consultations on the 8CPA have been extensive, with more than 100 meetings held with more than 20 organisations. These have focused on priority issues for Australian patients and pharmacies.

The Government has also signed a Strategic Agreement on Pharmacist Professional Practice Standards with the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA).

Commencing from 1 July 2024, this five-year agreement will ensure the standards governing pharmacists in Australia remain fit for purpose.

The PSA will develop, review and update a number of practice standards, guidelines, codes, and competency frameworks to support community pharmacists to operate to a consistent standard and at the highest level of practice.

The Government will begin discussions with the PSA and select stakeholders regarding pharmacy programs not included in the 8CPA.
 
The Hon Mark Butler MP, Minister for Health and Aged Care, stated: 
“The Albanese Government is delivering cheaper medicines for all Australians.

“Australians trust their local pharmacist to look after their health needs.

“This new agreement will support pharmacists to deliver more services and cheaper medicines.

“The agreements we have struck are a win for patients who will benefit from cheaper medicines and more pharmacy services.

“I want to the thank the Pharmacy Guild, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, and the wide range of stakeholders who have engaged in this process to deliver better health outcomes for Australians.”

What’s the difference between Alzheimer’s and dementia?

Lightspring/Shutterstock
Nikki-Anne WilsonUNSW Sydney

What’s the difference? is a new editorial product that explains the similarities and differences between commonly confused health and medical terms, and why they matter.


Changes in thinking and memory as we age can occur for a variety of reasons. These changes are not always cause for concern. But when they begin to disrupt daily life, it could indicate the first signs of dementia.

Another term that can crop up when we’re talking about dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, or Alzheimer’s for short.

So what’s the difference?

What Is Dementia?

Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a range of syndromes that result in changes in memory, thinking and/or behaviour due to degeneration in the brain.

To meet the criteria for dementia these changes must be sufficiently pronounced to interfere with usual activities and are present in at least two different aspects of thinking or memory.

For example, someone might have trouble remembering to pay bills and become lost in previously familiar areas.

It’s less-well known that dementia can also occur in children. This is due to progressive brain damage associated with more than 100 rare genetic disorders. This can result in similar cognitive changes as we see in adults.

So What’s Alzheimer’s Then?

Alzheimer’s is the most common type of dementia, accounting for about 60-80% of cases.

So it’s not surprising many people use the terms dementia and Alzheimer’s interchangeably.

Changes in memory are the most common sign of Alzheimer’s and it’s what the public most often associates with it. For instance, someone with Alzheimer’s may have trouble recalling recent events or keeping track of what day or month it is.

Elderly woman looking at calendar
People with dementia may have trouble keeping track of dates. Daisy Daisy/Shutterstock

We still don’t know exactly what causes Alzheimer’s. However, we do know it is associated with a build-up in the brain of two types of protein called amyloid-β and tau.

While we all have some amyloid-β, when too much builds up in the brain it clumps together, forming plaques in the spaces between cells. These plaques cause damage (inflammation) to surrounding brain cells and leads to disruption in tau. Tau forms part of the structure of brain cells but in Alzheimer’s tau proteins become “tangled”. This is toxic to the cells, causing them to die. A feedback loop is then thought to occur, triggering production of more amyloid-β and more abnormal tau, perpetuating damage to brain cells.

Alzheimer’s can also occur with other forms of dementia, such as vascular dementia. This combination is the most common example of a mixed dementia.

Vascular Dementia

The second most common type of dementia is vascular dementia. This results from disrupted blood flow to the brain.

Because the changes in blood flow can occur throughout the brain, signs of vascular dementia can be more varied than the memory changes typically seen in Alzheimer’s.

For example, vascular dementia may present as general confusion, slowed thinking, or difficulty organising thoughts and actions.

Your risk of vascular dementia is greater if you have heart disease or high blood pressure.

Frontotemporal Dementia

Some people may not realise that dementia can also affect behaviour and/or language. We see this in different forms of frontotemporal dementia.

The behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia is the second most common form (after Alzheimer’s disease) of younger onset dementia (dementia in people under 65).

People living with this may have difficulties in interpreting and appropriately responding to social situations. For example, they may make uncharacteristically rude or offensive comments or invade people’s personal space.

Semantic dementia is also a type of frontotemporal dementia and results in difficulty with understanding the meaning of words and naming everyday objects.

Dementia With Lewy Bodies

Dementia with Lewy bodies results from dysregulation of a different type of protein known as α-synuclein. We often see this in people with Parkinson’s disease.

So people with this type of dementia may have altered movement, such as a stooped posture, shuffling walk, and changes in handwriting. Other symptoms include changes in alertness, visual hallucinations and significant disruption to sleep.

Do I Have Dementia And If So, Which Type?

If you or someone close to you is concerned, the first thing to do is to speak to your GP. They will likely ask you some questions about your medical history and what changes you have noticed.

Sometimes it might not be clear if you have dementia when you first speak to your doctor. They may suggest you watch for changes or they may refer you to a specialist for further tests.

There is no single test to clearly show if you have dementia, or the type of dementia. A diagnosis comes after multiple tests, including brain scans, tests of memory and thinking, and consideration of how these changes impact your daily life.

Not knowing what is happening can be a challenging time so it is important to speak to someone about how you are feeling or to reach out to support services.

Dementia Is Diverse

As well as the different forms of dementia, everyone experiences dementia in different ways. For example, the speed dementia progresses varies a lot from person to person. Some people will continue to live well with dementia for some time while others may decline more quickly.

There is still significant stigma surrounding dementia. So by learning more about the various types of dementia and understanding differences in how dementia progresses we can all do our part to create a more dementia-friendly community.


The National Dementia Helpline (1800 100 500) provides information and support for people living with dementia and their carers. To learn more about dementia, you can take this free online course.The Conversation

Nikki-Anne Wilson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), UNSW Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Tunnel Boring Near Complete For Sydney Metro Rail To Western Sydney Airport 

June 12, 2024
Sydney Metro to Western Sydney Airport is one step closer, with tunnel boring machines (TBMs) Catherine, Eileen and Peggy having completed their historic journeys today.



This project will become the transport spine of Western Sydney, connecting the Western Sydney Airport and Aerotropolis at Bradfield to the wider Sydney rail network at St Marys.

With boring near complete, the project will enter its next stage – the construction of 6 world-class stations along the 23-kilometre track.

The Sydney Metro to Western Sydney Airport project is jointly funded by the Albanese and NSW Governments, and is set to open in late 2026 with the start of airport operations.  

The project is expected to create over 14,000 jobs in total during construction. As at April 2024, the project has created 10,348 jobs – including 250 apprenticeships.

Three of the boring machines have completed their work, with the final 230-metre leg to St Marys expected to be completed in a few weeks.

Reaching this pivotal point in the construction program comes after 13 months of tunnelling from the 4 giant TBMs and a team of 553 tunnellers, TBM operators and support personnel.

The TBMs have worked around the clock up to 7 days a week to excavate more than 1.4 million tonnes of material (enough to fill 226 Olympic pools) and install 68,360 concrete segments which now line the new tunnel walls.

The project’s focus is now on the delivery of the 6 metro stations – St Marys, Orchard Hills, Luddenham, Airport Business Park, Airport Terminal and Bradfield.

Station construction is underway at St Marys, while the Orchard Hills, Luddenham and Bradfield station sites are being prepared for construction to begin in the coming months.

Work inside the tunnels will continue, and will involve completing the construction of 39 cross passages and preparing for track laying.

Find out more information on the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport project.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated:
“We are delivering a future made in Australia and this project is a fantastic example of how we are doing that in Western Sydney.

“Sydney Metro and the new Western Sydney airport will transform Western Sydney into a global economic hub.

“Today’s major milestone is tribute to the great work of the more than 10,000 people that are working on this project.

“This project demonstrates how government leadership and co-investment with industry can deliver world class infrastructure assets resulting in significant value for future generations.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns stated:
“This historic breakthrough of the new Metro tunnels at Western Sydney Airport are just another way we are building the essential infrastructure Western Sydney needs.

“We are committed to building better communities in Western Sydney, and public transport projects like this that are creating jobs and cutting travel times are a critical part of our plan.”

Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King said:
“I am delighted to see the wonderfully-named Catherine and her TBM friends bringing us closer to a world-class transport option to the new Western Sydney International Airport and major job hubs, including the new Aerotropolis.

“This milestone is a critical step towards connecting the suburbs that will grow around this brand-new metro line, giving Western Sydney the opportunity to attract more jobs and housing opportunities.

“This city-shaping metro line will service travellers and airport workers with major population centres like Penrith, Parramatta and the Sydney CBD via St Marys.”

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Western Sydney Prue Car stated: 
“It is great to see these 4 TBMs have completed their tunnelling journeys under Western Sydney.

“The NSW Labor Government, together with the Australian Government, is committed to delivering the vital, major infrastructure needed to deliver for our growing Western Sydney community.”

NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen said:
“This is a job well done for 3 of our 4 mega machines and a huge achievement for everybody involved.

“More than 550 workers spent many months deep below ground and across the site to drive these borers across the finish line.

“It’s a phenomenal milestone for Sydney’s second airport rail link.

“While tunnelling is almost finished on the Western Sydney Airport line for now, we are planning the public transport links of the future.

“Our business cases are underway to plan more future rail links in Western Sydney as these communities continue to grow.”


Photos: NSW Government

Changes To Reduce Government Reliance On Consultants: New Unit To Be Set Up Within The Premier’s Department

June 6, 2024
The NSW Government has today announced the introduction of structural changes which it states will reduce an 'over-reliance on consultants and bring costs under control'.

A new unit to be set up within the Premier’s Department to help reduce the use of consultants by redirecting agencies to in-house specialist resources where they are available and building in-house capabilities for services with the highest demand.

A new group will be responsible for identifying skills shortages and workforce gaps and undertaking long-term planning to deliver essential services across the state. This will be an expansion of the Premier’s Department’s existing role in leading industrial relations policy for the public sector.

The Premier’s Department will also be responsible for collecting and reporting data on the public sector workforce, including the People Matters survey.

This function is being transferred from the Public Service Commission to ensure it is better integrated into whole-of-government policy making.

The government will this week introduce legislation to amend the Government Sector Employment Act 2013 to sharpen the focus of the Public Service Commissioner on ethics and integrity, while transferring workforce planning and data collection functions into the Premier’s Department.

The Public Service Commissioner will continue to fulfil her important independent statutory functions to safeguard integrity in public sector recruitment and employment matters.

The Premier’s Department, jointly with The Cabinet Office, will also be tasked with leading the development of a new Core NSW Public Service Work Policy to set clear expectations of the types of work that agencies must be able to perform in-house.

The government states the changes will continue the NSW Government’s ongoing efforts to rebuild essential services and unwind an increasing reliance on external consultants including:
  • implementing tight controls and issued clear instructions to agencies around the use of external consultants
  • introducing additional probity measures
  • legislating ‘betrayal of trust’ fines for disclosing information gained during confidential tax discussions with the government
  • redirecting more than half-a-billion dollars by reducing consultants and labour hire.
The machinery-of-government changes will place a greater focus at the heart of government on ensuring the public sector has the necessary capability and expertise in-house to deliver against the government’s key priorities.

Premier Chris Minns said:
“Today we announce common-sense changes that will ensure the public sector is delivering for NSW.

“I want to thank Commissioner Kathrina Lo and everyone at the Public Service Commission for your work to date.

“This announcement is all about leveraging your expertise to better help us solve some of the most pressing challenges that we face as a state.

“We are focused on ensuring that we rebuild in-house capability and only use external consultants when it’s actually needed.

“This overreliance on consultants has directly contributed to the budget mess we inherited.

“We were elected with a clear mandate to rebuild our essential services and repair the budget.”

Special Minister of State John Graham said:
“The Liberals’ obsession with private consultants damaged our state's capacity to deliver essential services.

“The Liberals engaged one consultant every hour – including when it could have been done in-house for half the price.

“We are changing this approach to bring costs under control and re-build capacity in the public sector.”

Minister for Domestic Manufacturing and Government Procurement Courtney Houssos said:
“The Liberals wasted taxpayers’ money, including engaging consultants more than 10,000 times.

“This waste and mismanagement characterised the Liberals’ and Nationals’ approach to finances.

“We have begun the important work of repairing the budget, including cleaning up the waste we inherited with extravagant spending on consultants.

“This will be a budget that continues to responsibly reduce the debt left to us by the former Liberal-National government, while continuing to rebuild our essential public services.”

Inner-City Sydney Vacant Housing To Be Used For Crisis Accommodation For People Seeking Shelter

June 7, 2024
The NSW Government states it is taking an innovative approach to help strengthen housing support for those who need it most by using vacant, underutilised properties for people urgently seeking shelter.

A social housing block set for redevelopment will be temporarily used to provide much needed crisis accommodation. Women and children escaping domestic violence are among the many individuals and families who will be able to access this accommodation in inner-city Sydney.

Homes NSW will partner with community housing provider, Bridge Housing, to utilise the existing 17-unit building to house people needing short-term accommodation. This model will continue to be rolled out across the state where suitable properties are identified to be used for temporary accommodation.

''As the state continues to grapple with a housing crisis all options must be on the table to bring more safe and secure homes online sooner. Since July 2023, the number of households accessing temporary accommodation (TA) each night has increased significantly, with this site to provide vital short-term relief.'' the government stated

''Temporary Accommodation is available for people experiencing homelessness, who are unable to access any other form of safe and appropriate accommodation. Increasing the supply of alternative accommodation, even in the ‘meanwhile’ reduces pressure for temporary and crisis support.

In direct response to the calls for more support, last year, the NSW Government made changes to Temporary Accommodation to create a better place for people in crisis by increasing the initial period of Temporary Accommodation, from two days to seven days and removing the annual 28-day cap.''

''In addition, people escaping domestic and family violence have had the cash asset limit assessment removed entirely to help break down unnecessary barriers for vulnerable people.

Homes NSW worked to relocate all previous residents into long-term permanent social housing. Rather than leaving the site vacant in a housing crisis. The NSW Government is ensuring that the building continues to be used for accommodation linked to support services under a ‘meanwhile use’ agreement with Bridge Housing.''

The site will be used as short-term accommodation for up to 12 months. After this time, the property will be redeveloped into 43 new social homes, an additional 26 units than is currently available on the site.

During this time Homes NSW will work to complete detailed site investigations, final design and builder procurement for the new social housing development.

Minister for Housing and Homelessness Rose Jackson said:
"This innovative initiative demonstrates our unwavering commitment to addressing homelessness head-on by providing immediate relief to those in need.

“We know a big part of this housing crisis is homes left vacant that could be used by people in need. This is a common sense, practical approach to help get people back on their feet.

"The surge in demand for temporary accommodation emphasizes the urgent need for comprehensive support services. Securing additional funding is imperative to bolstering these services and delivering sustainable solutions for people experiencing homelessness.

“As we continue to rebuild our housing system, we are looking and what direct and immediate actions we can take to provide wrap around support and housing to vulnerable people.”

Bridge Housing’s Chief Operating Officer Simone Parsons said:
“Bridge Housing is honoured to undertake the tenancy management of this project in inner-city Sydney for Homes NSW.

“Taking properties earmarked for development and repurposing them for interim accommodation changes the lives of people experiencing homelessness and domestic violence. It gives them a stable base to get back on their feet, supported by the Women and Girls Emergency Centre (WAGEC), Weave and YWCA, while we work to find them long-term housing.

“Meanwhile housing helps solve immediate housing needs and is scalable and replicable for sites undergoing the DA process."

NSW Government Announces Measures Aimed At Easing Pressure On NSW Emergency Departments

June 9, 2024
An Emergency Department relief package announced by the Minns Labor Government will ease the pressure on stretched NSW hospitals, the government has stated.

The 2024-25 NSW Budget allocates $480.7 million in a package of initiatives that will help to avoid an estimated 290,000 visits to emergency departments each year once fully implemented.

''This package will connect more people across NSW with high quality, accessible and timely care, by expanding alternatives to the emergency department, and by improving the flow of patients through the system.'' the government stated in a release

The latest Bureau of Health Information data for January to March 2024 continued to see a record number of ambulance responses and more patients who are sicker than ever before presenting to NSW public hospital EDs, with a record number of triage category 1, 2 and 3 presentations.

Alternatives to Emergency Departments
Almost 180,000 people are expected to be able to avoid a trip to busy EDs each year with a $171.4 million expansion of the services accessed via Healthdirect through the Single Front Door.

This package will significantly expand access for people across the state to the free services available though Healthdirect. Building on the success of virtualKIDS which became statewide at the end of 2023, a new statewide service, VirtualADULTS will provide greater access to virtual consultation with a range of health professionals such as doctors, nurses and mental health clinicians, and access to virtual specialist advice where required through newly established service pathways.

By calling Healthdirect, individuals will first speak to a registered nurse who will triage the patient, assessing the urgency of their condition and their suitability for a virtual consultation.

If the registered nurse deems a patient’s condition is serious enough to warrant an urgent appointment but not serious enough to warrant a presentation to an ED, they will connect the patient to a GP or refer them for a virtual consultation with a senior nurse or a doctor.

Adults and children with conditions like fevers, mild respiratory illnesses, infections, vomiting and diarrhoea often require medical advice and intervention within 24 hours but may not be able to obtain an appointment with their local GP in that timeframe. Through the virtual consultation, the clinician will be able to assess the patient’s condition, give detailed medical advice, provide e-scripts and discuss a treatment plan. Virtual specialist advice will also be accessed by the consulting clinician if required.

This initiative will allow many patients who have urgent but not life-threatening conditions such as these to avoid a trip to an ED by providing care and treatment through Healthdirect instead.

The community can access the service by calling Healthdirect on 1800 022 222 at any time. Treatment is free for Medicare card holders.

If you need language support, call TIS National on 131 450 and ask for Healthdirect.

Additionally, more than 114,000 ED presentations will be avoided every year with a $100 million investment in the state’s Urgent Care Services for a further two years, the government stated.

Urgent Care Services provide an excellent alternative for people with health issues that are urgent, but not life threatening, to avoid attending a busy ED.

These include a number of urgent care clinics across NSW, as well services run through Local Health Districts such as geriatric outreach services. The clinics are available at Caringbah, Carlton, Dapto, Top Ryde, Liverpool, Long Jetty, Gregory Hills, Bankstown and Orange, with patients booking an appointment through Healthdirect.

The NSW Government has delivered 16 Urgent Care Services since July 2023 as part of a commitment to deliver 25 urgent care services across the state by June 2025.

''Alleviating pressure on EDs frees up vital resources for patients with more serious needs and improves conditions for hardworking staff.'' the government stated

Improving patient flow
Public hospitals across NSW will be able to support an estimated 16,000 patients per year and avoid nearly 80,000 hours of ED wait times, through an expansion of Emergency Department Short Stay Units.

This $70 million investment will support more treatment spaces in EDs for ED patients who require short-term treatment, observation and ongoing assessment. The units have proven successful in improving patient flow and reducing emergency department wait times.

Hospital in the Home will receive a boost of $31.4 million to expand capacity and increase the use of virtual care. This funding will support a scaling up of services.

This enhancement will allow an estimated 3,500 additional patients to be cared for safely in the comfort of their home, rather than in a hospital bed, on top of the 5,300 currently cared for under this program each year.

The relief package also funds the creation of a new patient flow concierge role.

These roles will support clinical staff to facilitate patient flow and better co-ordinate the discharge processes. This will enhance patient communication and experience, including for patients awaiting discharge who are National Disability Insurance Scheme recipients or residential aged care residents.

The package also includes funding for new technology that will help clinical staff to identify patients who are suitable for discharge, earlier, allowing people to recover at home with appropriate supports.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:
“This is a must-have investment to relieve pressure on the state’s emergency departments and improve patient care.

“This Budget delivers on the Minns Government’s commitment to rebuild the NSW health system.  Better emergency departments will mean better results for people.

“This $480.7 million investment will mean hundreds of thousands of people can avoid a visit to an emergency department.  It saves sick or hurt people time and eases pressure on staff.

“NSW can afford to do this. By cutting the state’s debt, we have cut the state’s interest bill. It means we can use those savings to relieve some of the burden on our health system.”

Minister for Health Ryan Park said:
“Our emergency departments face significant challenges with record presentations, so we are making the necessary investments across a range of strategically important areas to relieve that pressure and provide more alternatives for the community.

“This $480.7 million ED relief package will be implemented and monitored in consultation with the ED Taskforce formed in December last year and seeks to improve the patient experience through more timely, person-centred care, but also to improve the experience of our hardworking healthcare staff.

“By introducing innovative models of care such as the ‘single front door’, we are building on the success of our virtual and urgent care services that bridge the gap between primary care and emergency care, and ultimately improving access to healthcare for people across NSW.

“In 2023, Healthdirect received more than 315,000 calls from the NSW public, of which only 35.5 per cent were referred to an ED, with the remaining callers connected to the right care, within the right timeframe.

“This included a range of services from primary care services such as GPs, community services, pharmacy support, virtualKIDS, virtualGP services or the NSW Ambulance Virtual Clinical Care Centre which can further triage callers such as those from Residential Aged Care Facilities.”

Building Commission NSW’s Digital Capabilities Expanded To Weed Out Dodgy Builders

June 9, 2024
The NSW Government has announced it will invest in Building Commission NSW’s digital capabilities to weed out more dodgy builders, as the watchdog reveals details of a recent joint-operation that protected hundreds of buyers and renovators.

Building Commission NSW has been supercharged to lift building standards across the state as the NSW Government tackles the housing crisis.

The 2024 to 2025 NSW Budget will inject $35 million into the commission to help ensure quality home builds and renovations.

The funding will drive the commission’s adoption of new digital capabilities to use data, intelligence and analytics to track high risk builders, watch them closely and act to get them out of the sector.

The Budget commitment follows a joint data matching operation between the State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) and Building Commission NSW earlier this year, exposing 13 building businesses for failing to hold adequate home builders compensation insurance.

The Home Building Compensation Fund (HBCF) is the last line of protection for families building their own homes if they’re ripped off or their builder goes bust, and builders are required by law to have coverage.

The failure to hold adequate insurance left more than 226 mum and dad home builders and renovators at risk of financial devastation in the event that the builder was forced into administration. In 2023 there were 72,422 home building and renovation projects in NSW and everyone relied on HBCF to protect homeowners in the event a building business failed.

In addition to strengthening digital and data analytics capabilities, the 2024 to 2025 NSW Budget funding will also see the commission help deliver better homes by:
  • Providing boots on the ground to examine the quality of buildings and force developers to fix substandard construction work.
  • Building on Construct NSW and working with industry to design courses that supercharge the capability of the construction industry.
  • Getting people into homes faster by digitising compliance certificates, making it quicker for tradies to get and the Building Commission to verify quality work.
''Established just over 6 months ago, Building Commission NSW has set a new benchmark for building oversight.'' the government stated

''In that time, the commission has slapped more than 40 rectification orders on dodgy apartment buildings and inspected more than 300 freestanding homes.

Building Commission NSW has also cancelled, suspended or disqualified 146 licences as it works to rid the industry of risky players including builders, certifiers and design practitioners.

This is part of the NSW Government’s plan to build better, safer communities for NSW. A plan to protect consumers while restoring confidence in the building sector.

A plan to build a better NSW.''

Minister for Building, Anoulack Chanthivong said:
“We need more homes in NSW and we need them to be built to the highest possible standard and with the best protections for mum and dad home builders.

“As the Minns Labor Government works to deliver ambitious housing targets, we’re moving beyond the one man band approach taken by the previous government.

“We created Building Commission NSW to lift standards across the sector, and that’s exactly what it’s doing. 

“This investment takes Building Commission NSW to the cutting edge with boots on the ground and the technology it needs to target resources where they’re needed.” 

NSW Government To End Registrars Making Bail Decisions, Brings More Magistrates On Board

June 6, 2024
The NSW Labor Government has stated it will ensure all bail decisions are made by magistrates, as part of its domestic violence response package.

This builds on the Government’s commitment last month to ensure magistrates oversee weekend bail hearings, as the Government provides more information around implementation following further detailed work by the Department of Communities and Justice. 

The Government will invest $34 million over four years, including employing up to six additional magistrates, along with additional costs to be incurred by NSW Police and Legal Aid.

It also includes specialist domestic and family violence training for magistrates and court staff, costs associated with evaluation, and capital funding to ensure audio-visual link facilities are available to support remote bail hearings.

The implementation of the legislation will commence on proclamation in coming months and is being funded from the $45 million announced as part of the Government’s $230 million emergency domestic violence response package.

The Government chose to make this change through an amendment in its domestic violence bail legislation, giving certainty to the Parliament and the community.

Overall, the Government’s domestic, family and sexual violence bail reforms will make it more difficult for those accused of serious domestic violence offences to get bail, the government states.

This strengthening of bail laws will expand the show cause test to coercive control and serious domestic violence offences committed against intimate partners, and will require electronic monitoring for alleged serious domestic violence offenders granted bail.

The reforms expand the categories of offences for which bail decisions can be ‘stayed’, while also requiring bail decision-makers to consider domestic abuse risk factors, and to consider the views of victims and their family members.

Attorney General Michael Daley said:
“Registrars have an important place in the administration of the courts but there is now a community expectation that our magistrates are best placed to make these decisions in what are often very difficult circumstances.

“This is one part of a multi-faceted response by the Government to improve our response to domestic, family and sexual violence.”
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NSW Government Passes Law Making It More Difficult For Alleged Domestic Violence Offenders To Get Bail

June 6, 2024
The NSW Government has passed new laws to strengthen community safety by making it harder for alleged domestic violence offenders to get bail, and ensuring all bail decisions are made by magistrates.

Under the new law, people charged with serious domestic violence offences will be required to show cause why they should not be detained until their case is determined – reversing the presumption of bail.

This will apply to those charged with offences, in the context of intimate partner relationships, that carry a maximum penalty of 14 or more years jail.

These offences include sexual assault, kidnapping, and choking to render someone unconscious with intent to commit another indictable offence.

If granted bail, these accused offenders will be subject to electronic monitoring, unless the bail authority is satisfied sufficient reasons exist – in the interests of justice – to justify not imposing the condition.

The show cause provision will apply to coercive control, which will be a criminal offence from 1 July 2024.

The amendments also strengthen the unacceptable risk test in the Bail Act. Under these changes, before granting bail, decision makers must consider:
  • ‘red flag’ behaviour that could constitute domestic abuse, such as behaviour that is physically abusive or violent; behaviour that is sexually abusive, coercive or violent; behaviour that is stalking; behaviour that causes death or injury to an animal; behaviour that is verbally abusive; or behaviour that is intimidation.
  • the views of victims and their family members, where available, about safety concerns.
The new legislation will also:
  • expand the categories of offences for which bail decisions can be ‘stayed’, meaning the accused person remains in custody while prosecutors bring a detention application before the Supreme Court.
  • make it easier to prosecute perpetrators who use tracking devices in a domestic violence context.
  • ensure magistrates or judges, rather than registrars, make all bail decisions (not just bail decisions related to domestic violence).
Up to 6 additional magistrates will be employed and the Government will provide funding to ensure audio-visual link facilities are available to support remote bail hearings.

This reform comes after the NSW Government announced a $230 million package to improve the response to domestic and family violence through primary prevention, early intervention and crisis response measures.

The Bail and Other Legislation Amendment (Domestic Violence) Act 2024 amends both the Bail Act 2013 and the Surveillance Devices Act 2007.

Premier Chris Minns said:
“These laws are long overdue and make it harder for alleged domestic violence offenders to get bail.

“They will help keep women and children safer.

“These changes are important as part of work across Government to improve responses to domestic, family and sexual violence.”

Attorney General Michael Daley said:
“The NSW Government has taken urgent action to address the unacceptable rate of domestic violence in our community.

“People accused of serious domestic violence offences against intimate partners will now have to ‘show cause’ why their detention is not justified, and if they are granted bail, they will be subject to electronic monitoring.

“In an important change, all bail matters will now be heard by magistrates and not registrars. This is not a criticism of registrars, who perform important work for their communities.

“These changes to the bail framework are a critical step in addressing domestic violence in NSW.”

Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Jodie Harrison said:

“This reform complements the $230 million package the NSW Government recently announced to improve NSW domestic violence prevention and support.

“Domestic, family, and sexual violence is preventable, and we continue to look for ways to better support the safety of women and children.”

Minister for Corrections Anoulack Chanthivong said:
“Any act of domestic violence is abhorrent, and women have a right to feel safe everywhere in our community.

“Corrections has specialists right now electronically monitoring offenders on parole or serving orders in the community. We are ready to deploy our expertise and know-how to help expand electronic monitoring to the bail system.

“Electronic monitoring forms part of the government’s coordinated approach to disrupt domestic violence across multiple fronts.”

Operation Amarok VI: More Than 550 Of The State's Most Dangerous Domestic Violence Offenders Arrested

Monday, 20 May 2024
Police have charged more than 550 people during a four-day operation targeting the state’s most dangerous domestic and family violence offenders.

Operation Amarok VI ran from Wednesday to Saturday (15 to 18 May 2024), involving every police area command and district across the state.

The Domestic and Family Violence Registry led Operation Amarok VI, which also involved officers from each regions’ Domestic Violence High Risk Offenders Team (DVHROT), along with specialist officers from Raptor Squad, Youth Command, Traffic & Highway Patrol Command, and the Police Transport Command.

During the four-day operation, police arrested 554 offenders and laid a total of 1070 charges.

Significantly, 226 of those arrested were wanted by police for serious domestic violence offences.

The Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley says Operation Amarok sends a strong message to perpetrators of domestic and family violence.

“These results show how seriously the NSW Police Force take domestic and family violence - this abhorrent behaviour is not tolerated.

“Anyone who commits this heinous crime can expect a knock at their door.

“Operation Amarok is just one part of the police response. Last year, almost 150,000 calls for assistance were made to the NSWPF for domestic violence-related matters. This shows the severity of the situation, the huge amount of police time and resources that go into addressing this epidemic and how important it is for prevention, early intervention and crisis support services to work together.”

NSW Police Executive Sponsor for Domestic and Family Violence, Deputy Commissioner Peter Thurtell, said the results of Operation Amarok VI demonstrate the Force’s commitment to tackling domestic violence and arresting offenders, no matter where they are.

“NSW Police officers respond to incidents of domestic and family violence every single day, and Operation Amarok enables police statewide to conduct a targeted blitz of those who have been flagged as the worst domestic violence offenders.

“These offenders pose a significant threat to their victims, as well as family members and the wider community.

“We demonstrated last week that we will target and arrest the offenders no matter where they are located. We saw significant arrest numbers in our regional communities, and we also saw arrests for offences that occurred allegedly while the offender was in jail.

"These Amarok VI results send a powerful message to offenders, and the community at large, that we do not tolerate domestic and family violence in any form, and our efforts will continue.”

Other results from Operation Amarok VI include the engagement of 548 offenders classified as dangerous; 122 Firearm Prohibition Order (FPO) compliance searches, 1277 bail compliance checks conducted with 144 breaches detected, and 422 Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders (ADVOs) served.



Significant arrests:

A 55-year-old man has been charged following the alleged assault on a 62-year-old woman at a residence on Mitchell Circuit, Port Macquarie on Wednesday 24 April 2024. Following inquiries, officers attached to the Mid North Coast Police District attended a residence on Church Street, Port Macquarie about 12.45pm on Wednesday 15 May 2024, where they arrested a 55-year-old man. He was taken to Port Macquarie Police Station where he was charged with stalk/intimidate intend fear physical etc harm (domestic), destroy or damage property (DV) and common assault (DV). He was granted conditional bail to appear before Port Macquarie Local Court on Wednesday 5 June 2024.

A 53yo man was arrested in West Kempsey following an alleged domestic assault. About 12.50pm on 15 May it’s alleged the man and a 47-year-old woman had an argument inside a home on Colin Tait Avenue, West Kempsey. During the argument it’s alleged the man used an imitation firearm to threaten the woman before police were called. Officers from Mid North Coast PD searched the home and located and seized an imitation firearm along with an amount of cannabis. He was taken to Kempsey Police Station and charged with multiple offences. He was bail refused and appeared at Kempsey Local Court the following day.

A 32-year-old woman has been charged following the alleged assault of a 37-year-old woman at a residence on Leith Street, West Kempsey, about 10.30am on Thursday 16 May 2024.Officers attached to the Coffs Harbour Domestic Violence High Risk Offender Team, arrested the woman and took her to Kempsey Police Station where she was charged with common assault and contravene prohibition / restriction in AVO. She was refused bail to appear before Kempsey Local Court on Thursday 16 May 2024, where she was formally refused bail to appear before the same court on Wednesday 11 September 2024.

About 6.30pm on Thursday 16 May 2024, police were called to a residence on Facey Crescent, Lurnea following reports of an assault. On arrival, officers attached to Liverpool City Police Area Command spoke to several people at the scene who told police a 16-year-old girl had assaulted two people. The 16-year-old girl was arrested at the scene and taken to Liverpool Police Station, where she was assessed by NSW Ambulance paramedics and taken to Liverpool Hospital for treatment for a minor injury. Upon her release from hospital, she was taken back to Liverpool Police Station, where she was charged with two counts of common assault (DV) and two counts of contravene prohibition/restriction in AVO (domestic). The 16-year-old was granted conditional bail to appear at a children’s court on Monday 20 May 2024. A 37-year-old woman was also taken to Liverpool Police Station where she was charged with common assault (DV) and was granted conditional bail to appear before Liverpool Local Court on Tuesday 21 May 2024.

About 6.40am on Friday 17 May 2024, police were conducting pro-active duties and attended a home on The Avenue at Corrimal. A Firearms Prohibition Order and a Weapons Prohibition Order were served on the occupants before police conducted a search of the home. During the search police located and seized allegedly stolen number plates, an amount of prohibited drugs, and a knife. A 43yo woman was arrested and taken to Wollongong Police Station where she was charged with multiple offences. She was given conditional bail to appear at Wollongong Local Court on 25 June 2024. Inquiries are continuing and further arrests are anticipated.

About 12pm on Friday 17 May 2024, officers attached to the Leichardt Police Area Command were called to a home on White Street, Lilyfield, following reports of an assault. Upon arrival, police were told a 23-year-old woman had allegedly assaulted a 27-year-old man. The man was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital for treatment, while the woman was taken to Surry Hills Police Station where she was charged with common assault (DV). She was granted conditional bail to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday 29 May 2024.

A man will be extradited to Sydney today after being arrested in Queensland over an alleged domestic violence related assault. On 8 May 2024, a woman was allegedly repeatedly assaulted at a home in Roselands. The woman was taken to Canterbury Hospital with fractured ribs, facial injuries, bruised kidney, as well as bruises to her torso and legs. Officers from Campsie PAC have been investigating the alleged incident. Following inquiries, Queensland Police arrested a 31-year-old man on 17 May 2024 after a warrant was issued for his arrest for the offence of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm (DV). Police will allege the man stomped on the woman repeatedly during the assault. He is expected to be extradited to Sydney today (Monday 20 May 2024).

A 25-year-old man was arrested by officers from Coffs Clarence Police District after he allegedly assaulted a woman before then assaulting two officers when they attempted to arrest him. During the alleged incident, on 17 May 2024, the man fled after assaulting the officers; however, was located and arrested a short time later. The man allegedly continued to be aggressive and violent towards the police during his arrest. He was charged with breach ADVO; resist arrest (x2); assault police (x2); intimidation (DV), and intimidate police officer. He was Bail Refused, to appear at Port Macquarie LC on 18 May 2024.

A 23-year-old woman was arrested in Ivanhoe, in the state’s west, after she allegedly stabbed a relative about 2.30am on 17 May 2024). A 37-year-old woman received multiple stab wounds to the abdomen, head, and back and was taken to a local hospital where police were called. The woman was later airlifted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital in a critical condition. The younger woman was charged with wound person intend cause grievous bodily harm. She was bail refused to appear in Dubbo Local Court on 18 May 2024.

Information about the NSW Police Force response to domestic and family violence, can be found online: https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/.../domestic_and_family.
Victims of domestic and family violence can find information about support services by contacting 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or visiting: https://www.1800respect.org.au

Reports of domestic and family-related crime or abuse can be made by contacting or attending your local police station. In an emergency, contact Triple Zero (000).

Anyone with information relating to domestic and family-related violence is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages.

NSW Government Passes Law Introducing Police ‘Wanding’ Search Powers

June 6, 2024
The NSW Government has passed new laws which will tackle knife crime by giving police extra powers to keep knives off our streets and bring in new restrictions relating to the sale of knives to children.

Under the powers, modelled on Queensland’s Jack’s Law, police will be able to use handheld scanners – or electronic metal-detecting ‘wands’ – to stop and scan individuals without a warrant at designated areas. These will include shopping precincts, sporting venues and public transport stations.

These powers will be made available in circumstances where a relevant offence involving weapons, knives, or violence has occurred within the past 12 months.

A declaration can then be made by a senior police officer, enabling police to scan people for a period of 12 hours (with an option to extend as required, as long as the same criteria are met).

The NSW Government thanks Brett and Belinda Beasley and the Queensland Government for sharing their experiences and their knowledge in regard to Jack’s Law.

The Act also increases the maximum penalty for selling a knife to a child under the age of 16 and introduces a new offence prohibiting selling a knife to a child aged 16 or 17 without a reasonable excuse.

The Act amends the Summary Offences Act 1988 (Summary Offences Act) to double the maximum financial penalty for selling a knife to a child under the age of 16 and to introduce a custodial penalty. The maximum penalty is now $11,000, imprisonment for 12 months, or both.

The Act also introduces a new offence into section 11F of the Summary Offences Act that prohibits selling a knife to a child aged 16 or 17 without a reasonable excuse, with provisions for young people needing knives for work or study, such as hospitality students and apprentices in some trades.

The reforms build upon responsible action taken by the NSW Government including:
  • Doubling of the maximum penalties for various knife related offences in 2023.
  • Ongoing high impact NSW Police operations such as “Operation Foil” – an ongoing, targeted operation which last ran from 11–13 April 2024. It targets knife crime and anti-social behaviour with 51 knives/weapons seized and 145 people charged with weapon-related offences.  In the last year alone almost 4000 knives were seized in public places.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said:
“I want to genuinely thank Belinda and Brett Beasley whose advocacy has helped change the law, making NSW a safer place.

“Our state is still shaken following the devastating spate of knife related violence.

“We have taken action to send a clear message that NSW will simply not accept these kinds of crimes.

“These are commonsense changes that strike a careful balance between preserving the rights of individuals and ensuring communities stay safe.”

NSW Attorney General Michael Daley said:
“Recently, as a community, we have witnessed tragic events in NSW.

“These shocking incidents have laid bare how devastating knife crime can be and how the lives of innocent people can be snatched away in an instant. I can’t begin to imagine the pain those who have suffered from knife crime feel and I offer my sincerest condolences to those affected by it.

“We want to ensure that people in the community feel safe and are safe. Rightly, they expect the government to do more to achieve that and this new Act will help to keep our streets safer.

“Knife crime is unacceptable. The ability for police to ‘wand’ people will help prevent people being injured and will deter people from carrying them and increase community safety.

“These tougher maximum penalties highlight the seriousness of knife-related crime.”

$274 Million To Staff 'Ghost Hospitals'

June 10. 2024
The Minns Labor Government states it is investing $274 million to boost staffing at new and upgraded hospitals across the state that were left without adequate staff by the previous government, as part of the 2024-25 NSW Budget.  

The 'Essential Health Services Fund' will see an additional 250 healthcare workers engaged to work at new and upgraded hospitals.  The additional staff will be deployed at hospitals due to come online in the next financial year and will deliver additional services to communities with growing and aging populations.

These include Prince of Wales and the new Tweed Hospital, as well as Bowral, Sutherland, Wentworth, Cowra, Cooma, Glenn Innes and Griffith.    

Additional staff for Prince of Wales Hospital will support the new emergency department, intensive care unit and broader expansion of the hospital.  

The newly-opened Tweed Hospital will receive additional health workers to deliver an expansion of overnight and day beds as well as an increase of emergency department and outpatient services.  

Funding will also be provided across the state to increased demands from health services resulting from an ageing and growing population.

This investment will further the NSW Government’s existing initiatives to build an engaged, capable and supported workforce through:
  • beginning to implement safe staffing levels,
  • making 1112 temporary nurses permanent,
  • delivering an extra 500 regional paramedics
  • abolishing the wages cap; and
  • introducing health worker study subsidies. 
This is all part of the Minns Government’s plan to build a strong health workforce and improve access to quality care across the state.  

Minister for Health Ryan Park said:

“I’ve always said that there’s no point in delivering shiny new buildings if you don’t have the staff to adequately run them.  

“We can’t risk the situation left to us by the previous government of ‘ghost hospitals’ where funding was allocated for the bricks and mortar but not the additional health workers, nurses and doctors to operationalise services.

“For too long, the previous government underinvested in our health workers, and that left a workforce pushed to breaking point, and that had significant impacts that we still continue to see to this day.  

“We need a fully-staffed healthcare system that is responsive and well-resourced, because when we back in our health workers, we improve patient outcomes, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.” 

Insurance Industry To Pay Its Fair Share For Health Care

June 10, 2024
The NSW Government has stated it will work with private health insurers to ensure the correct payments are being made to public hospitals under reforms in the upcoming NSW Budget.

The NSW Government will work with private health insurers to ensure the correct payments are being made to public hospitals under reforms in the upcoming NSW Budget.

Under existing arrangements, some private health insurers are only paying half the daily cost of a bed rate for a private patient. The cost of this is borne directly by NSW Health.

This means almost $150 million was denied last year alone in private health insurance funds that should have gone back into the NSW health system to help pay for the services being provided.

With increasing pressure for healthcare services and record investment by the Minns Labor Government in the health system, these arrangements are unsustainable, and a reformed payment arrangement will ensure insurers pay their fair share of costs.

The government is prepared to give the industry 6 months to change its arrangements and contribute its fair share to the public hospital system – and appreciates the constructive engagement with private health insurers so far.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:
“Every dollar that private insurers are not paying is being picked up by taxpayers, and that comes at the expense of other investments NSW should be making.

“There are some private health funds that are paying the right rate, particularly the non-profit private health funds that look after our teachers and our nurses. That is right – it should be a level playing field for all.

“It’s good that underpaying funds are now at the table but we’re clear that we need this problem solved.  We’ve got about 6 months to sort it out but otherwise we are going to have to take action to ensure that these funds are paying their bills.”

Minister for Health, Ryan Park said:
“Our public hospitals are busier than ever before, and every dollar counts when it comes to investing in the essential health services that our communities deserve.

“I look forward to working with private health insurers to ensure funds are paying their fair share of public hospital costs.”

Real Time Data Aims To See Thousands Of Patients Spend Less Time Waiting In Emergency Departments

June 10, 2024
The NSW Minns Government states patients, paramedics, and emergency department staff will benefit from a $15.1 million nation-leading upgrade to the ambulance patient allocation matrix system which will help identify the most appropriate emergency department (ED) for patients to be transferred to.

Funded in the 2024-25 NSW Budget, the ambulance matrix is a dashboard that draws on live hospital data to help paramedics determine the nearest, most clinically appropriate ED for all patients arriving to a NSW hospital by ambulance.

The new matrix, known as the “NewGen Matrix”, will now be able to take into account capacity at nearby EDs, the patient’s clinical condition and travel times.

This means the system will assist paramedics in taking a patient to where they can be seen the quickest, not just the closest location.

More than 2000 patients who arrive to an ED by NSW Ambulance per year are also expected to avoid a secondary hospital transfer under the new dynamic matrix.

The current ambulance matrix is almost two decades old and relies on limited, static data inputs that means paramedics do not have visibility of potential delays at emergency departments.

The $15.1 million investment over 4 years will support the rollout across both metropolitan and rural NSW which is expected to commence late 2025.

This new matrix is part of the NSW Government’s ED relief package of more than $480 million over 4 years to further ease pressure on the state’s busy emergency departments.

The ED Relief Package will help avoid an estimated 300,000 visits to the ED each year, improving conditions for our hardworking frontline healthcare staff and connecting more people across NSW with high quality, accessible and timely care.

This is part of the NSW Government’s plan to build a strong health care system and ensure that every person can access the essential services they need.

Premier Chris Minns said:
“I’ve said it before – people are waiting too long to be seen in emergency departments.

“This is an important investment that will help our hardworking frontline staff deliver the care that people deserve, faster.”

Minister for Health Ryan Park said:
“Our hardworking paramedics and healthcare staff are currently under immense pressure with a record number of ambulance responses and ED presentations to our hospitals.

“This necessary upgrade will contribute to a range of initiatives in our ED Relief Package designed to improve patient flow across the system.

“This investment is about equipping our highly skilled paramedics with the latest tech to make their job easier and, importantly, ensure patients receive the most clinically appropriate care in a timely manner.

“This critical upgrade to the ambulance matrix will integrate live data from right across our public health system in real time to help paramedics transport patients to the ED that will be able to treat them as quickly and appropriately as possible.”

Funding Boost To Improve Child Health And Wellbeing Outcomes

June 13, 2024
The Minns Labor Government states 3,600 more children will be able to access public allied health services each year as part of the the Government’s $40 million Family Start Package to deliver the essential health services our communities deserve, as part of the 2024-25 NSW Budget.

$20 million from the fund will boost the public paediatric allied health workforce with an additional 32 staff.

Our health system faces significant challenges, but the NSW Government is making the diligent decision to boost child health assessments and early intervention services.

This will reduce waitlists and improve access to much needed diagnosis and therapy for children across NSW, including those in rural and remote communities.

The Minns Labor Government is also investing $2.3 million funding over four years to support Royal Far West (RFS). This will enable RFS to continue to work in partnership with NSW Health to provide a specialist, multidisciplinary health and wellbeing service for children with complex developmental concerns who live outside the greater metropolitan areas of NSW and cannot access these services locally.

This boost to allied health and early intervention services delivers on the Government’s commitment to supporting families.

This budget cares for NSW, ensuring we have the essential services the people of NSW rely on, so that every family can access the quality health care they need.

NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park said:

“Timely access to paediatric allied health services for children with developmental vulnerabilities is shown to improve their educational, social, employment and economic outcomes later in life.

“This investment is a step towards improving developmental outcomes, school participation and academic performance of children across NSW.

“We’re ensuring children and their families can access health services closer to home and when they need them, improving their health, development, and overall wellbeing.”

Disclaimer: These articles are not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.  Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Pittwater Online News or its staff.