tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/canberra-4124/articlesCanberra – The Conversation2023-05-08T20:11:09Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2045552023-05-08T20:11:09Z2023-05-08T20:11:09ZWelcome to May 9 – the true Australia Day<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524726/original/file-20230506-27-ufbtp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=432%2C432%2C4360%2C1971&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We missed out on a holiday for the king’s coronation. </p>
<p>Early next month we are about to get one for his <a href="https://publicholidays.com.au/2023-dates/">birthday</a> in most states of Australia, on a day that <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/what-is-the-future-of-queens-birthday-public-holiday-in-australia-and-around-the-world/0m6qni4yh">isn’t actually his birthday</a>.</p>
<p>That holiday was Australia’s first, declared by NSW Governor Arthur Phillip in <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/australia/kings-birthday">1788</a> to mark the birthday of George III. It must have seemed as strange to the new arrivals as to the Australians on whose land they had arrived.</p>
<p>It didn’t mark their safe arrival, it didn’t mark the raising of the Union Jack on Australian shores and it didn’t mark the founding of Sydney. Nor did it acknowledge the first peoples already on the continent.</p>
<p>These days the king’s birthday is even less relevant than it was.</p>
<p>The king no longer has the power to enact laws governing Australia. That finished when his mother Queen Elizabeth signed the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2004A03181">Australia Act 1986</a>, which ended the ability of the United Kingdom to make laws with respect to Australian states and the ability of Australian states to take disputes to the UK Privy Council.</p>
<p>But hiding in plain sight, just a month before the king’s birthday holiday, is a date most of us have a much better reason to celebrate – it’s <a href="http://exhibitions.senate.gov.au/pogg/opening/opening_day.htm">May 9</a>, which this year also happens to be <a href="https://budget.gov.au/index.htm">budget day</a>.</p>
<h2>May 9 is the real Australia Day</h2>
<p>Australia’s constitution was proclaimed on January 1 1901, but only had full effect when our first federal parliament met on <a href="http://exhibitions.senate.gov.au/pogg/opening/opening_day.htm">May 9 1901</a>, in the Exhibition Building in Melbourne. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Opening, Commonwealth Parliament, Charles Nuttall, oil, 1901-1902.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/250568">Museums Victoria</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When the parliament moved to Canberra in 1927, the new temporary parliament house was again opened on <a href="https://www.moadoph.gov.au/exhibitions/the-opening-day/#">May 9</a>. </p>
<p>Six decades later, when the new and permanent parliament house was opened on Canberra’s Capital Hill in 1988, the date chosen was again <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Visit_Parliament/Art/Exhibitions/Exhibition/Turning_the_Key">May 9</a>.</p>
<p>It is not simply these events that make May 9 the real Australia Day. </p>
<p>In his speech on May 9 1988, Prime Minister <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/25th_Anniversary_Chronology/The_official_opening">Bob Hawke</a> said the new building would</p>
<blockquote>
<p>become for our nation both the forum for our differences and the instrument of our unity – a building for all Australians, a parliament reflecting the diversity of our entire society and responding to the needs of the whole community.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And it has. In parliament, our local members and Senators take up issues that concern us and debate and resolve them. The legislation they have created ranges from the everyday to the extraordinary. </p>
<p>The 1918 Electoral Act required all electors to vote. The 1973 Medicare Act gave us the healthcare card we take for granted.</p>
<p>More exceptionally, the 2017 Marriage Amendment Act gave same-sex couples the right to marry, in accordance with the wishes of the majority of the population.</p>
<p>The 1967 referendum allowed the parliament to legislate for Indigenous Australians for the first time. If the Voice Referendum is passed, Indigenous Australians will get a constitutionally enshrined mechanism for making representations to it.</p>
<h2>Our parliament is worth celebrating</h2>
<p>What legitimates decisions made in Australia is that they come from a process that involves the Australian people, through the Australian parliament, rather than a structure outside Australia or beyond the ability of Australians to control.</p>
<p>We have changed the political complexion of the parliament many times, yet through it all the parliament has become more representative of us over time.</p>
<p>The first two women were elected in 1943. By 2022, we had 58 women in the House of Representatives, including 19 elected for the first time, and a female majority in the Senate. </p>
<p>The first Indigenous senator, Neville Bonner, was elected in 1971. By 2022, eight senators and three members of the House of Representatives identified as being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. </p>
<p>Ten of our members of parliament are first-generation migrants, including government ministers Tanya Plibersek and Penny Wong. Among the children of immigrants is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/white-male-and-straight-how-30-years-of-australia-day-speeches-leave-most-australians-out-130279">White, male and straight – how 30 years of Australia Day speeches leave most Australians out</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>I was born a British subject in 1945, in Sydney, to Australian-born parents. The 1948 Citizenship Act made me an Australian citizen alongside all British subjects living in Australia.</p>
<p>The Act also opened the way for “aliens” – those born outside the Commonwealth – to become naturalised Australian citizens. The king’s birthday can have little meaning for them or their locally born children. </p>
<p>Most migrants become citizens, and what has made this possible is an act of the Australian parliament.</p>
<h2>How to make it happen</h2>
<p>Making May 9 a public holiday is easy. It doesn’t require legislation and doesn’t require a referendum. January 26 was only proclaimed a national holiday in 1994. </p>
<p>May 9 has a much longer, more illustrious history. It is a date “made in Australia” and demonstrates our commitment to our democracy like no other day can.</p>
<p>By May 9 2026, our parliament will have been in place for 125 years. That makes 2026 a good year to become a republic. Should a referendum be successful, the first parliament of the Australian republic could meet on May 9 2026.</p>
<p>If it takes another year, the first parliament of the Australian republic could meet on the centenary of the opening of the first parliament house in Canberra, on May 9 2027.</p>
<p>I hope I live to celebrate that day. In the meantime, I’ll forego this year’s king’s birthday holiday and instead celebrate on May 9. The weather in most places should be okay for a barbecue, so why not join me, before it becomes official?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204555/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Howe is a member of the Australian Labor Party and the Australian Republican Movement </span></em></p>May 9 is the date the first Australian parliament met, and when the first parliament in Canberra and the first on Capital Hill opened. It means far more than the King’s birthday, or January 26.Anna Howe, Honorary Professor, Department of Sociology, Macquarie University, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1978992023-01-17T19:02:58Z2023-01-17T19:02:58Z20 years ago, vast bushfires razed Canberra’s suburbs – and bushfire science was never the same<p>It has been 20 years to the day since bushfires burst out of the Brindabella Ranges and into the suburbs of our nation’s bush capital. Four lives were lost, many people were injured and more than 500 homes were destroyed.</p>
<p>There had been big bushfires before, and there were bigger bushfires to come, but the <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/canberra-bushfires">tragic day</a> in Canberra of January 18, 2003 marked a pivotal moment in Australian bushfire science. </p>
<p>Today, we know much more about how extreme bushfires behave, we have computer models to show where they might move to, and our communications and warnings have vastly improved. We have now had 20 years of a <a href="https://www.naturalhazards.com.au/">coordinated national research</a> effort on bushfire, and developing this science has made all Australians safer. </p>
<p>While even the best science doesn’t aim to eliminate fire from our land and there remains much to learn, as a country we are better placed to respond swiftly when a bushfire strikes. And crucially, we better understand risk – the Canberra fires showed even urban communities can be in danger if close enough to the bush. </p>
<h2>What happened?</h2>
<p>The Canberra bushfire led to two major inquiries: <a href="https://www.cmtedd.act.gov.au/functions/publications/archived/mcleod_inquiry/report">a government inquiry</a> led by former federal ombudsman Ron McLeod, and a <a href="https://www.courts.act.gov.au/magistrates/about-the-courts/coroners-court/act-coroners-court-2003-bushfire#:%7E:text=Under%20the%20provisions%20of%20the,who%20died%20in%20the%20fires">coronial inquiry</a>. </p>
<p>Both identified shortcomings in the speed of the emergency response, and made a wide range recommendations on reducing fuel loads, training personnel, and the need to better warn the public.</p>
<p>The fires started in the New South Wales high country more than a week before they hit Canberra. What we remember today as an urban bushfire was, for many days, several bushfires in a heavily forested landscape. Bushfire authorities quickly realised that the science behind fire ignition, propagation and suppression in such remote areas needed to improve. </p>
<p>Over time this encouraged a more fulsome, year-round approach to land management, including regular prescribed burning and an acknowledgement of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-in-arnhem-land-reveals-why-institutional-fire-management-is-inferior-to-cultural-burning-184562">vital role</a> of Indigenous people in <a href="https://theconversation.com/caring-for-country-means-tackling-the-climate-crisis-with-indigenous-leadership-3-things-the-new-government-must-do-183987">caring for Country</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/caring-for-country-means-tackling-the-climate-crisis-with-indigenous-leadership-3-things-the-new-government-must-do-183987">Caring for Country means tackling the climate crisis with Indigenous leadership: 3 things the new government must do</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Understanding fire thunderstorms</h2>
<p>In the ACT’s mountainous terrain, the wind causes extreme bushfires to rapidly intensify and change direction dramatically. In fact, the Canberra bushfire led to Australia’s <a href="https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11069-012-0443-7">first documented fire tornado</a>, which wreaked severe destruction over pine plantations and in the suburbs of Chapman and Kambah. </p>
<p>Today, scientists have a far better grasp on the atmospheric conditions that can lead to <a href="https://theconversation.com/firestorms-and-flaming-tornadoes-how-bushfires-create-their-own-ferocious-weather-systems-126832">fire-generated thunderstorms</a> and when they are likely. Known as “pyrocumulonimbus”, these thunderstorms can dramatically increase a bushfire’s size and strength, change local wind direction causing fire to spread, and generate lightning that starts ember storms and other fires.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/firestorms-and-flaming-tornadoes-how-bushfires-create-their-own-ferocious-weather-systems-126832">Firestorms and flaming tornadoes: how bushfires create their own ferocious weather systems</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The unprecedented behaviour of the Canberra fires helped improve scientists’ understanding of how extreme bushfires behave and how they interact with the weather and the landscape. This has influenced bushfire <a href="https://www.bnhcrc.com.au/casestudy/phoenixrapidfire">behaviour modelling</a>, which is now critical to firefighting and warnings, and has saved lives.</p>
<p>In the last 20 years, many more bushfires have generated thunderstorms. Notable examples include the <a href="https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/bushfire-black-saturday-victoria-2009/">2009 Black Saturday bushfires</a> in Victoria, the <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/es/es17007">2016 Waroona bushfire</a> in Western Australia, the <a href="https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/bushfire-sir-ivan-2017/">2017 Sir Ivan bushfire</a> in NSW and multiple bushfires during the devastating 2019-20 season. </p>
<p>Experts now keep a watchful eye on conditions that may lead to their formation so they can better position resources and warn communities. </p>
<h2>When bushfire strikes suburbia</h2>
<p>The Canberra bushfires razed suburban areas such as Duffy, Holder, Weston, Chapman, Rivett and Kambah. It again showed the rest of Australia that bushfires aren’t an issue relegated to rural areas. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cmtedd.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/113940/summary.pdf">McLeod report found</a> the Canberra community “had not been sufficiently well prepared” to understand the bushfire threat as a consequence of situating the city in bushland. It called for a major program of community education.</p>
<p>Today, fire agencies run a range of <a href="https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/plan-and-prepare">community engagement programs</a>, showing people what their risk is and how to be as prepared as possible. </p>
<p>After the main fire front had passed, fire continued to jump from house to house. This was a major reason so many houses in Canberra were destroyed. <a href="https://www.bushfirecrc.com/projects/d11/building-and-occupant-protection">Research</a> since then led to a national update to construction requirements for building in high bushfire-risk areas.</p>
<p>Communications and warnings were widely criticised during the Canberra bushfire. For example, the Mcleod Report found some of the advice given to the community was “seriously inadequate” and confusing. <a href="https://www.cmtedd.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/113940/summary.pdf">In particular</a>, it pointed to inconsistent advice from the police and the Emergency Services Bureau regarding when residents should evacuate.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bnhcrc.com.au/publications/biblio/bnh-8131">Research conducted</a> after the 2003 fires informed the development of the <a href="https://www.australianwarningsystem.com.au/">Australian Warning System</a>. Today, <a href="https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/handbook-public-information-and-warnings/">the wording, structure and style</a> of all natural hazard warnings is no longer radically different across the country, but is a consistent three-level scaled warning system.</p>
<p>Still, improving warning systems <a href="https://theconversation.com/expectations-and-harsh-reality-why-bushfire-warnings-fail-53050">continue to be</a> a focal point after every emergency. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/expectations-and-harsh-reality-why-bushfire-warnings-fail-53050">Expectations and harsh reality: why bushfire warnings fail</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>Bushfire extremes will worsen in Australia as our climate warms. We are currently in our <a href="https://theconversation.com/la-nina-3-years-in-a-row-a-climate-scientist-on-what-flood-weary-australians-can-expect-this-summer-190542">third consecutive La Niña</a> cycle, which brings relatively cooler, wet weather to Australia – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/16/return-of-el-nino-will-cause-off-the-chart-temperature-rise-climate-crisis">but that will change</a>. </p>
<p>Our fire seasons <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/state-of-the-climate/">are lengthening</a> and the bad bushfire days are occurring <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/state-of-the-climate/">more often</a>. Bushfires won’t just happen in isolation, we may also be dealing with heatwaves, cyclones or floods in other parts of the country at the same time. </p>
<p>To adequately prepare Australia for these cascading, back-to-back hazards, we must transform the way we manage risk now. This involves better land use planning and mitigation by building in more appropriate places with less risk. <a href="https://www.bnhcrc.com.au/publications/biblio/bnh-7705">Research is</a> integral to this. </p>
<p>We must continue to innovate with bushfire modelling, give experts the best training and tools they can have to keep us safe, and continue to improve warnings systems. Importantly, we must better integrate Indigenous knowledge and practices into bushfire management, and work more closely with Indigenous knowledge holders to <a href="https://www.naturalhazards.com.au/research/research-projects/cultural-land-management-research-and-governance-south-east-australia">strengthen partnerships</a>. </p>
<p>We have learnt a lot from the devastating Canberra bushfires of 2003. But as climate change brings bigger challenges, there is much more to learn. One would be a fool to think we can conquer nature, but we can learn how to better live with what it throws at us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197899/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Gissing receives funding from Natural Hazards Research Australia. </span></em></p>The Canberra fires showed even urban communities can be in danger if close enough to the bush.Andrew Gissing, CEO, Natural Hazards Research Australia, Adjunct Fellow, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1945112022-11-15T11:30:06Z2022-11-15T11:30:06ZAlbanese-Xi meeting won’t resolve Australia’s grievances overnight. But it is a real step forward<p>There were smiles all round as the Australian and Chinese leaders met formally for the first time in more than six years.</p>
<p>The meeting was brief, just 32 minutes, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led afterwards with the message that it “was a positive and constructive discussion”. </p>
<p>President Xi Jinping said in his opening remarks that the difficulties in the bilateral relationship were not what the Chinese side wanted to see. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1592436720733388801"}"></div></p>
<p>Yet beyond conciliatory words and photo opportunities, the Australian public is being hit with contrasting takes on what the meeting means for relations with our most important trading partner and the “<a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F35c9c2cf-9347-4a82-be89-20df5f76529b%2F0005%22;src1=sm1">big guy</a>” in the regional room. </p>
<p>On one hand, it’s been described as a “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/anthony-albanese-to-hold-landmark-talks-with-chinese-president-xi-jinping-at-g20-summit-20221114-p5by7m.html">landmark</a>” and “<a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/xi-tells-australia-we-should-cherish-our-relationship-20221115-p5bydk">historic</a>” event – a “<a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/out-of-the-deep-freeze-xi-agrees-to-meet-albanese-20221114-p5by61">huge reset</a>” of Australia-China ties. </p>
<p>What’s conjured up is images of wine and rock lobster flowing freely through Chinese customs once again, and the detained Australians Yang Hengjun and Cheng Lei stepping off the prime ministerial jet alongside Albanese when it lands in Sydney later this week. </p>
<p>Others, however, are keen to moderate expectations. Treasurer Jim Chalmers <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/from-detained-australians-to-the-20-billion-question-what-anthony-albanese-raised-in-xi-jinping-meeting/9bfy6zovf">warned</a> earlier this week that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I don’t think anybody pretends that some of the issues that China has raised, certainly some of the issues that we have raised, will be solved overnight. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A diplomatic off-ramp</h2>
<p>The reality is that Canberra and Beijing’s assessments of their respective interests remain far from aligned. </p>
<p>For starters, let’s be clear on what led to a meeting even taking place. Two factors combined, with neither being sufficient alone.</p>
<p>First, by the end of 2021, Beijing had ample evidence the hardline approach it was taking to shifting Canberra’s positions wasn’t working. </p>
<p>The trade sanctions deployed in 2020 were having no discernible impact on the Australian economy at large. They were, however, generating plenty of negative headlines for China internationally. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Australian public opinion towards China collapsed. By early 2022, <a href="https://www.australiachinarelations.org/content/utsacribida-poll-2022">polling</a> revealed that far from backing down, 58% of Australians supported the adoption of a “harder Australian government line on China”, compared with just 17% who disagreed. </p>
<p>This meant Beijing was alive to face-saving off-ramps. </p>
<p>Second, by restoring diplomacy to centre stage in managing China relations, the new Australian government delivered such an off-ramp. Australian political leaders were now once again referring to China as a “comprehensive strategic partner”, while emphasising that “both sides”, not just China, would need to reflect on their handling of differences. Challenges posed by China’s behaviour are acknowledged by the current government but not talked up for domestic political gain. </p>
<p>It’s no coincidence that <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-handshakes-to-threats-can-the-election-bring-a-fresh-start-in-our-fractured-relationship-with-china-178415">needlessly provocative rhetoric</a> provided the trigger for Beijing cutting off senior-level political dialogue in early 2020. A tighter diplomatic ship overseen by Foreign Minister Penny Wong has now permitted its restoration. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/with-a-new-australian-government-and-foreign-minister-comes-fresh-hope-for-australia-china-relations-182785">With a new Australian government and foreign minister comes fresh hope for Australia-China relations</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A step forward</h2>
<p>The next question is, will the meeting make a practical difference?</p>
<p>Albanese himself <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-15/face-time-with-china-s-xi-a-sign-of-success-says-albanese/101653624">said</a> that simply “having the meeting is a successful outcome”.</p>
<p>That’s not as trite as it might sound. </p>
<p>A meeting does not guarantee the Australian grievances will be addressed. But there’s no doubting that in China in 2022, the person these grievances need to be put to, and who has the authority to address them, is the Chinese president. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1592283236792680451"}"></div></p>
<p>Even superpowers understand this. In the lead-up to a meeting between US and Chinese leaders on Monday, President Joe Biden’s national security advisor Jake Sullivan <a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/australia-china-relations-thaw-but-temperature-still-set-to-zero-20221113-p5bxsx">emphasised</a> that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There just is no substitute for this kind of leader-to-leader communication in navigating and managing such a consequential relationship.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We can also be confident that a decisive signal has now been sent throughout the Chinese bureaucracy that there’s official blessing to engage with Australia again.</p>
<p>A meeting of trade ministers to dig into ongoing disputes would naturally follow. </p>
<p>Australia’s ambassador in Beijing, Graham Fletcher, can expect to see his access improved. </p>
<p>Even Chinese companies considering investing in Australia, and parents weighing up whether to send their children to study here, will now be revising their assessments of risk downwards, the opposite of the trend in recent years. </p>
<p>Another factor giving cause for optimism is that while the Australian government hasn’t offered up compromises to get trade sanctions removed or detainees released, Albanese will have been able to credibly deliver messages directly to Xi that assuage core Chinese sensitivities. </p>
<p>Behind closed doors, he would have been able to say that Australia’s position on Taiwan and our “One China” policy <a href="https://www.australiachinarelations.org/content/australia-and-us-paths-china-taiwan-are-diverging">has not changed</a> since diplomatic relations were struck 50 years ago. The Australian government unequivocally does not support Taiwanese independence. </p>
<p>And in contrast to the US, nor do we support the economic containment of China. On Monday, Trade Minister Don Farrell went as far as describing recent trade sanctions on China imposed by the Biden administration as “<a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/don-farrells-pitch-for-fair-trading/news-story/96ada11b72a25e13b71a71e69de07da7">draconian</a>”. </p>
<p>The meeting isn’t a “reset” back to the sunny days of 2015. But it is on the dysfunction since 2020. Australia is a step closer to having a relationship with China on par with what other US allies and partners in the region have been able to maintain all along. And that’s unambiguously a positive step forward.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194511/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Laurenceson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Canberra and Beijing’s assessments of their interests remain far from aligned. But as Albanese himself said, simply ‘having the meeting is a successful outcome’.James Laurenceson, Director and Professor, Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI), University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1909052022-10-04T03:50:15Z2022-10-04T03:50:15ZFinally bold and imaginative: the first major redesign of the National Museum of Australia is a triumph<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486430/original/file-20220926-56614-1s2iz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C2385%2C1595&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">View from inside the Great Southern Land gallery at the National Museum of Australia. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied NMA.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The National Museum of Australia has just opened the most significant redevelopment in its history. </p>
<p>Costing $25 million, <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/great-southern-land">Great Southern Land</a> weaves 2,000 objects into a natural and cultural history to show how the Australian continent has influenced and been impacted by human decisions. </p>
<p>The new gallery provides a place to share and explore ideas about Australia and our place in it, and to consider what actions might be necessary to ensure the nation’s future. </p>
<p>The exhibition is beautiful and sophisticated. Quiet where it needs to be quiet and boisterous and fun-loving in other parts, it engages all our senses as we gaze in wonder at the life-sized orca models suspended from the ceiling and squint to see the tiny fragments in display cases at knee level. </p>
<p>It is a pivotal moment in the ongoing life of the museum, and the nation.</p>
<h2>A controversial museum</h2>
<p>Aspirations for a national museum were precisely outlined in a report presented to government in <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/549263/Museums_in_Australia_1975_Pigott_Report.pdf">late 1975</a>. But the fall of the Whitlam government meant the political momentum for the proposal went by the wayside.</p>
<p>The National Museum of Australia wouldn’t open until 2001. At its launch, then prime minister John Howard criticised it as being “<a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/562915/Ms_Young.pdf">un-museumlike</a>”. </p>
<p>Its <a href="https://armarchitecture.com.au/projects/national-museum-of-australia/">colourful façade and shiny features</a> jarred against Canberra’s landscape of brutalist-designed national institutions. But the museum’s difference was more than skin-deep. </p>
<p>Every part of it, inside and out, represented Australian history as resulting from the entanglement of many stories. Its exhibitions provided spaces for <a href="https://www.artshub.com.au/news/features/museums-as-agents-for-social-and-political-change-12921-2296080/">social and political commentary</a> and challenged the credibility of national myths, particularly around the <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/research/understanding-museums/PStanley_2011.html">frontier wars</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486433/original/file-20220926-71353-cme1zg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The museum" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486433/original/file-20220926-71353-cme1zg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486433/original/file-20220926-71353-cme1zg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486433/original/file-20220926-71353-cme1zg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486433/original/file-20220926-71353-cme1zg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486433/original/file-20220926-71353-cme1zg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486433/original/file-20220926-71353-cme1zg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486433/original/file-20220926-71353-cme1zg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The museums colourful façade and shiny feature jarred against Canberra’s national institutions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Almost as soon as it opened, the museum was engulfed in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060820050424/http:/www.sydneyline.com/National%20Museum.htm">fierce controversy</a>, attacked for being both too political and not political enough. One headline in the Daily Telegraph read “museum sneers at white history of Australia”. </p>
<p>In a short time, polarised views hardened into attitudes, with supporters and critics both accusing the other side of distorting history to promote a political agenda. The clash culminated in a <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/562805/ReviewReport20030715.pdf">government review</a> in 2003. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-the-australian-wars-rachel-perkins-dispenses-with-the-myth-aboriginal-people-didnt-fight-back-190967">In The Australian Wars, Rachel Perkins dispenses with the myth Aboriginal people didn't fight back</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A new type of museum</h2>
<p>Part of the problem was the museum didn’t explain why it was so different from more familiar 19th-century-style institutions like the <a href="https://www.awm.gov.au">Australian War Memorial</a>.</p>
<p>The National Museum of Australia included artefacts from recent events, things like “<a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/collection/highlights/azaria-chamberlain-dress">the small black dress</a>” worn by Azaria Chamberlain when she was taken from her family’s tent at Uluru in 1980. </p>
<p>It addressed the visitor as “you”, and tried to hook them into conversations about the nation by asking them to reflect on personal experiences. </p>
<p>Its peers included <a href="https://www.tepapa.govt.nz">Te Papa Tongarewa</a> and the <a href="https://americanindian.si.edu">National Museum of the American Indian</a>: reflecting a global museum movement that emphasised the voice of First Nations and marginalised peoples and aimed to disrupt colonial narratives. </p>
<p>The museum that opened in 2001 came across as overly enthusiastic, didactic, even dogmatic in parts. Instead of showing how meaning was developed, for example, by saying something about how objects were collected, its displays jumped from spectacle to spectacle. </p>
<h2>National museums and truth-telling</h2>
<p>Great Southern Land is the first major redesign of the museum since 2001.</p>
<p>As visitors enter the new exhibition through a darkened grove of towering Bunya trees, it is clear from the outset the redeveloped gallery has better articulated the 1975 plan’s ambitions for the museum to be “<a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/549263/Museums_in_Australia_1975_Pigott_Report.pdf">bold and imaginative</a>”. </p>
<p>It also realises the plan’s focus on the Australian environment, Aboriginal history, the history of Europeans in Australia and the intricate relationships between people and the environment. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486432/original/file-20220926-214-kgqylc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486432/original/file-20220926-214-kgqylc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486432/original/file-20220926-214-kgqylc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486432/original/file-20220926-214-kgqylc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486432/original/file-20220926-214-kgqylc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486432/original/file-20220926-214-kgqylc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486432/original/file-20220926-214-kgqylc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486432/original/file-20220926-214-kgqylc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The bunya forest inside the Great Southern Land gallery at the National Museum of Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied NMA.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Bunya forest is to scale and awe-inspiring. Kids rush to touch and try to get their arms fully around a tree trunk. It introduces all aspects of the new exhibition, including the museum’s <a href="https://youtu.be/TgUsgzx9itQ">centralisation</a> of partnerships and consultation with First Nations people and communities.</p>
<p>The sprawling gallery leads to the zoological specimen of a thylacine in a bath of preserving liquid. It lies prone, in the centre of the exhibition. It is, perhaps along with the Bunya forest, the most moving object story. But the <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/blog/finding-thylacine">extinction icon</a> evokes horror and sadness rather than joy and awe. It tackles the decades of wilful and unintended mistreatment the artefact has endured, including <a href="https://youtu.be/eS48Nm0sG8s">by the museum</a>. </p>
<p>The thylacine reiterates the museum’s attention to interconnections between human and natural history. Felted thylacine joeys made by Trawlwoolway artist Vicki West in 2019 are also displayed, showing the shared history of exclusion and oppression. </p>
<p>Great Southern Land is part of the <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/about/vision-mission-values">institution’s remit</a> to “to be a trusted voice in the national conversation”. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486435/original/file-20220926-23337-op8qje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486435/original/file-20220926-23337-op8qje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486435/original/file-20220926-23337-op8qje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486435/original/file-20220926-23337-op8qje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486435/original/file-20220926-23337-op8qje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486435/original/file-20220926-23337-op8qje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486435/original/file-20220926-23337-op8qje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486435/original/file-20220926-23337-op8qje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">View from inside the Great Southern Land gallery at the National Museum of Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied NMA.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Its ambition is backed up by studies showing even despite being caught up in the culture wars, museums remain one of Australia’s <a href="https://camd.org.au/museums-among-auss-most-trusted-orgs-camd/">most trusted</a> institutions. </p>
<p>It also talks about the human side of trust. A phone box destroyed in the Cobargo 2019 bushfire sits alongside a power pole from Cyclone Tracy in 1974. A <a href="https://youtu.be/EHFV_F6FSsM">community member from Cobargo</a> says these objects represent what happens when major infrastructure fails and community doesn’t.</p>
<p>In this new gallery, the museum is surer of itself. It communicates an awareness of its own responsibilities as a national museum that has had to reckon for decisions made historically by it and in its name. </p>
<p>It understands the gravity and necessity of its role in reaching out to people, and expects visitors to come prepared to practice intellectual curiosity, self reflection and respectful discussion. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/like-walking-into-a-crystal-our-first-preview-of-the-art-gallery-of-nsws-new-sydney-modern-190746">'Like walking into a crystal': our first preview of the Art Gallery of NSW's new Sydney Modern</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190905/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kylie Message has received funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>The National Museum of Australia has just opened the most significant redevelopment in its history.Kylie Message, Professor of Public Humanities, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1746932022-01-12T16:44:40Z2022-01-12T16:44:40ZA short history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy – an indelible reminder of unceded sovereignty<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440175/original/file-20220111-19-2t68nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C14%2C765%2C505&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Activist and actor Bob Maza addresses a protest at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in front of Parliament House on July 30, 1972.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bob_Maza_1972.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people.</em></p>
<p>Often people think about the Aboriginal Tent Embassy as something historic, dating back to the 1970s. But it should also be thought of as a site of the longest protest for Indigenous land rights, sovereignty and self-determination <a href="https://www.echo.net.au/2021/10/50-years-of-aboriginal-tent-embassy/">in the world</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, this year, the Tent Embassy is set to celebrate its <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/blackfishing-alt-right-pushes-to-co-opt-aboriginal-tent-embassy-to-cause-20220105-p59lzj.html">50th continuous year of occupation</a>. Demonstrating its significance to Australian history, it was included on the <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6068943/the-aboriginal-tent-embassy-has-been-left-off-the-act-heritage-list/">Commonwealth Heritage List</a> in 2015 as part of the Old Parliament House precinct. </p>
<p>In this momentous year, it’s worth remembering how the Tent Embassy came to be and what it has continued to stand for since its erection in 1972 – and the significance it still has today.</p>
<h2>Aliens in our own land</h2>
<p>The Tent Embassy began its public life on January 26 1972. On that day, Michael Anderson, Billy Craigie, Bertie Williams and Tony Coorey left Redfern and drove to Ngunnawal Country (Canberra), where they planted a beach umbrella opposite Parliament House (now known as Old Parliament House). </p>
<p>They erected a sign that said “Aboriginal Embassy”. With them on that day was their driver, Tribune photographer Noel Hazard, who captured the event in a series of photos.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440344/original/file-20220111-15-1n5yt6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440344/original/file-20220111-15-1n5yt6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440344/original/file-20220111-15-1n5yt6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440344/original/file-20220111-15-1n5yt6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440344/original/file-20220111-15-1n5yt6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440344/original/file-20220111-15-1n5yt6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440344/original/file-20220111-15-1n5yt6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on Australia Day in 1972.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Museum Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The term “embassy” was used to bring attention to the fact Aboriginal people had never ceded sovereignty nor engaged in any treaty process with the Crown. As a collective, Aboriginal people were the only cultural group not represented with an embassy. </p>
<p>According to Aboriginal activist and scholar Gary Foley, the absence of an Aboriginal embassy in Canberra was a blatant indication <a href="https://www.naa.gov.au/learn/learning-resources/learning-resource-themes/first-australians/politics-and-advocacy/activists-aboriginal-tent-embassy-lawns-old-parliament-house">Aboriginal people were treated like aliens in their own land</a>. </p>
<p>Initially, the protesters were making a stand about land rights following the then prime minister William McMahon’s speech that <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/about/welcome/mls-indigenous/home/mls-classroom-photo-mural-initiative/classroom-photos/tent-embassy">dismissed any hope for Aboriginal land rights</a> and reasserted the government’s position on the policy of <a href="https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/a-white-australia/">assimilation</a>. The Tent Embassy was therefore a public display of our disapproval of and objection to the policies and practices of the government. </p>
<p>In later years, it has become an acclaimed site of our continued resistance to the continuity of colonial rule. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-australian-government-must-listen-to-torres-strait-leaders-on-climate-change-171384">Why the Australian government must listen to Torres Strait leaders on climate change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Demands of protesters</h2>
<p>Police who were patrolling the area at the time of the Tent Embassy’s erection asked the protesters what they were doing outside Parliament House. They said they were protesting and would do so until the government granted land rights to Aboriginal people. The police were said to have responded, “<a href="http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p72441/pdf/article0712.pdf">That could be forever</a>”. </p>
<p>As it turned out, it was not illegal to camp on the lawns of Parliament House, so the police could not remove them.</p>
<p>Later, on February 6 1972, the members of the Tent Embassy issued their list of demands to the government. The demands were clearly about our rights as Aboriginal people to our homelands, regardless of the fact cities were now built on the land or mining companies were interested in the bounties within. </p>
<p>Compensation was called for in the instances where the lands was not able to be returned. There were also demands for the protection of our sacred sites.</p>
<p>While the McMahon government cared little about negotiating with the protesters, the leader of the Opposition, Gough Whitlam, visited the Tent Embassy and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/oct/21/gough-whitlam-remembered-a-true-leader-for-indigenous-australians">publicly proclaimed a promise of Aboriginal land rights</a> under a future Labor government. </p>
<p>There was widespread support for the Tent Embassy from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and allies across the continent, and indeed the world. </p>
<p>Media attention also grew as it became obvious the Tent Embassy and protesters were not going to move on. Other Aboriginal activists joined the embassy, including Foley, Isabel Coe, John Newfong, Chicka Dixon, Gordon Briscoe and many others. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-dispossession-to-massacres-the-yoo-rrook-justice-commission-sets-a-new-standard-for-truth-telling-170632">From dispossession to massacres, the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission sets a new standard for truth-telling</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Forced removal and revival</h2>
<p>The government was not too keen on being reminded Aboriginal people were demanding rights, so it <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/about/welcome/mls-indigenous/home/mls-classroom-photo-mural-initiative/classroom-photos/tent-embassy">amended</a> the Trespass on Commonwealth Lands Ordinance to make it illegal to camp on the lawn of Parliament House. This gave the police the authority to remove the protesters. </p>
<p>The ordinance was but a few hours old when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7j3Rq2Tryo">police attempted to forcibly remove the embassy</a>. They did so to the roar of the crowd chanting “land rights now”. A <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOIvHE0tJAk">violent confrontation with police</a> ensued. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FOIvHE0tJAk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>On September 12 1972, the ACT Supreme Court ruled against the use of the trespass laws, and the Tent Embassy was temporarily re-erected before being removed again the following morning.</p>
<p>Then, at the end of 1972, the Coalition government led by McMahon lost the federal election to Labor. Whitlam was able to keep his promise in part – he did give the land title deeds to the Gurindji people. This was captured in the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-01/mervyn-bishop-australias-first-aboriginal-press-photographer/8655130">historical photo</a> by Merv Bishop of Whitlam pouring a fistful of dirt into Vincent Lingiari’s hand.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1294809606066143237"}"></div></p>
<p>While this iconic image has become a demonstration of what might be possible, the work of the embassy is not yet done. Land rights across the continent have yet to be fully achieved. </p>
<p>The Tent Embassy was re-established the following year and remained until activist <a href="https://commonslibrary.org/the-aboriginal-tent-embassy/">Charles Perkins negotiated its removal</a> pending the enactment of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act in 1976.</p>
<p>In the ensuing years, it occupied several other sites around Canberra, including the site of the current Parliament House. In 1992, it returned to its original site on the lawn of Old Parliament House to mark the 20th anniversary of the original protest.</p>
<p>Eleven years later, much of the Tent Embassy was destroyed by fire in a <a href="https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/end-aboriginal-tent-embassy">suspected case of arson</a>. The police once again attempted to remove protesters from the site under <a href="https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/tent-embassy-under-further-attack">orders from federal government’s National Capital Authority</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1412636729144610819"}"></div></p>
<h2>An enduring symbol of protest</h2>
<p>Today, the Tent Embassy remains on the lawns of Old Parliament House as a reminder of the successive failures of subsequent governments to address the demands for justice represented by the embassy and its people. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Aboriginal-Tent-Embassy-Sovereignty-Black-Power-Land-Rights-and-the/Foley-Schaap/p/book/9780415839518?gclid=CjwKCAiAz--OBhBIEiwAG1rIOuFlzGCUJvLxLafzUlJZ_D1uyMj0Tz9J_YFIEwcLS0kMzAffvRc_7hoCxwUQAvD_BwE">Foley reflects</a> in his history of the embassy:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>That it has endured for [five] decades as a potent symbol rejecting the hypocrisy, deceit and duplicity by successive Australian governments is a testament to the refusal of large numbers of Aboriginal people to concede defeat in a 200-year struggle for justice. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Nowhere else in the world have we seen such longevity around a site of protest. The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is an impressive achievement that demonstrates the tenacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and our continued fight for the reclamation of our lands and sovereign rights as First Nations peoples.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174693/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is a site of cultural and political significance for myself and members of my family. Some of the Aboriginal activists involved in the 1972 protest are my Elders, Aunties and Uncles. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Carlson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>This year, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy is set to celebrate its 50th year of continuous occupation. Its presence is an ongoing call for land rights, sovereignty and self-determination.Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie UniversityLynda-June Coe, PhD Candidate, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1553002021-02-15T09:45:26Z2021-02-15T09:45:26ZWhy political staffers are vulnerable to sexual misconduct — and little is done to stop it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384212/original/file-20210215-13-1hgxodi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Brittany Higgins’ <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/parliament-house-rocked-by-brittany-higgins-alleged-rape/news-story/fb02a5e95767ac306c51894fe2d63635">allegation</a> she was raped in a minister’s office at Parliament House is just one of a number of recent stories of bullying, sexual harassment and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-10/four-corners-investigation-christian-porter-sexism-inappropriate/12862910">sexual misconduct</a> that have exposed the dark side of working conditions for some political staffers. </p>
<p>As a researcher of political staff in Australia, I am trying to understand why this behaviour exists within the working culture of parliament, why it is reaching the public eye now and what needs to be done about it. </p>
<p>Over the summer, I interviewed eight former political staffers about their experiences working in ministers’ offices and electorate offices — both at the federal and state level. </p>
<p>They described instances of bullying and sexual harassment by other staffers and their bosses. It is hard to know how common this is, as the world they inhabit is secretive. The identities of staffers are not publicly known, let alone how many make complaints and how they are dealt with. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-canberra-having-a-metoo-moment-it-will-take-more-than-reports-of-mps-behaving-badly-for-parliament-to-change-149819">Is Canberra having a #metoo moment? It will take more than reports of MPs behaving badly for parliament to change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The culture in Canberra</h2>
<p>Work as a political staffer can be exciting and rewarding, as well as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2011.01928.x">combative and competitive</a>. Work is dominated by the needs and demands of a boss who is under constant scrutiny. </p>
<p>In her 2016 book, former staffer Niki Savva <a href="https://www.scribepublications.com.au/books-authors/books/the-road-to-ruin">described</a> her job this way: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The hours were long, the demands never-ending, the stress phenomenal and the fear of stuffing up overwhelming. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But along with the stress comes the prestige and thrill of being close to power and having an impact on public decisions. Most staffers describe their jobs as a privilege. It is their “dream job”.</p>
<p>Many staffers are young and female. I researched a group of federal political advisers working from 2010-17 and found almost 50% of them were recruited in their 20s. Over 75% were recruited before they turned 40. </p>
<p>Over 90% of administrative staff in the study were female, and 40% of the political and policy advisers were women. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-a-code-of-conduct-may-not-be-enough-to-change-the-boys-club-culture-in-the-liberal-party-121365">Why a code of conduct may not be enough to change the boys' club culture in the Liberal Party</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The combination of long hours, being away from home and the constant presence of alcohol can be diabolical, creating risks for staffers. </p>
<p>Some described to me a hard-drinking culture, in which bar hopping was seen as a way to wind down and deal with stressful days. One staffer said she kept drinking on some nights to ensure her boss stayed out of trouble, helping him get into a taxi at the end of the night.</p>
<p>Another former staffer claimed the MP he worked for would begin drinking mid-afternoon on most days and when drunk, staff would have to deal with unwanted sexual advances. Repeatedly. </p>
<p>They didn’t complain out of loyalty. They just dealt with it. For years.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384215/original/file-20210215-23-1yra89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384215/original/file-20210215-23-1yra89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384215/original/file-20210215-23-1yra89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384215/original/file-20210215-23-1yra89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384215/original/file-20210215-23-1yra89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384215/original/file-20210215-23-1yra89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384215/original/file-20210215-23-1yra89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There is a work hard, party hard culture within the political bubble that puts some staffers at risk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Few options for staffers to report misconduct</h2>
<p>When they experience sexual harassment or bullying at work, political staffers face high stakes decisions about making complaints. </p>
<p>If they complain, they could lose their jobs or their career prospects. Their jobs are precarious and can be terminated at any time. </p>
<p>One legal reason for termination, according to the federal Department of Finance, can be if the senator or member “<a href="https://maps.finance.gov.au/guidance/employment/cessation-employment">has lost trust or confidence in the employee</a>”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/thirty-five-voices-one-movement-a-new-book-examines-metoo-in-australia-116053">Thirty-five voices, one movement: a new book examines #MeToo in Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While staffers are covered by the Fair Work Act, invoking the workplace protections that exist for them is perilous. If they make a formal complaint, they could be sacked or seen as a troublemaker, jeopardising future work for their parties.</p>
<p>Loyalty to the politician and party is a paramount condition of their employment. As a result, the instinct for many is to protect the party. But tolerating poor conduct can mean bad behaviour becomes normalised. </p>
<p>Staffers are also not confident about raising these issues through party organisations. Those I interviewed said they believe the party’s priority is always its reputation, the likelihood of MPs being re-elected and factional power plays — leaders seeking to protect people with whom they are aligned. The well-being of staff is seen as collateral damage.</p>
<h2>Accountability is lacking</h2>
<p>Some of the people accused of misconduct are political staff, whose behaviour is governed by a <a href="https://www.smos.gov.au/statement-standards-ministerial-staff">code of conduct</a>.</p>
<p>But we never hear about breaches of the code because it is policed internally by senior figures in the government, the members of the shadowy Government Staffing Committee.</p>
<p>When Labor was in government from 2007-13, it provided the dates on which the committee met and the number of investigations it conducted, but nothing about the nature of those investigations. </p>
<p>Since coming to power in 2013, the Coalition government has refused to provide any details about the work of the committee.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1361193148190396418"}"></div></p>
<p>According to the ex-staffers I’ve interviewed, allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct are not new. Such behaviour has been going on for years. The same inequalities of power have long existed. </p>
<p>Why we are hearing about them now might be because the <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-canberra-having-a-metoo-moment-it-will-take-more-than-reports-of-mps-behaving-badly-for-parliament-to-change-149819">#MeToo movement</a> has emboldened people to speak out. Like Brittany Higgins, the people who spoke to me were fuelled by anger that no one was held accountable for what happened to them and a desire to bring about change.</p>
<p>While these cases might be rare, something clearly needs to be done. Prime Minister Scott Morrison reacted to questions about Higgins’ allegation by <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/government-responds-to-liberal-party-staffer-brittany-higgins-alleged-rape/news-story/7d342a0e823feb8f09ea3250245b3818">saying</a> the case was “deeply distressing” and the government takes “all matters of workplace safety very, very seriously.”</p>
<p>But it is leadership from the top that is needed to change a culture that enables and tolerates poor conduct. </p>
<p>We need independent mechanisms for handling complaints, job protections for staff who speak up and a front-foot commitment to maintaining a safe workplace, which means investigating and disciplining members of parliament and staffers when serious allegations are made. </p>
<p>This can only come from the prime minister himself and other party leaders at the top.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155300/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria Maley receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>New research sheds light on why sexual misconduct and bullying is so common in political offices and why political staffers have few options to hold those in power to account.Maria Maley, Senior Lecturer in Politics, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1198842020-02-20T19:01:04Z2020-02-20T19:01:04ZAustralia, we need to talk about who governs our city-states<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316056/original/file-20200219-11023-dl0k2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=862%2C0%2C5128%2C3332&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-perth-skyline-australia-scenic-793488598">Benny Marty/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1971, a Time magazine <a href="http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,905177,00.html">article</a>, titled “Should New York City Be the 51st State?”, observed:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>States have not only short-changed and hamstrung their cities but are themselves the least creative and effective of the three levels of government.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Of course, the United States still doesn’t have a 51st state, but the issue of city governance remains alive and relevant to Australia. Our metropolitan cities have no metropolitan government. </p>
<p>There are state governments, which are meant to represent the whole of the state but of course are most concerned with the single biggest city (as that’s where most voters live), often neglecting the rest of the state. And there are local governments, none of which has responsibility for more than a small part of the capital city. </p>
<p>Perhaps it’s time to consider statehood for our <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mf/3218.0">largest and fastest-growing cities</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/metropolitan-governance-is-the-missing-link-in-australias-reform-agenda-55872">Metropolitan governance is the missing link in Australia's reform agenda</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Statehood has long been granted to <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-a-global-city.html">global cities</a> such as <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/note/join/2013/495864/IPOL-REGI_NT(2013)495864_EN.pdf">Berlin</a> and <a href="https://www.wien.gv.at/english/administration/organisation/authority/">Vienna</a> (in the German and Austrian federations, respectively).</p>
<p>What might not be so obvious in Australia is that all our capital cities are <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/melbourne-actually-has-its-own-flag-and-it-features-a-dead-sheep/news-story/a90267b97e4c3d50ab6069aa8e922b7a">effectively on the way to being city-states</a>. This has had huge consequences for social well-being, economic development and global competitiveness.</p>
<h2>What’s the problem?</h2>
<p>Global cities – cities with a significant role in the global economy – like <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-growing-clout-of-australia-s-twin-urban-giants-20180728-p4zu4l.html">Sydney and Melbourne are gaining more power</a>. It’s in line with a global trend of <a href="https://www.citylab.com/life/2016/10/the-seven-types-of-global-cities-brookings/502994/">social, economic, technological and political convergence</a> on cities. </p>
<p>This trend is especially obvious in Australia – about <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/Interesting+Facts+about+Australia%E2%80%99s+population">90% of us</a> live in urban areas. The capital cities alone account for <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/Interesting+Facts+about+Australia%E2%80%99s+population">67% of the population</a> and roughly <a href="https://www.sgsep.com.au/publications/insights/gdp-report-economic-performance-of-australias-cities-and-regions">70% of GDP</a>. Each state and territory has a lonesome metropolitan centre, surrounded by much smaller “satellites”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316055/original/file-20200219-11023-1fzz8wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316055/original/file-20200219-11023-1fzz8wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316055/original/file-20200219-11023-1fzz8wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316055/original/file-20200219-11023-1fzz8wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316055/original/file-20200219-11023-1fzz8wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316055/original/file-20200219-11023-1fzz8wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316055/original/file-20200219-11023-1fzz8wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316055/original/file-20200219-11023-1fzz8wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This NASA image of Australia at night shows the concentration of activity in the capital cities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/NightLights/page3.php">NASA Earth Observatory</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sizeable political gaps have emerged between urban and rural areas. At last year’s federal election, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-capital-cities-that-ate-australia-20181226-p50o8k.html">60% of seats were in our capitals</a>. </p>
<p>The growth and changing role of metropolitan cities means we should rethink their governance structures to meet their need of a strategic vision built on <a href="https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/glossary/agglomeration-economies/">agglomeration</a>. It’s about maximising the benefits of having many producers and people located near one another.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-growing-skills-gap-between-jobs-in-australian-cities-and-the-regions-88477">The growing skills gap between jobs in Australian cities and the regions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Western Australia, for example, has one substantial city, Perth. Its other much smaller centres function mainly as satellites to the capital. </p>
<p>Perth has been ranked as one of the <a href="http://migrationcompanion.com/city-of-perth/perth-ranked-in-top-10-global-cities-of-the-future/">top ten global cities of the future</a>. Today, however, Perth is a “Beta +” city in the most recent Globalisation and Work Cities Research Network (GaWC) <a href="https://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/world2018t.html">rankings</a>. This means it is a city that links only moderate economic regions to the world economy. </p>
<p>In comparison, California has Los Angeles (Alpha), San Diego (Gamma), San Jose (Gamma) and San Francisco (Alpha -). </p>
<p>Western Australia is therefore, relatively, a city-state. It has only one global city.</p>
<p>Of course, saying Western Australia is a city-state is rather absurd, right? By definition, a city-state is a political organisation at a microscale, like Singapore, Berlin and Vienna. <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/dimensions/area-of-australia-states-and-territories">Western Australia</a> has a land area about 3,500 times that of <a href="https://data.gov.sg/dataset/total-land-area-of-singapore">Singapore</a> and roughly 2,800 times the area of <a href="https://www.businesslocationcenter.de/en/business-location/berlin-at-a-glance/surface-area-of-berlin/">Berlin</a>.</p>
<p>But it’s equally absurd that vast expanses of the state have to be connected to the world economy through a lonesome Beta city. The absurdity is in the dilution of agglomeration effects, which come only from higher population density. Singapore has about <a href="http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/singapore-population/">8,000</a> people per square kilometre, Berlin almost <a href="http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/berlin-population/">4,000</a>. And Western Australia? <a href="http://worldpopulationreview.com/territories/western-australia-population/">One</a>. </p>
<h2>A natural evolution</h2>
<p>But hold on! Doesn’t Perth have its own government?</p>
<p>Well, no. Perth, like the other capitals, is made up of local government areas (LGAs) controlled directly by the state legislature. Perth has <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_government_areas_of_Western_Australia#Metropolitan_LGAs">30 LGAs</a>. Sydney has <a href="https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/research-and-statistics/the-city-at-a-glance/our-global-city">35</a>, Melbourne <a href="https://liveinmelbourne.vic.gov.au/discover/melbourne-victoria/metropolitan-melbourne">31</a> and Adelaide <a href="http://www.rdametroadelaide.com.au/node/25">17</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_government_areas_of_Tasmania#Hobart_area_councils">Hobart</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane#Governance">Brisbane</a> have six LGAs each and even the smallest capital, Darwin, has <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin,_Northern_Territory">three</a>. The exception is Canberra, governed directly through the ACT Legislative Assembly.</p>
<p>We need to look at adding a fourth tier of government, metropolitan government, that can help harness the agglomeration effects in global cities. This <a href="https://www.foreground.com.au/politics/do-australian-cities-need-metropolitan-governments/">proposition was advanced</a> by a 2018 CSIRO book, <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/7726/">Australian’s Metropolitan Imperative</a> </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-cities-need-city-scale-government-heres-what-it-should-look-like-55873">Our cities need city-scale government – here's what it should look like</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But what would it do for people outside the capitals? How would the rest of Western Australia benefit from metropolitan government?</p>
<p>Lest the reader thinks I am picking on WA, I’ll elaborate my reasoning using the state where I live: Victoria. It’s not efficient for a state bigger than England (as is the case for every state and territory, except Tasmania and the ACT) to be servicing one metropolitan city.</p>
<p>Regional centres in Victoria, like Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat, service Melbourne to their disadvantage. Why to their disadvantage? Because a global city like Melbourne absorbs capital – human, physical and financial capital – from these cities. These cities will remain satellites of the global city.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/regional-cities-beware-fast-rail-might-lead-to-disadvantaged-dormitories-not-booming-economies-119090">Regional cities beware – fast rail might lead to disadvantaged dormitories, not booming economies</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Think of the territorial evolution of Australia. Had Victoria not split from New South Wales in 1851, how likely is it that Melbourne would be a global city today? </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314342/original/file-20200209-27524-1iavqzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314342/original/file-20200209-27524-1iavqzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314342/original/file-20200209-27524-1iavqzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=671&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314342/original/file-20200209-27524-1iavqzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=671&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314342/original/file-20200209-27524-1iavqzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=671&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314342/original/file-20200209-27524-1iavqzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314342/original/file-20200209-27524-1iavqzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314342/original/file-20200209-27524-1iavqzl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The evolution of the states in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://sites.google.com/site/australiancolonisation241992/colonies-to-states">Australian Colonisation.1788</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To help the rest of Australia grow, the territorial evolution that started in the 19th century, and was interrupted in the 20th century, has to continue in the 21st century.</p>
<p>Note that this is an evolutionary argument. Over time, we expect more Australian cities to reach the level of population density and economic growth that would require statehood. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-patchwork-of-city-deals-or-a-national-settlement-strategy-whats-best-for-our-growing-cities-117839">A patchwork of City Deals or a national settlement strategy: what’s best for our growing cities?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In 2013, demographer <a href="https://successnq.com.au/2018/07/31/worth-his-salt/">Bernard Salt</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130820130025/http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2013/07/11/385273_news.html">predicted</a> Townsville would become a metropolitan city by 2026, with more people living in north Queensland than in the state of Tasmania. North Queensland statehood would only help this evolution, just as it helped Brisbane in the 1800s.</p>
<p>In 1949, David Henry Drummond, who served in the House of Representatives and in the NSW Legislative Assembly, <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2358768">noted</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is significant that since the Imperial Parliament handed over the control of Australia to the Commonwealth, no new State has been created, notwithstanding that Sir Henry Parkes, the founder of the Federation, said – ‘that as a matter of reason and logical forecast, the division of the existing colonies into smaller areas to equalise the distribution of political power, will be the next great constitutional change’.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The imperative for the Commonwealth is to pursue this “great constitutional change”. At the very least, it’s time to have a healthy national conversation about how we can boost our capital cities’ global status through a new drive for statehood.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119884/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamen Franklen Gussen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The rise of global cities, metropolises that dominate their states, is exposing Australia’s lack of metropolitan governments. It’s time to restart the evolution of our states after a century on hold.Benjamen Franklen Gussen, Lecturer in Law, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1243592019-09-27T08:51:04Z2019-09-27T08:51:04ZVIDEO: Michelle Grattan on Morrison’s US trip - and the ACT’s marijuana legislation<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OLgU5WpwNCY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini discusses Scott Morrison’s trip to Washington - including the state dinner thrown in his honour, his speech at the UN General Assembly, and his message to China - with Michelle Grattan. They also talk about possible Commonwealth intervention after the ACT passed a bill legalising marijuana for personal use.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124359/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini and Michelle Grattan discuss the big stories in politics this week.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1233542019-09-17T20:30:39Z2019-09-17T20:30:39ZSuperblocks are transforming Barcelona. They might work in Australian cities too<p>The Spanish city of Barcelona has pioneered an innovative approach to managing traffic, freeing up public space and promoting walking and cycling. The “<a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/4/9/18300797/barcelona-spain-superblocks-urban-plan">superblocks</a>” model produces considerable health and economic benefits, according to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019315223?via%3Dihub">newly published research</a>, and could be applied in Australian cities too. </p>
<p>So how does this model work? Large “superblocks” covering an area of around 400m by 400m are created from residential blocks of 150m by 150m. These residential blocks are currently surrounded by normal busy streets. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The superblocks model explained.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://prod-mobilitat.s3.amazonaws.com/PMU_Sintesi_Angles.pdf">Urban Mobility Plan of Barcelona 2013-2018</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Outside the superblocks, the city’s normal through traffic is accommodated on streets with a maximum speed of 50km/h. Within the superblocks, cars are banned or restricted to 20km/h, priority is given to walking and cycling, and open space is reclaimed or created from parking. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-traffic-signals-favour-cars-and-discourage-walking-92675">How traffic signals favour cars and discourage walking</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZORzsubQA_M?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">In 2016, Barcelona started creating ‘superblocks’ that are transforming life in the affected neighbourhoods.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These priorities accord closely with the goals of growing Australian cities that are struggling to preserve liveability in the face of increasing congestion and density. While current urban designs for new suburbs across Australia are an improvement on post-war suburban residential developments, the results are still unsatisfactory. </p>
<p>Residents of these new outer suburbs typically <a href="https://theconversation.com/living-liveable-this-is-what-residents-have-to-say-about-life-on-the-urban-fringe-111339">depend heavily on cars</a>. They have limited (if any) public transport access and <a href="https://theconversation.com/some-suburbs-are-being-short-changed-on-services-and-liveability-which-ones-and-whats-the-solution-83966">scant opportunity to walk or cycle to local amenities</a>. Urban sprawl means <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-city-workers-average-commute-has-blown-out-to-66-minutes-a-day-how-does-yours-compare-120598">commuting times and distances continue to increase</a>, <a href="https://www.aaa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AAA-Congestion-Report-2018-FINAL.pdf">traffic congestion worsens</a> and <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/transport-climate-change/">transport emissions rise</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)30068-X/fulltext">Residents of these suburbs have poorer economic and health outcomes</a> relative to the whole population. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/city-by-city-analysis-shows-our-capitals-arent-liveable-for-many-residents-85676">City-by-city analysis shows our capitals aren’t liveable for many residents</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What are the benefits of superblocks?</h2>
<p>In light of these issues, Mark Stevenson collaborated with researchers from the Barcelona Institute of Global Health to explore the superblocks model and its potential benefits for Australian cities.
Their research, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019315223?via%3Dihub">published in Environment International</a>, found the associated benefits in Barcelona are considerable. </p>
<p>Premature mortality rates were reduced by about 700 fewer deaths a year and life expectancy increased. This was due to reductions in air pollution, noise and heat, greater access to green space and increased transport-related physical activity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Barcelona superblocks model had a number of urban quality goals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://prod-mobilitat.s3.amazonaws.com/PMU_Sintesi_Angles.pdf">Urban Mobility Plan of Barcelona 2013-2018</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The economic effects of transforming the existing urban blocks are also impressive, estimated at €1.7 billion (A$2.7 billion) a year. This benefit mainly comes from increased life expectancy, a 20% reduction in premature mortality and a 13% reduction in overall burden of disease.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/superblocks-barcelonas-car-free-zones-could-extend-lives-and-boost-mental-health-123295">Superblocks: Barcelona's car-free zones could extend lives and boost mental health</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jq2yd4QgL5I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Barcelona residents talk about their experiences of superblocks.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Could this model work for Australian cities?</h2>
<p>The superblock concept is reminiscent of Griffin’s early <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=0J1kAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT373&dq=early+history+verged+on+the+tragi-farcical&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirpKCvqtzkAhWV7XMBHRohBDIQ6AEILDAA#v=onepage&q=early%20history%20verged%20on%20the%20tragi-farcical&f=false">Canberra model of self-contained residential development</a>. Traffic was to be routed around neighbourhoods and suburbs rather than through them. </p>
<p>From the perspective of transport sustainability, that <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=IwWODwAAQBAJ&pg=PT70&dq=explicitly+designed+on+the+basis+that+the+car+would+be+the+dominant+form+of+transport&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjh8bfXwtnkAhU98HMBHUbtBSwQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=explicitly%20designed%20on%20the%20basis%20that%20the%20car%20would%20be%20the%20dominant%20form%20of%20transport&f=false">model failed, as the city was designed around the car</a>. As the residential neighbourhoods were also low density, schools and neighbourhood retail hubs felt the effect of ageing families and declining populations. </p>
<p>However, a superblock approach might work with two critical differences. </p>
<p>First, if densities were tripled, this would allow for more population within each neighbourhood. Higher density would support more social and retail infrastructure on a smaller footprint. </p>
<p>Second, if cars were restricted within each superblock and more frequent public transport routed around the outskirts of each, then people could get to services and recreational spaces on foot. The result would be a new, healthier urban dynamic. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-creatives-are-remaking-canberras-city-centre-but-at-a-social-cost-97322">New creatives are remaking Canberra's city centre, but at a social cost</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Our cities are already ‘retrofitting’</h2>
<p>In a <a href="https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=431694382926564;res=IELBUS">case study of Docklands</a> in Melbourne, urban planner Kate Matthews argues along similar lines, but in an inner-urban landscape. She makes the point that the City of Melbourne has retrofitted social infrastructure and open space. An area that was <a href="https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2012/april/1336967175/robyn-annear/big-tumbleweed">sterile, wind-swept and cut-off</a> has now become a family-friendly neighbourhood. </p>
<p>The elements for success were that it was walkable, green, safe and had everything you need. Matthews argues that the Docklands experience could be transferred to other centres by applying the following principles:</p>
<ul>
<li>if you build it, they will come</li>
<li>prioritise infrastructure</li>
<li>actively manage traffic</li>
<li>invest in the public realm – streets, squares, parks, green spaces and other outdoor places that everyone can freely access and use.</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/seven-steps-melbourne-can-take-to-regain-its-liveable-city-crown-113726">Seven steps Melbourne can take to regain its 'liveable city' crown</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some cities and towns – such as the <a href="https://tonsley.com.au/residential/">Tonsley redevelopment</a> in Adelaide, <a href="https://www.mra.wa.gov.au/projects-and-places/claisebrook-village">Claisebrook Village</a> in East Perth, and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-developments-green-doesnt-help-with-inequality-104941">Barangaroo</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/move-over-suburbia-green-square-offers-new-norm-for-urban-living-57633">Green Square</a> renewal projects in Sydney – are already well down this path. We need more examples to draw on and learn from. All levels of government should encourage this approach, as the evidence is now there to show that significant health and ultimately financial benefits accrue to the communities that live within them.</p>
<p>Could we also apply these principles to developments in outer growth suburbs? How might this process be managed? And who pays for the up-front investment in the public realm, more frequent public transport and social infrastructure, whether in existing urban areas or new growth suburbs? </p>
<p>These are real questions, but surely none are greater than those we face now. If we commit ourselves to resolving the challenges of designing high-quality, affordable, higher-density urban environments in Australia, the research shows the beneficiaries will not just be ourselves but our children and their children’s health in, importantly, a sustainable future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123354/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Stevenson holds an NHMRC Research Fellowship. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick Love does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Spanish city is remaking urban neighbourhoods by limiting through traffic in superblocks that give priority to pedestrians and street activities, not cars.Patrick Love, Hon Senior Fellow, Transport Health and Urban Design (THUD) Melbourne School of Design, The University of MelbourneMark Stevenson, Professor of Urban Transport and Public Health, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1199332019-07-08T20:09:47Z2019-07-08T20:09:47ZFor green cities to become mainstream, we need to learn from local success stories and scale up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283001/original/file-20190708-51305-1musbhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C0%2C6342%2C4238&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Melbourne has a rich legacy of urban parks thanks to planning decisions made when the city was first established. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Greening our cities has become one of the great <a href="https://newclimateeconomy.report/2018/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2018/09/NCE_2018_FULL-REPORT.pdf">global imperatives</a> of the 21st century including to tackle climate change. And Australia’s sprawling car-based cities are gradually changing to embrace green or living infrastructure.</p>
<p>Green cities bring together elements of architectural design and urban planning, often combining plants and built infrastructure to meet the needs of humans, such as our <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biophilia_hypothesis">love of nature</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-cities-are-lagging-behind-in-greening-up-their-buildings-97088">Australian cities are lagging behind in greening up their buildings</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Trees, plants, waterways and wetlands can deliver climate conditioning, cooling cities by reducing the urban heat island effect. They also absorb carbon dioxide, filter wastewater and create habitats. </p>
<p>Living elements can be incorporated with built infrastructure at a range of scales, from individual buildings with green walls and roofs, through to citywide strategies. And there are a <a href="http://www.curf.com.au/files/view/?id=633">suite of strategies</a> to guide more widespread integration of biological elements and ecological processes in cities. </p>
<p>In recent months, we <a href="https://mainstreaminggreeninfrastructure.com/reports/Barbara%20Norman%20mainstreaming%20GI%20in%20Australia.pdf">profiled Australian examples of living infrastructure</a> that show some of Australia’s approaches to developing green infrastructure, from greening Melbourne’s laneways to Canberra’s urban forest. These cities are already redesigning their water systems and implementing urban forest strategies to create green belts and protect and restore waterways.</p>
<p>Melbourne and Canberra provide some useful examples of the green cities movement, but to make it mainstream, these techniques need to be adopted widely through policies supporting more holistic and better integrated urban planning.</p>
<h2>Why we need urban forests</h2>
<p>Percival Alfred Yeoman was one of the first Australian pioneers of urban forestry. In 1971, <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8870297?q&versionId=12235056">he articulated</a> a clear vision for enhancing cities with trees.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-green-cities-need-to-become-a-deeply-lived-experience-65566">Why ‘green cities’ need to become a deeply lived experience</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Local governments in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, are implementing his ideas, committing to <a href="https://202020vision.com.au/about-the-vision/">ambitious increases in urban canopy cover</a>. Their targets range from 25% to 40%.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://202020vision.com.au/the-network/">revived interest in urban forestry</a> comes from its well documented potential for accelerating the transition to more climate adaptive cities. </p>
<p>The social, environmental and economic benefits of urban trees, or “ecosystem services”, are becoming better recognised, including for their recreational and cultural values.</p>
<h2>Melbourne and Canberra are leading Australia’s green cities movement</h2>
<h3>Melbourne</h3>
<p>Melbourne has a rich legacy of urban parks and green belts thanks to planning decisions made in the city’s early years. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/urban-greening-can-save-species-cool-warming-cities-and-make-us-happy-116000">Urban greening can save species, cool warming cities, and make us happy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These parks underpin a new wave of urban greening, with projects that aim to deliver action on climate change, biodiversity and the health and well-being of communities.</p>
<p>The Melbourne green infrastructure <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/community/greening-the-city/green-infrastructure/Pages/green-infrastructure.aspx">plan</a> includes: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>a “<a href="http://www.growinggreenguide.org/">growing green guide</a>” that provides practical advice to community and business groups on planning, design and maintenance of green infrastructure</p></li>
<li><p>the <a href="http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/community/%20greening-the-city/green-infrastructure/Pages/greeninglaneways.%20aspx">greening laneways strategy</a>, which builds on the commercial revitalisation of Melbourne’s laneways over three decades. Laneways with greening potential were mapped and demonstration project developed to display techniques for making them more vibrant green spaces for business, tourists and locals to enjoy</p></li>
<li><p>an <a href="http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/community/parks-openspaces/%20urban-forest/Pages/urban-forest-strategy.aspx">urban forest strategy</a>, with an overall target of 40% canopy cover by 2040. And 5 to 8 million trees will be planted over coming decades for the greater Melbourne metropolis.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RBtAUUzH7Uo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h3>Canberra</h3>
<p>Canberra is often described as “a city within a landscape” and the “bush capital”. But its higher altitude, hot dry summers and cold winters bring a set of challenges for green infrastructure. </p>
<p>With more than 800,000 planted trees, Canberra is an urban forest. But these trees require special care and attention given they are ageing and suffering from a hotter, drier climate. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-we-save-ageing-australians-from-the-heat-greening-our-cities-is-a-good-start-112613">How do we save ageing Australians from the heat? Greening our cities is a good start</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Wildfire also represents a significant risk where urban and rural areas connect. This means Canberra needs urban forests that will cool the city in warmer months without also escalating wildfire risks. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.environment.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/%200011/1170965/Canberra-Living-Infrastructure-%20Information-paper-2018.pdf">ACT Government</a> has committed to action on climate change, legislating targets for 100% renewable electricity by 2020 and carbon neutrality (no net carbon emissions) by 2045. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283002/original/file-20190708-51262-w9ffhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283002/original/file-20190708-51262-w9ffhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283002/original/file-20190708-51262-w9ffhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283002/original/file-20190708-51262-w9ffhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283002/original/file-20190708-51262-w9ffhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283002/original/file-20190708-51262-w9ffhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283002/original/file-20190708-51262-w9ffhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283002/original/file-20190708-51262-w9ffhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">With more than 800,000 trees, Canberra is an urban forest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Integrated approach needed to expand green cities</h2>
<p>Greening cities requires a holistic approach – for instance, not leaving the health of waterways entirely to water engineers.</p>
<p>Greening cities is more than just a <a href="https://www.academia.edu/38053856/The_city_as_nature_and_the_nature_of_the_city_-_climate_adaptation_using_living_infrastructure_governance_and_integration_challenges">technical challenge</a>. Transforming the form and functions of urban systems, through urban forests and other living infrastructure, <a href="http://www.curf.com.au/files/view/?id=633">requires</a> greater leadership and political commitment, integrated planning and community participation, and long-term thinking. </p>
<p>An integrated approach to greening cities involves mapping diverse opportunities and mobilising support for change in the community. As an example, urban storm water can be a productive resource when used in constructed wetlands or to irrigate urban forests. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283005/original/file-20190708-51297-19kpdgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283005/original/file-20190708-51297-19kpdgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283005/original/file-20190708-51297-19kpdgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283005/original/file-20190708-51297-19kpdgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283005/original/file-20190708-51297-19kpdgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283005/original/file-20190708-51297-19kpdgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283005/original/file-20190708-51297-19kpdgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283005/original/file-20190708-51297-19kpdgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The vertical gardens in One Central Park in Sydney are globally renowned for their green infrastructure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And often urban drainage lines and wastelands can be transformed into green spaces, but it’s worth recognising there is intense competition for space for housing.</p>
<p>But for more widespread adoption of integration, institutional support within local governments and metropolitan water and planning agencies is needed. </p>
<p>So to scale up living infrastructure in our urban landscapes, we must learn from local success stories, conduct more research, and better understand how to deal with climate adaptation and mitigation challenges. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-planners-understand-its-cool-to-green-cities-whats-stopping-them-55753">If planners understand it's cool to green cities, what's stopping them?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Jason Alexandra would like to gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Barbara Norman to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119933/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Alexandra received research funds from University of Canberra to review international examples of green infrastructure, including urban forestry and water sensitive urban design, suited to Canberra as part of a Canberra Urban and Regional Futures Project that was supported by the ACT Government</span></em></p>Expanding green cities needs a holistic approach, and learning from Melbourne and Canberra is a good place to start.Jason Alexandra, PhD candidate, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1140842019-03-25T18:35:13Z2019-03-25T18:35:13ZAustralian political journalists might be part of a ‘Canberra bubble’, but they engage the public too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265515/original/file-20190325-36270-1liywn3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australian journalists often use Twitter to comment on the issues of the day.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nina Maile Gordon/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal election is fast approaching – less than 100 days away in the view of most commentators. Social media will again play an important role in the campaign, as they did in <a href="http://mia.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/09/15/1329878X16669001">2013</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699018766505">2016</a>. </p>
<p>But it’s not only the political candidates and their parties who must incorporate social media into their practices. Political journalists increasingly report news first on social media, then later via print, broadcast and online news outlets.</p>
<p>In a new <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/mac.v7i1.1759">study</a>, we analysed the Twitter use of the <a href="http://pressgallery.net.au/">Australian Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery</a> during 2017, and compared this with the equivalent press corps in Germany, the <a href="https://www.bundespressekonferenz.de/">Bundespressekonferenz</a>. </p>
<p>Are Australian journalists, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-13/scott-morrison-and-the-canberra-bubble/10612904">has claimed</a>, simply trapped inside the “Canberra bubble”, obsessed with parliamentary minutiae and disconnected from the “real” Australia in the suburbs? Or do they engage with the wider Australian community, explaining and discussing the political events of the day? </p>
<p>Our research suggests it’s a bit of both.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-social-media-is-helping-australian-journalists-uncover-stories-hidden-in-plain-sight-65794">How social media is helping Australian journalists uncover stories hidden in plain sight</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Twitter remains important</h2>
<p>As it turns out, Australian journalists are very enthusiastic Twitter users. In Australia, 182 press gallery accounts posted an average of 1,507 tweets per account, while the 400 German accounts managed only 609 tweets on average through the year.</p>
<p>And this effort is rewarded by the twittersphere. Press gallery accounts received some 1.9 million retweets and mentions from over 231,000 unique accounts over the course of the year. Meanwhile, their German colleagues received only 714,000 retweets and mentions from 117,000 unique accounts. </p>
<p>Of course, this is also a reflection of the relative status of Twitter, and social media in general, in the media environment of each country. According to the Reuters Institute <a href="http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/interactive/">Digital News Report</a>, social media play a comparatively minor role in the news repertoire of German news audiences, and so they are less likely to follow and engage with journalists on Twitter than Australians.</p>
<p>In each case, some three quarters of this engagement is through mentions rather than retweets. In both countries, users prefer to talk with, at, or about the press corps journalists, rather than help them share their stories by retweeting them. </p>
<p>And the journalists seem to respond, at least some of the time. Of the Canberra press gallery tweets, 43% were mentions, compared to 46% of the Bundespressekonferenz tweets.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/media-files-what-does-the-nine-fairfax-merger-mean-for-diversity-and-quality-journalism-102189">Media Files: What does the Nine Fairfax merger mean for diversity and quality journalism?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Some signs of insularity</h2>
<p>But we also found that the press gallery accounts spend a substantial amount of time talking among themselves. Of the 117,000 mentions they posted, 22% were directed at fellow press gallery journalists, compared to only 12% of the mentions posted by Bundespressekonferenz accounts. </p>
<p>In fact, almost half (48%) of the 200+ accounts that were <em>most frequently</em> mentioned by press gallery journalists were other Canberra journalists. Politicians made up for only 21% of these most frequent conversation partners. German journalists, on the other hand, engaged more often with politicians (32%) over fellow journalists (31%), in their most frequent interactions.</p>
<p>Ordinary users didn’t feature much as frequent conversation partners for either group of journalists. This means that engagement with them tends to be more fleeting and random, and is rarely repeated on a regular basis. Journalists might respond to questions or comments, but normally this does not lead to lasting connections.</p>
<p>This should not surprise us particularly much. The job of the press corps is to report on their country’s political leaders. In a social media environment, this now also means taking note of and commenting on the work of other journalists. That’s why they direct their interactions especially to these groups. </p>
<p>Remarkably, in Australia this debate amongst journalists also tends to take place across institutional boundaries. There is substantial engagement through mentions between journalists working for ABC News, News Corporation, Fairfax, and other major organisations. In Germany, these discussions remain more strongly in-house.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265275/original/file-20190322-36248-1wko9x7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265275/original/file-20190322-36248-1wko9x7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265275/original/file-20190322-36248-1wko9x7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265275/original/file-20190322-36248-1wko9x7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265275/original/file-20190322-36248-1wko9x7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265275/original/file-20190322-36248-1wko9x7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265275/original/file-20190322-36248-1wko9x7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265275/original/file-20190322-36248-1wko9x7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The mention network around the leading Canberra press gallery accounts, showing significant interaction across institutional boundaries.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-new-power-is-driving-journalism-in-the-digital-age-95380">How 'new power' is driving journalism in the digital age</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The professionalisation of social media</h2>
<p>If there is a “Canberra bubble”, then, it seems press gallery journalists are all in it together. By contrast, the bubble around Germany’s Bundespressekonferenz is weaker, while at the same time journalists from different news outlets keep to themselves more more often.</p>
<p>And this is despite the fact that Australians in general, and Australian journalists in particular, show greater adoption of Twitter (and social media overall). In fact, perhaps it is the very professionalisation of social media use in Australia that has created the press gallery’s greater inward focus, as the journalists’ social media routines have solidified. </p>
<p>That professionalisation may also have provided them with more “official” counterparts to engage with – including politicians, lobbyists, experts, and other professional actors – crowding out ordinary users. In Germany, where Twitter use matters less, the general public remains more involved in the conversation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114084/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by the ARC Discovery project Journalism beyond the Crisis: Emerging Forms, Practices, and Uses, and the ARC LIEF project TrISMA: Tracking Infrastructure for Social Media in Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christian Nuernbergk does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new study looking at the social media interactions of Australian political journalists finds that they are often talking among themselves.Axel Bruns, Professor, Creative Industries, Queensland University of TechnologyChristian Nuernbergk, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/973222018-12-26T19:28:29Z2018-12-26T19:28:29ZNew creatives are remaking Canberra’s city centre, but at a social cost<p>The new economy and new technology are changing Canberra’s city centre, Walter Burley Griffin’s <a href="http://australiaforeveryone.com.au/act/griffins-canberra.html">design legacy</a> of 100 years ago. While the central area is becoming <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-24/where-is-the-next-braddon-or-hipster-suburb-in-canberra/8373780">an innovation precinct and a dynamic place</a>, it comes with a cost of social gentrification and unaffordability. </p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs95.aspx">Griffin’s design for Canberra</a>, the city centre was planned to be a lively business centre with high-density retailing and commercial uses. The original idea included a citywide tram network supported by higher-density development along the corridors. City Hill was intended to be a heart for the city’s citizens. </p>
<p>Griffin’s vision was not truly fulfilled, however. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-how-to-fix-parliament-house-what-about-some-neighbours-96710">Friday essay: how to fix Parliament House - what about some neighbours?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The knowledge cluster effect</h2>
<p>The new economy seems to provide an opportunity unforeseen by Griffin to revitalise the city centre. </p>
<p>Canberra is a <a href="http://theconversation.com/the-knowledge-city-index-sydney-takes-top-spot-but-canberra-punches-above-its-weight-81101#comment_1353412">knowledge city</a>, despite its comparatively small population and employment sector. Knowledge is Canberra’s industry. </p>
<p>According to the Australian 2016 Census data, the city centre – <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/curious-canberra/2016-08-15/why-is-canberras-cbd-called-civic-rather-than-the-city/7626358">known as Civic</a> – has the highest concentration of knowledge workers in the Canberra region (Figure 1). They are transforming the city centre’s functions, activities and spatial uses and pattern. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 1. Spatial distribution of knowledge workers in Canberra.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ABS 2016 Census</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-knowledge-city-index-sydney-takes-top-spot-but-canberra-punches-above-its-weight-81101">The Knowledge City Index: Sydney takes top spot but Canberra punches above its weight</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The transformation of city centres is a global phenomenon. It is happening in major Australian capital cities. </p>
<p>Canberra presents an extreme case to illustrate this point, as a planned city known for being a “bush capital” with suburban sprawl. The city of just over 400,000 people has an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canberra">area of more than 800 square kilometres</a>. But its compact centre is becoming more important in a globalised and networked society.</p>
<p>The city centre is more than a geographical or spatial centre. Its “centrality” is cultural, social, political and economical. Canberra’s city centre, a Modernist planning legacy, now exists in a setting of multiple global and local forces. These forces are intersecting with economic restructuring, ubiquitous information technology, knowledge diffusion and people movement. </p>
<p>As a result, the city centre is becoming more “centralised”: it is a cluster of functions, a magnet of activities. </p>
<p>The knowledge work and workers are reshaping the use of spaces and the public realm in the city centre. Innovation activities require more interaction and exchange, more access to public space and amenities, and more spatial and temporal flexibility. They are blurring the conventional division of land uses and space uses and challenging the old ways of design thinking. </p>
<p>One spatial impact of the new economy is the growing presence and practice of smart work in Canberra’s city centre. Creative workers are sharing spaces and facilities. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222530/original/file-20180611-191940-z45eak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222530/original/file-20180611-191940-z45eak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222530/original/file-20180611-191940-z45eak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222530/original/file-20180611-191940-z45eak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222530/original/file-20180611-191940-z45eak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222530/original/file-20180611-191940-z45eak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222530/original/file-20180611-191940-z45eak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A smart work hub in Canberra city centre.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Creatives are moving in</h2>
<p>In Canberra’s city centre, more well-designed and medium-density dwellings are being built and provided to meet the needs of the new creative workers who work and live there. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Population growth rate year ended March 31 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3101.0">ABS</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These creatives have impacts on both place and people. <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3101.0">Canberra is growing fast</a>, <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/a-canberra-baby-boom-has-the-act-population-surging-20180621-p4zmwc.html">attracting people from interstate and internationally</a>.</p>
<p>This growth includes large-scale movement of knowledge workers to the inner-city areas. The poorer socio-economic groups are being displaced from these areas. </p>
<p>People working as managers and professionals are moving into the increasingly desirable inner-city areas. As a result, rising housing and rental prices are pushing out existing inhabitants. According to Census 2016, nearly 1200 managers and professionals lived and worked in inner areas of Civic and Braddon, but only 170 technicians and labourers who worked there also lived there. </p>
<h2>Urban renewal for everyone</h2>
<p>While the precinct is becoming more dynamic and active, in contrast to people’s long-held <a href="https://theconversation.com/canberra-is-101-and-australia-still-hasnt-grown-up-24893">(mis)perception of Canberra as a humdrum place</a>, the change comes at a social cost. People on low incomes are dislocated and many young people, the most valuable capital for the city’s future, find the place increasingly unaffordable. </p>
<p>Thus, the very transformations that present opportunities for the city’s economic diversification and urban renewal also bring challenges in maintaining it as an equitable city. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/barr-governments-urban-renewal-leads-to-accidental-gentrification-of-canberra-20180221-h0wen6.html">Canberra’s urban renewal strategy</a> should not embrace or celebrate the creative transformations only. It should also appropriately manage the social implications to genuinely make the city a place for everyone. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canberra-is-101-and-australia-still-hasnt-grown-up-24893">Canberra is 101 and Australia still hasn't grown up</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97322/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Canberra is growing as fast as anywhere in Australia. It’s driven by a knowledge economy that is transforming the city centre but is also displacing poorer residents.Richard Hu, Professor, Faculty of Arts and Design & Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of CanberraSajeda Tuli, Research Officer, Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/981612018-07-05T20:03:41Z2018-07-05T20:03:41ZFriday essay: frogwatching – charting climate change’s impact in the here and now<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225237/original/file-20180627-112641-1566r56.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Whistling tree frogs, Litoria verreauxii, are one of the species monitored around Canberra for their response to climate change. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Catching the eye/flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We’ve arranged to meet in a gravel car park at the foot of Mt Majura, a darkening wedge above us in the dusk. My daughter and I wait in the car. It’s winter. A woman passes along the nearby pavement, guiding her way by torchlight. Canberra’s streets are kept dim, I learned recently, for the sake of astronomers at nearby Mt Stromlo observatory. In the decade I’ve lived here, I’ve had an ambivalent relationship with Canberra, but the idea of a city that strikes bargains with stargazing scientists to restrict light pollution leaking skyward is endearing.</p>
<p>There are other endearing things. One of them is the amount of bushland interspersed throughout the urban landscape. You can be in the middle of suburbia one minute and bushwalking on nearby Black Mountain, Mt Majura or Mt Ainslie ten minutes later. This kind of mixed landscape is ideal for the citizen science project we’re about to launch into this evening, as soon as the co-ordinator of the <a href="http://fw.ginninderralandcare.org.au/">ACT and Region Frogwatch Program</a>, Anke Maria Hoefer, arrives for our first training session.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225837/original/file-20180703-116143-1wc6kot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225837/original/file-20180703-116143-1wc6kot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225837/original/file-20180703-116143-1wc6kot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225837/original/file-20180703-116143-1wc6kot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225837/original/file-20180703-116143-1wc6kot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225837/original/file-20180703-116143-1wc6kot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=689&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225837/original/file-20180703-116143-1wc6kot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=689&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225837/original/file-20180703-116143-1wc6kot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=689&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The eastern common froglet, Crinia signifera.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">eyeweed/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The program runs a community-based annual Frog Census framed against a rapid global decline in frog numbers over the past four decades and the extinction of many frog species. The census began in 2002, and the resulting long-term dataset on the abundance and distribution of local frogs has enabled additional research activities including a climate change project. We’ll take part in the latter, which monitors behavioural shifts in frogs through recording their calls at particular sites each week from June until October. </p>
<p>We’re here for a few reasons. One is to get a lived sense of climate change in our immediate urban surroundings. Plus, I want to make a contribution, however small, to the huge dilemma of climate change and its impacts; give my 13-year-old daughter a taste of scientific fieldwork in case it appeals to her; get to know our local surroundings better; and, as a writer, to think about practices that don’t simply observe or contemplate place but also participate in constructive activities at those same locales.</p>
<p>Numerous commentators have observed that the vast and intangible scale of climate change may be an impediment to more people <a href="http://www.futureearth.org/blog/2017-jun-7/increase-ocean-literacy-narratives-hold-promise">taking action over our warming atmosphere</a>. We know through the science that climate is shaped by the working of the entire planetary system – the earth’s interactive ocean, atmosphere, land and ice systems all linked to human activity. Depending on where you live, (but not in the Pacific Islands, the deltas of Bangladesh, Arctic Canada, or <a href="https://theconversation.com/hope-and-mourning-in-the-anthropocene-understanding-ecological-grief-88630">drought-stricken rural Australia</a>), its impacts can seem far-removed from our own lives and the places we know best and care most about. With care, often, comes action. What can seem an amorphous, far-fetched threat is brought closer to home through studies such as Frogwatch.</p>
<p>The project studies the impact of <a href="https://theconversation.com/early-birds-how-climate-change-is-shifting-time-for-animals-and-plants-34766">climate change on phenology</a>, or seasonal behaviour. Most frogs only call during the mating season, which is triggered by temperature and rainfall. Different species mate at different times and volunteers record the onset of mating calls from winter breeders (whistling tree frog and common eastern froglet), early and mid-spring breeders (spotted grass frog, plains froglet, striped marsh frog and smooth toadlet), and late spring to summer breeders (eastern banjo frog and Peron’s tree frog).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/early-birds-how-climate-change-is-shifting-time-for-animals-and-plants-34766">Early birds: how climate change is shifting time for animals and plants</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225264/original/file-20180628-112598-45q9zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225264/original/file-20180628-112598-45q9zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225264/original/file-20180628-112598-45q9zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225264/original/file-20180628-112598-45q9zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225264/original/file-20180628-112598-45q9zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225264/original/file-20180628-112598-45q9zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225264/original/file-20180628-112598-45q9zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225264/original/file-20180628-112598-45q9zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An eastern banjo frog, Limnodynastes dumerili.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Cook/flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Frogs are known as an “indicator species” for water quality and local ecosystem health. With their permeable, membranous skin, through which respiratory gases and water can pass, and their shell-less eggs laid in water, they are sensitive to even low concentrations of pollutants in water and soils. In this study, frogs give a different kind of warning – as they begin calling earlier in the season, they reveal and give voice to the warming climate we now all inhabit.</p>
<p>The project is fortunate enough to be able to build upon weekly counts of calling frogs by ecologist Will Osborne during the 1980s and 1990s in the Canberra region. Effects of climate change can be incremental. They can also be non-linear, as scientist <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/pep-canadell-16541">Pep Canadell</a> explained to me in a recent interview. “Climate change expresses itself through extremes. It’s not a linear relationship of impacts,” he said. </p>
<p>This mixture of incremental change and unpredictable “expressions” can be difficult to record in the short term. With this in mind, the Frogwatch project builds on Osborne’s historical data along with the Frog Census data to chart changing trends. A preliminary comparison reveals that the breeding season of some local frog species might be commencing up to six weeks earlier than 40 years ago.</p>
<h2>A sonic world</h2>
<p>Headlights sweep into the car park and Anke Maria arrives with a visiting German student who is also researching frogs. Anke Maria is a whirlwind of talk and activity, honing in on my daughter as we zip our down jackets, pull on beanies and gloves, switch on torches and head up a gravel fire trail toward the first dam, known as FMC200. Only metres later we stop at the base of a narrow drainage gully. It’s been a dry winter, but with a patch of recent rainfall a miniature sump-like drainage area at the base of the gully is alive with frog calls. </p>
<p>“That’s <em>Crinia signifera</em>,” Anke Maria explains, making what seems a perfect imitation of its repetitive call. “How would you describe it?” she asks. My daughter turns to me. The call is repetitive, creaking. We struggle to think of descriptions. It’s like trying to put a flavour into words. </p>
<p>“Who do you think is calling? The male or female?” Anke Maria asks. My daughter pauses, pondering. “The female,” she hazards a guess. “Good try,” says Anke Maria, “but only the male frog calls. Except when the female makes a warning call.” She imitates this staccato warning sound. “And why do you think the males are calling?” Again my daughter pauses to consider.</p>
<p>We continue walking up the gravel slope amid shadowy shapes of eucalypt trees, a tangle of gorse and acacia undergrowth, a row of looming metal electricity pylons strung along the lower contour lines of Mt Majura. </p>
<p>“They could be hungry or they found food,” my daughter replies.</p>
<p>“Good thinking, but they’re calling to attract a girlfriend. And do you know, scientists think that each frog species can only hear the calls of their own species. It’s like tuning into a radio station. There are many different stations, but we can only tune into one at a time. A female whistling tree frog can only hear a male whistling tree frog, a female corroboree frog can only hear a male corroboree frog.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-endangered-species-southern-corroboree-frog-16189">Australian endangered species: Southern Corroboree Frog</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>They recognise the frequency and intensity or pitch of the call, she explains, and also the pattern of the call or its pulse structure. “This helps the female find a mate from their own species and not get confused by other frogs.”</p>
<p>We ponder this sonic world where one species can be deaf to another, turn left down a narrow walking track, torchlight bobbing along with our footsteps, illuminating tussocks of grass, fallen branches, shrubs, stones, until we reach the dam. “This is for you,” Anke Maria passes a thermometer. “You do it,” she tells my daughter. First we record the ambient temperature then my daughter squats at the edge of the water, waving the thermometer gently through the shallows. We note the weather: light cloud cover, low breeze. We estimate the dam’s surface area and depth. Then our small group falls silent as Anke Maria switches on her phone audio-recorder. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225263/original/file-20180628-112628-1ocddbc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225263/original/file-20180628-112628-1ocddbc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225263/original/file-20180628-112628-1ocddbc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225263/original/file-20180628-112628-1ocddbc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225263/original/file-20180628-112628-1ocddbc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225263/original/file-20180628-112628-1ocddbc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225263/original/file-20180628-112628-1ocddbc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225263/original/file-20180628-112628-1ocddbc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The dam, FMC200 on Mt Majura.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Saskia Beudel.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For three minutes we hold still and listen. There’s the low hum of the city below, an ambulance siren swells and recedes, distant traffic, the shuffle of our down jackets as we try not to move, someone sniffs in the chill winter air – and the frogs. You can hear them interspersed across space, some close, some farther away, among vegetation rather than water. Because of Anke Maria’s explanation, I understand now these are not call-and-response sounds. They are invitations, serenades, statements of presence, lures. Sometimes the calls come in a cluster, other times at staggered unpredictable intervals. There are at least two species here, I guess. In the distance, a mopoke calls.</p>
<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="198" data-image="" data-title="" data-size="998582" data-source="" data-source-url="" data-license="" data-license-url="">
<source src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/1215/fmc200-20-8-17.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
</audio>
<div class="audio-player-caption">
</div></p>
<p>When Anke Maria switches off her phone, we relax into movement again. As we walk towards FMC210, our second dam, she tells us we’ve just heard a whistling tree frog (<em>Litoria verreauxii</em>). “How would you describe his call?” Anke Maria asks.</p>
<p>My daughter decides on a stick dragged across a rough, hollow surface. Anke Maria makes the call. Her imitations are pitch perfect, an art form. She will be the one who checks the recordings that non-specialist volunteers send in weekly, uploaded to the Frogwatch website. We will make our guesses at species we’ve heard, but she will verify with her trained ear, a labour-intensive task. </p>
<p>In our information pack is a CD of local frog species. When we get home we lie on the carpet and listen, the house filled with frog noise.</p>
<h2>A new frog</h2>
<p>A week later, on our first trip into the dark alone, the evening is silvered and rigid with frost, as if everything is held together in some different, more metallic way. It’s three below zero and falling. Our breath steams, our boots crunch, the bush is still. I sense something in a dead tree ahead before I see it, a tawny frogmouth, grey, motionless, an outcropping like a broken limb. We pause several steps away and it regards us, head half swivelled, a little tuft of feathers at the base of its beak.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225240/original/file-20180627-112623-16epsyr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225240/original/file-20180627-112623-16epsyr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225240/original/file-20180627-112623-16epsyr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225240/original/file-20180627-112623-16epsyr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225240/original/file-20180627-112623-16epsyr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225240/original/file-20180627-112623-16epsyr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225240/original/file-20180627-112623-16epsyr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225240/original/file-20180627-112623-16epsyr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A tawny frogmouth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Saskia Beudel</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The following week, on our descent from the dams, once again a frogmouth is in the same tree. A second bird perches a few metres away. They are bound together in some mute, still business. They survey us. We move on with subdued steps. Beyond the birds, the first row of suburban houses begins. We thread our way back to the car with a sense of secrecy and adventure, past back fences, patches of bright window, catching fugitive glimpses of other people’s lives through a half-open door, a crack in a curtain, the blue flicker of TV light.</p>
<p>At the dams we make our recordings. Air temperature, water temperature, ascending over the weeks. On the far side of Mt Majura lies the airport. Often early into a sound recording, a plane takes off, blotting out all other sound. Ecologist Will Osborne tells me he has observed that the aeroplane sound seems to overlap the call parameters (pitch and pulse structure) of the Common Eastern Froglet. Whenever a plane goes over, the froglet stops calling while other species continue – machine and creature competing on the airwaves. </p>
<p>When I upload the recordings, Anke Maria responds and confirms (or not) my guesses at species. You should soon hear <em>Crinia parinsignifera</em> she emails, so keep your ears peeled for a high pitch narky baby cry!</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225838/original/file-20180703-116132-1xugpqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225838/original/file-20180703-116132-1xugpqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225838/original/file-20180703-116132-1xugpqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225838/original/file-20180703-116132-1xugpqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225838/original/file-20180703-116132-1xugpqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225838/original/file-20180703-116132-1xugpqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225838/original/file-20180703-116132-1xugpqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225838/original/file-20180703-116132-1xugpqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The eastern sign-bearing froglet, Crinia parinsignifica.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/teejaybee/2591702639/in/photolist-6uVCyq-4X29Ug">teejaybee/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Her enthusiasm is infectious, her aural sketches vivid, memorable. When we hear the new frog, I know exactly what it is. Everyone on the team, each with sites to attend scattered across Canberra, has been waiting for this particular call. </p>
<p>It might show that an <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-26/frogs-calling-earlier-due-to-warming-climate-frogwatch/7787960">early spring breeder is shifting its season into winter</a>. This minor-sounding alteration has a cascade of flow-on effects. Frogs stagger breeding seasons, giving each species its portion of acoustic space to call, breed, then when eggs hatch into tadpoles to feed (a mode of “time sharing” water and its resources). If seasons shift, merge and overlap, competition for resources intensifies, and survival can be jeopardised.</p>
<p>But this year it’s a cold, dry winter. This telling species, <em>Crinia parinsignifera</em>, is calling two weeks later than last year (when it called early). Meanwhile northern Australia is experiencing its <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-01/australia-records-hottest-july-on-record-bom-says/8762560">warmest July on record</a>. Non-linear. As the monitoring season progresses, dam levels drop. By the end of October, waters have fallen almost silent.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225238/original/file-20180627-112604-1no9dvt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225238/original/file-20180627-112604-1no9dvt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225238/original/file-20180627-112604-1no9dvt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225238/original/file-20180627-112604-1no9dvt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225238/original/file-20180627-112604-1no9dvt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225238/original/file-20180627-112604-1no9dvt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225238/original/file-20180627-112604-1no9dvt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225238/original/file-20180627-112604-1no9dvt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Measuring the drop in water levels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Saskia Beudel</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Will Osborne sends an email around, explaining that cold nights and low water levels will make it hard to interpret this season’s counts. “Most species feel insecure about going out onto that exposed mud and trying to find a call site or searching for mates! It will be a big rush when the weather warms and we get good rains – the calling sequence could be condensed this year which will be interesting…”</p>
<h2>Taking action</h2>
<p>Many volunteers join Frogwatch because they want to participate in a hands-on, climate change-related study with real life applications. “They highly value the opportunity to be involved in climate change actions,” Anke Maria says. She captures one of the dilemmas of our times. Many people want to take action but are unsure how. As artist <a href="https://www.ted.com/speakers/natalie_jeremijenko">Natalie Jeremijenko observed</a>): “What the climate crisis has revealed to us is a secondary, more insidious and more pervasive crisis, which is the crisis of agency, which is what to do.” Citizen science gives volunteers an opportunity to do something.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226074/original/file-20180704-73315-c6tv6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226074/original/file-20180704-73315-c6tv6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226074/original/file-20180704-73315-c6tv6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226074/original/file-20180704-73315-c6tv6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226074/original/file-20180704-73315-c6tv6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226074/original/file-20180704-73315-c6tv6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226074/original/file-20180704-73315-c6tv6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/226074/original/file-20180704-73315-c6tv6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Filling out field data sheets.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Saskia Beudel</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Studies that chart the impacts of climate change here-and-now disrupt the assumption that effects will occur in a distant future or at some remote geographic location (melting ice caps, apocalyptic cities under 20 metres of water). Instead, they start to build a picture of measurable effects experienced at the current level of 1°C warming above pre-industrial levels – let alone at 2°C or above, which is what we’re committing to <a href="http://www.wri.org/sites/default/files/WRI13-IPCCinfographic-FINAL_web.png">based on current emissions rates</a>. In the Canberra region alone, studies are being conducted into impacts of global warming on urban lizard species (who reside next to the local DFO) and alpine pygmy possums.</p>
<p>At a broader scale, Pep Canadell has observed major ecological transformation in Australia that occurred with a 1.2°C increase during the last El Niño. He calls the El Niños a “window into the future because they bring all this heat and put the world where it may be in 30 or 20 years’ time.” </p>
<p>In the last big El Niño of 2015-16, this “future now” included the well-known <a href="https://theconversation.com/coral-bleaching-comes-to-the-great-barrier-reef-as-record-breaking-global-temperatures-continue-56570">bleaching of the coral reef</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/fires-in-tasmanias-ancient-forests-are-a-warning-for-all-of-us-53806">fires in the moist peats of alpine Tasmania</a>. There are no records for the past 8,000 years that there has ever been a fire in this part of the world. In addition to these well publicised events, around <a href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-weather-likely-behind-worst-recorded-mangrove-dieback-in-northern-australia-71880">700 km of mangroves lining the Gulf of Carpentaria died</a> in a month; and the Murray Darling River had one of its worst algal blooms caused by an algae that belonged not in this region but to hotter places in Queensland.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coral-bleaching-comes-to-the-great-barrier-reef-as-record-breaking-global-temperatures-continue-56570">Coral bleaching comes to the Great Barrier Reef as record-breaking global temperatures continue</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>“These ecological signs are unprecedented, all in this little window of a warmer world that the El Niño brought for us,” said Canadell during our interview. He went on to list even more signs. “For some reason these things don’t go through the media enough because of … whatever,” he added.</p>
<p>The Frogwatch project enables volunteers to dwell in an everyday way with such dispersed ecological signals, which, connected together with other studies, provide a larger picture of both current and future impacts. Volunteers are privileged to make their small citizen science contribution to understanding and recording these signs better.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, just as I completed this article, the Frogwatch Program discovered that its funding from the ACT Government was not renewed in the 2018–19 budget. Without core funding, the organisation and its annual Frog Census will cease. The enthusiasm of volunteers will help to collect another season’s data for the climate change study but it too is under serious threat unless alternative funding can be sourced. </p>
<p>When our monitoring season finished last year, I asked my daughter whether she wanted to do it again. “Yes,” she replied without hesitation. “What did you like most about it?” I asked. “I don’t know,” she said, “it was just fun.” And so, as Canberra’s heavy frosts set in, we have begun again, treading up towards FMC200, waiting for frog calls to begin.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Saskia Beudel’s full interview with Pep Canadell will be published in December 2018 in the journal <a href="https://www.weber.edu/weberjournal">Weber</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98161/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Saskia Beudel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Climate change can seem far removed from our everyday lives, which is why a citizen science program measuring how frogs are dealing with a warming world is so important.Saskia Beudel, Adjunct Associate Professor, Centre for Creative & Cultural Research, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/967102018-05-17T20:08:32Z2018-05-17T20:08:32ZFriday essay: how to fix Parliament House - what about some neighbours?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219285/original/file-20180516-155569-hbkrr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Parliament House is a citadel — the practices and representations of democracy have been segregated from the community. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kim Dovey</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is an edited version of a Senate Occasional Lecture delivered in Parliament House on May 11.</em> </p>
<p>Parliament House in Canberra celebrated its 30th birthday last week; the grass was freshly mowed and the fences to keep the citizens off the hill were under construction. While it is customary on such occasions to celebrate the virtues of what is surely a masterfully composed building, I want to explore here the relations of architecture to power. I will begin with some general points about these relations before returning to Parliament House with a little birthday gift.</p>
<p>When we look at a place like Parliament House or Canberra as a whole, it would seem to be all about locating the centre of power in space. Yet power often works by hiding itself in plain sight and in silence. Architecture frames space, both literally and symbolically.</p>
<p>In the literal sense, our lives take place within the clusters of rooms, buildings, streets and cities we inhabit. Our actions are enabled and constrained by walls, doors, rooms and corridors, by streets, fences, gates and guards. But buildings and places also tell us stories, they construct narratives and mythologies. </p>
<h2>Affirming the authority of the state</h2>
<p>Centres of power, such as Parliament House, work mainly through the <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/urban-design-thinking-9781472566942/">legitimation of the state’s authority through its symbols</a>. The nation state must be rendered visible through an iconography of landscapes, buildings and monuments that affirm the story of the nation, enabling citizens to imagine what they cannot see. When such narratives are embodied in architecture and urban design, they become part of the unquestioned framework of political life. If citizens take the state for granted, then state authority is affirmed. </p>
<p>It is common to conceive of the nation state as somehow timeless when it is a relatively modern institution, mostly established by violence. Australia is one of the more democratic and just societies on the planet, yet it was founded by the violence of a British invasion, and the authority of the state thus established is based, in part, on forgetting that founding violence. Thus new mythologies such as the Anzac myth are born to legitimate the nation state and rendered permanent in vistas, buildings and monuments.</p>
<p>In 1651 Thomas Hobbes famously observed that state power embodies a contract between the state and its citizens; we surrender our autonomy in order to avoid a life that would otherwise be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”. While Hobbes was defending a 17th century monarch under conditions of a civil war, the principle remains for a democratic state - state power is not natural but is a form of contract.</p>
<p>This idea of power as embodied in citizenship can be linked to <a href="http://www.azquotes.com/author/511-Hannah_Arendt/tag/power">the work of Hannah Arendt </a>, who defines power as something that is produced when citizens act together in the public realm. One of the lessons here lies in the ongoing importance of the ways public space enables and constrains the actions of citizens and the ways it frames a national imaginary. </p>
<p>When we look at the variety of urban designs that have emerged historically at centres of political power we find them generally characterised by large scale expressions of stability and order, with straight lines or strict curves expressing discipline and hierarchy. It is the condition of the state to maintain and to express law and order; this remains the case from older centres such as Beijing, Paris and Washington to more recent designs in Delhi, Canberra and Astana (Kazakhstan). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219282/original/file-20180516-155564-1mg29m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219282/original/file-20180516-155564-1mg29m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219282/original/file-20180516-155564-1mg29m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=819&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219282/original/file-20180516-155564-1mg29m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=819&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219282/original/file-20180516-155564-1mg29m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=819&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219282/original/file-20180516-155564-1mg29m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1029&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219282/original/file-20180516-155564-1mg29m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1029&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219282/original/file-20180516-155564-1mg29m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1029&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From top to bottom: aerial views of Astana, Delhi and Canberra.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Images: Google Earth/Digital Globe</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The word “state” shares the Greek root “sta” with words like “stand”, “stable”, “static”, “statue”, “stage”, “status” and “establish”. To legitimate authority, architecture and urban design need to signify a stable system of law and order. Ideal forms such as the pyramid and dome embody the expression of stability, hierarchy and symmetry - a centralised order where power is concentrated and flows downwards and outwards.</p>
<p>A centre of power is also often established by verticality or by horizontal expanse at a scale that overwhelms the human subject. There is an aesthetic thrill, a pleasure in being overwhelmed by urban scale - a sense of the sublime to which we surrender when intimidation is mixed with awe and inspiration. </p>
<p>There is often an organisation of street vistas to produce a collective orientation towards the centres of power. If the state can be identified with landscape and nature then this becomes a literal naturalisation of political power. The ground or earth upon which the city is based is the most stable of images. Finally, urban design works as a stage set for the urban choreography of political rallies or the symbolic display of military force. </p>
<p>One of the key principles here is that as power becomes more authoritarian the need for legitimacy grows. Extravagant expressions of it through urban form tend to emerge in new or vulnerable states. New Delhi was built by the British just as their power in India declined. Indeed, the design of the new Australian Parliament House <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324943152_%27Don%27t_you_believe_it_critical_response_to_the_New_Parliament_House_%27_Transition_Melbourne_nos_2728_SummerAutumn_1989_pp7-66">has been interpreted by James Weirick</a> as a response to the crisis of legitimacy produced by the Whitlam dismissal in 1975.</p>
<p>Such crises occur when subjects of authority lose faith in its fairness. With their capacity to symbolise a grounding of authority in timeless imagery, architecture and urban design are regularly called on to legitimate power in a crisis. The corollary is that in an effective democracy they largely disappear.</p>
<h2>Emptiness and neoliberalism</h2>
<p>Walter Burley Griffin’s urban design for Canberra was to leave the site of Capital Hill as a public open space from which to look down and across an urbanised and walkable parliamentary triangle leading to the water. The decision to locate Parliament House on the hill is just one of a long series of violations of the Burley Griffin plan driven by a variety of bureaucratic and political imperatives. </p>
<p>One of the attractions of principal architect Romaldo Guirgola’s design for Parliament House was that it resisted the impulse for an imposing edifice. Instead, the building excavates several storeys of the natural landscape, which it then reconstructs artificially. This enabled a very large building to blend into the landscape - one enters the Parliament as if into the land it stands for. Citizens could initially walk on top to produce a potent legitimating image although that access is now sadly denied.</p>
<p>The public parts of the building comprise a well-known sequence of spaces from the grand entry plaza representing Aboriginality and the desert, to the heart of the building, depicted in terms of the arrival of European civilisation and democracy. While this spatial narrative has been much criticised for its Anglocentric treatment of Aboriginality, the most disappointing part is found at its end point in the Members’ Hall under the flagpole - the symbolic centre of the nation.</p>
<p>In the architect’s drawings, this hall was filled with members chatting and lobbying, yet it is generally empty. The large square slab of water-covered black granite becomes a mirror designed to promote contemplation and to signify permanence and purity, surmounted by the pyramidal roof and flagpole. What it most evokes is a desire to throw coins and to wish that it were not so empty. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219283/original/file-20180516-155564-jtpos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219283/original/file-20180516-155564-jtpos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219283/original/file-20180516-155564-jtpos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219283/original/file-20180516-155564-jtpos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219283/original/file-20180516-155564-jtpos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219283/original/file-20180516-155564-jtpos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219283/original/file-20180516-155564-jtpos1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members Hall - the empty centre.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Image: design-net.biz)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This emptiness is not the fault of the architects, rather it was produced by a spatial program that separated Members of different chambers and parties from each other as well as from the executive (the ministers and PM), the press and the public. This was a building designed to stop random encounters; there is simply too little congestion and the corridors of power are dysfunctional. This problem was noted by Barry Jones 30 years ago, echoed by others from Paul Keating to <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/canberra-news/after-30-years-does-parliament-house-serve-politicians-and-people-20180507-p4zdww.html">Malcolm Turnbull</a>. </p>
<p>The emptiness at the centre of Parliament can also be seen as an early and uncanny reflection of global transformations that were accelerating from the 1970s – now generally known as neoliberalism, the Washington consensus or a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Post-Democracy-Colin-Crouch/dp/0745633153">“post-democratic” </a> condition. From this view, the power of the nation state is in decline as global markets and mega-corporations hold sway. The state becomes more corporate and political power shifts from parliament to the executive. Public cynicism about politics rises as commitment to democratic institutions falls and parliamentary democracy is seen by many as an empty charade.</p>
<p>Visible above the empty Members’ Hall is the giant, pyramidal flagpole representing a symbolic joining of the two houses with the executive area and public entry. This is the only part of the design that yields directly to heroic patriotism – disparate parts conjoined into an aspirational pyramidal whole. Yet without the flagpole, one would not even see the Parliament House from a distance.</p>
<p>So what might be done about this post-democratic house in the hill. With regard to Parliament House itself, I would suggest not a lot. The architectural composition of the building is beautiful in many ways and will only be damaged by major changes. We could grant public access to the central hall because there is no reason MPs should not mingle with citizens as they do with safety in the street every day. </p>
<p>We could also re-open the roof as a public park – the parliament belongs to its citizens and should not be expropriated in an endless and ultimately hopeless quest for “security”. However, if we were to think a little more broadly then perhaps more transformational change is possible. </p>
<h2>Putting the polis back into politics</h2>
<p>At the larger scale of the urban landscape Parliament House is a citadel — separated from the city by three broad ring-roads which make it nearly impossible to approach on foot. The practices and representations of democracy have been segregated from the community. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219111/original/file-20180515-28497-1k6zlzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219111/original/file-20180515-28497-1k6zlzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219111/original/file-20180515-28497-1k6zlzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219111/original/file-20180515-28497-1k6zlzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219111/original/file-20180515-28497-1k6zlzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219111/original/file-20180515-28497-1k6zlzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219111/original/file-20180515-28497-1k6zlzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219111/original/file-20180515-28497-1k6zlzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The parkland surrounding Parliament House.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">LUKAS COCH/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The main approaches to the parliament show it in a bushland setting, an effect that has been achieved by encircling parliament with a vast moat of parkland. While I’m sure there are many who will leap to the defence of this parkland and Burley Griffin’s long lost vision, I want to launch a small thought bubble wherein we might see this as a space of possibility. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219284/original/file-20180516-155569-1ph8ycf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219284/original/file-20180516-155569-1ph8ycf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219284/original/file-20180516-155569-1ph8ycf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219284/original/file-20180516-155569-1ph8ycf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219284/original/file-20180516-155569-1ph8ycf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219284/original/file-20180516-155569-1ph8ycf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219284/original/file-20180516-155569-1ph8ycf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219284/original/file-20180516-155569-1ph8ycf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What Parliament House needs is neighbours: a thought bubble.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image: Google Earth/Kim Dovey. </span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A citizen was originally defined as a denizen of the city – nowhere more true than in Australia where 90% of us live in cities. Canberra is a city that pretends to be bushland and achieves this only with a very low density and a devotion to cars. The key challenge for all Australian cities is that they are so heavily car-dependent, and while we carry on about walkable, healthy and low-carbon cities we so rarely build them. The closest we come are those popular inner-city neighbourhoods with medium-density housing, a lively mix of places to live, work and visit, serviced with good public transport.</p>
<p>So why not turn the moat of parkland enclosing Parliament House into a new inner-city? Even if we were to leave the 20-hectare citadel as it is, the moat occupies a huge area of development capacity all within a 400 metre walking distance of the centre. What are the possibilities if this area were developed to about 4-10 storeys while leaving the triangular slice facing the lake clear for symbolic purposes (or a possible Aboriginal embassy). </p>
<p>With a mix of affordable, family-friendly and market-based housing this could become a popular new suburb of Canberra with substantial populations, jobs, shopping and other attractions within walking distance of parliament. Why not use some “innovative” and “agile” thinking to demonstrate the urban principles so often espoused yet rarely implemented – a “just city”, “smart city”, “healthy city”, “productive city”, “creative city”. Perhaps implementing these otherwise empty slogans could also help change the national imaginary from a House in the bush to one that reflects where and how we live.</p>
<p>What Parliament House needs most after 30 years is some neighbours. This would put the city back into citizenship and the politics back into the polis where it began. It might also help to legitimate the authority of the nation in a different way for the centuries to come. And since history tells us that cities last longer than nation states, this might even make Canberra a little more resilient.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96710/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kim Dovey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Why not turn the moat of parkland enclosing Parliament House into a new inner-city?Kim Dovey, Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/934732018-04-09T20:02:54Z2018-04-09T20:02:54ZSensors in public spaces can help create cities that are both smart and sociable<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212589/original/file-20180329-189810-43yvty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Overflowing bins are one way to spoil the amenity of public space, but sensors can now alert councils when bins need emptying.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waste_bins_overflowing_on_the_National_Mall;_Washington,_DC;_2013-10-06.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>How are smart cities meant to meet citizen needs? Big data from a network of sensors can give managers and planners a real-time, big-picture overview of traffic flows, public transport patronage, and water and power use. However, the needs of people in the city must be met at both the meta and micro levels. </p>
<p>To do this we need site-specific and real-time information on how people use and value public spaces. Smart technology can collect this information from public spaces. This involves asking questions such as who is using it, how, why and for how long?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-friendly-furniture-in-public-places-matters-more-than-ever-in-todays-city-83568">People-friendly furniture in public places matters more than ever in today's city</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We are investigating these questions in collaboration with <a href="http://streetfurniture.com/au/about/what-we-do/">Street Furniture Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.georgesriver.nsw.gov.au/Council/About-Your-Council/Publications/Media/Council-and-UNSW-to-create-%E2%80%98Smart-Social-Spaces%E2%80%99-i">Georges River Council</a> in New South Wales, with funding from the Commonwealth <a href="https://cities.infrastructure.gov.au/smart-cities-program">Smart Cities and Suburbs Program</a>. </p>
<p>As cities densify and apartment living becomes the norm, public outdoor spaces will be increasingly important for everyday socialisation, as well as special gatherings and celebrations. Planners and urban designers need to develop their understanding of exactly how these valuable public spaces work to maximise their social and functional amenity. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212592/original/file-20180329-189795-1pdcgfh.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Georges River Council is looking at ‘healthy living hardware’ that, for example, improves outdoor cooking facilities by including preparation areas and wash stations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is the project about?</h2>
<p>The team will record the detailed use of two public spaces. At first, behaviour mapping will provide detailed observational information about what’s happening in both spaces. The team will then embed invisible digital sensors in and on street furniture.</p>
<p>We will target picnic tables, rubbish bins, barbecues, seats, cigarette ash receptacles, bubblers, power points and lights. The sensors will measure usage, including water and power consumption. They will also provide real-time messages to the council on whether, for example, an ash receptacle is overheating, or a street bollard is damaged.</p>
<p>Information like this can be used to improve the amenity and user experience of public open spaces, as well as help to manage these spaces more efficiently. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212590/original/file-20180329-189810-rehzh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The idea of smart public space is to maximise the public uses and benefits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our public spaces can be great social spaces, or merely places for through traffic. An <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/garema-place-social-experiment-sees-visitor-numbers-grow-report-finds-20170302-guoxe7.html">experiment in Canberra’s Garema Place</a> by Street Furniture Australia shows how such a thoroughfare can be turned around. </p>
<p>In response to simple design changes, such as seating, the number of people visiting and staying in the space grew. So too did the diversity of visitors, with families and children coming into the space. This extra activity benefited nearby shops.</p>
<h2>So what can smart technology achieve?</h2>
<p>One example of smart furniture is smart bins. Street Furniture Australia already has a product with sensors that tell council maintenance crews how full the bin is and whether it needs to be emptied. This information could yield insights about how these bins are being used and when. </p>
<p>In another example, a seat or bench that is hardly being used could be broken or too exposed to weather, and so should be moved. Any lack of use by children or older people could indicate that the location is not child-friendly or not easily accessible, for example. Again, relocation might be considered.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212587/original/file-20180329-189813-14wu1i0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When sensors show seating isn’t being used, that points to a problem – in this case, bird droppings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ShoreditchParkLondonApril2017.jpg">Lamiot/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>But what about the users of these spaces?</h2>
<p>Smart technology can help to transform the traditional user experience and enhance the capacity of public open space to support 21st-century city living. Think, for instance, of additions such as Wi-Fi or plugin points for laptops and phones.</p>
<p>Cities around the world are exploring how technology can improve the management of public spaces and facilities and better connect residents with local facilities and events. In Tel Aviv, for example, residents are issued with the <a href="http://citiscope.org/story/2015/tel-avivs-digitel-e-government-app-and-smart-card-all-one">Digi Tel Card</a>. The card gives live updates about:</p>
<ul>
<li>rates and discounts available at sport and recreation facilities</li>
<li>what is happening in the city</li>
<li>personalised information based, for example, on cultural or music preferences</li>
<li>information about issues, such as roadworks or community events, that may disrupt streets.</li>
</ul>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w9_mnbcLKto?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Tel Aviv’s DigiTel card connects residents to a personalised, interest-and-location-based digital communication network.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Isn’t this technology rather intrusive?</h2>
<p>While the benefits are many, greater use of technology in parks and the public domain raises questions. </p>
<p>Traditionally, urban parks and open spaces have been places where people go to “unwind”, so installing technological devices there may be seen as invasive. Some people may also feel uncomfortable about governments (albeit local ones) gaining data about them in a place where they want to relax. Additional questions relate to privacy, data ownership and how we can protect the technology from vandalism.</p>
<p>As for concerns about surveillance, the world has changed and the public space realm has changed with it. Walk through any major Australian city CBD and you will be filmed on CCTV. Various smart card ticketing systems (<a href="https://www.opal.com.au/en/about-opal/">Opal</a> in NSW, <a href="https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/tickets/myki">myki</a> in Victoria and <a href="https://translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/go-card">go card</a> in Queensland) provide a detailed record of everyone’s movements on public transport. Automatic numberplate scanners on tollways and in police cars are recording where we drive. </p>
<p>Even in parks, devices such as mobile phones track our location. By comparison, the sensors on street furniture will be relatively non-invasive and will not identify individual people.</p>
<p>The impetus for this research and data-gathering is to assist local government decision-making. By identifying and collecting relevant data, councils will have much-needed evidence to improve people’s lives as they use different public spaces. New scenarios can be identified, offering alternatives to provide support for different urban activities. </p>
<p>It is hard to predict just how much will need to alter as our cities densify and we increasingly rely on public spaces to meet many of our social needs. By ensuring all the elements of the public realm are efficiently and appropriately serving residents’ needs, planning and design policies and practices will be able to shape 21st-century cities that are both smart and sociable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93473/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christian Tietz is the Co-Chief Investigator for the Smart Social Spaces research project funded by The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Steinmetz receives funding from The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Homa Rahmat receives funding from The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Bishop receives funding from The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Corkery receives funding from The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Miles Park receives funding from the The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nancy Marshall is the Co-Chief Investigator for the Smart Social Spaces research project funded by The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Thompson receives funding from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, Smart Cities and Suburbs Program. Susan is a member of the National Tertiary Education Union. </span></em></p>Researchers are installing sensors to collect data about the use of public spaces. This can improve the management and public amenity of these places, but will users see the technology as intrusive?Christian Tietz, Senior Lecturer in Industrial Design, UNSW SydneyChristine Steinmetz-Weiss, Senior Lecturer in Built Environment, UNSW SydneyHoma Rahmat, Associate Lecturer, UNSW SydneyKate Bishop, Senior Lecturer, BEIL Director, Faculty of Built Environment, UNSW SydneyLinda Corkery, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, UNSW SydneyMiles Park, Senior Lecturer, Industrial Design, UNSW SydneyNancy Marshall, Senior Lecturer in City Planning, UNSW SydneySusan Thompson, Professor of Planning and Head, City Wellbeing Program, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/889732017-12-14T09:21:53Z2017-12-14T09:21:53ZAustralia’s snub to Nobel Peace win is major break from ambiguous nukes policies of past<p>The Australian government under Malcolm Turnbull has been less than ecstatic about the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/malcolm-turnbull-wont-congratulate-australias-first-nobel-peace-laureate-because-he-supports-nukes-20171010-gyxwdg.html">failure</a> to congratulate Melbourne-based ICAN has come under <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-10/nobel-peace-prize-australian-government-accused-of-shame-job/9244194">much criticism</a> from anti-nuclear activists. </p>
<p>Following the country’s <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/nobel-peace-prize-ican-nuclear-weapons-donald-trump-labour-un-a8100986.html">NATO allies</a> and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-10/nobel-peace-prize-australian-government-accused-of-shame-job/9244194">behaving as if</a> the whole episode never happened is in line with recent policy utterances, however. Canberra’s latest <a href="https://foreignminister.gov.au/releases/Pages/2017/jb_mr_171123.aspx">Foreign Policy White Paper</a>, released in November, says the country’s 60-year alliance with the US is “a choice we make how best to pursue our security interests” and “is central to our shared objective of shaping the regional order”. </p>
<p>There has not always been such a black-and-white split between activists and Australian politicians. Successive governments have waxed and waned considerably. At a time when nuclear tensions are running particularly high between the US and North Korea, the difference with the current administration is striking. </p>
<h2>Atomic Australia</h2>
<p>When the UK and US <a href="http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/ManhattanProject/Quebec.shtml">agreed to</a> collaborate on atomic weapons in 1943 through the Manhattan Project, Australia and other British dominions were explicitly cut out. The Americans wanted to control nuclear knowledge for exploitation after the war, and wanted the research to proceed with the utmost secrecy. </p>
<p>When Washington decided <a href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/co-operation-competition-testing.htm">to go it alone</a> in 1946, it gave Australia an opening. The British proceeded in the early 1950s to develop their own bomb, and decided to concentrate the effort in Australia because of its uranium and apparently wide empty spaces. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198819/original/file-20171212-9410-fdhrdn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198819/original/file-20171212-9410-fdhrdn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198819/original/file-20171212-9410-fdhrdn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=710&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198819/original/file-20171212-9410-fdhrdn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=710&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198819/original/file-20171212-9410-fdhrdn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=710&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198819/original/file-20171212-9410-fdhrdn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198819/original/file-20171212-9410-fdhrdn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198819/original/file-20171212-9410-fdhrdn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sir Mark Oliphant.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.epa.eu/human-interest-photos/people-photos/nobel-peace-prize-2017-concert-photos-53952960">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This had much to do with celebrated Australian physicist <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/7033">Mark Oliphant</a>. As a professor of physics at the University of Birmingham in the UK, it was he who had first told <a href="https://www.atomicheritage.org/profile/j-robert-oppenheimer">J Robert Oppenheimer</a>, leader of America’s Manhattan Project, that it was possible to make an atomic bomb from only a few pounds, not tons, of uranium. </p>
<p>When Britain and America began collaborating in 1943, Oliphant moved to California as a leading contributor. He saw at first hand the US’s desire to monopolise nuclear know-how, <a href="http://dado.msk.ru/rlib/utf8/494471.html">writing privately</a> about how Britain had been “sold down the river”. </p>
<p>When British-Australian testing was getting underway in 1950, Oliphant returned to his homeland to take a senior physics post at the new Australian National University in Canberra. He was quoted in the press saying his department would focus on nuclear energy rather than weapons and would not do secret work “within the laboratory itself” unless it became necessary.</p>
<p>The 1950s saw Anglo-Australian tests for nuclear ballistic missiles at Woomera in South Australia, in parallel with atomic tests elsewhere in the country in preparation for a British hydrogen bomb. Yet the effort was short-lived: after the joint project <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1ws7w90">successfully detonated</a> a hydrogen bomb in the central Pacific in 1957, Britain was soon <a href="http://www.nti.org/media/pdfs/56_4.pdf?_=1316627913">brought back</a> into the nuclear fold by the US. </p>
<p>Australia was relegated to supplying uranium and hosting listening posts to Asia for the Americans, in exchange for promises of nuclear protection. It has performed the same role ever since. </p>
<h2>View from Canberra</h2>
<p>In the intervening years, Canberra has never strayed from this overarching alliance. When you look at the details, however, the Australian view is far from straightforward. I’ll look at some former prime ministers in a moment. First a few words on Oliphant from research I expect to be published next year. He seems to almost personify these conflicting feelings. </p>
<p>During his time in Canberra, Oliphant came to <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1349058/Professor-Sir-Mark-Oliphant.html">describe himself</a> as a “belligerent pacifist”. He is quoted in several press reports from the early 1950s calling for a world government to avert the need for nuclear weapons. He <a href="http://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.1387592">joined</a> the Pugwash movement of leading scientists against nuclear weapons in 1957. This is quite a contrast to comments he made to the London Recorder in 1949:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The United States and United Kingdom are developing weapons designed for their own defence. They may not suit Australia’s needs if she has to defend herself. We must develop our own methods of defence and build for ourselves.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Oliphant maintained some involvement in the Commonwealth nuclear project despite his focus on energy. An archived letter shows him suggesting to a colleague that he visit Woomera to view the testing in 1953, for example, although he himself was <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781403921017">excluded</a> from the atom bomb tests at nearby Maralinga. He was quoted in the Australian press in 1951 expressing fears that Canberra might be considered “expendable” in its partnership with Britain if push came to shove. </p>
<p>In 1955, a government report refers to him telling government officers that atomic power plants built for energy could be converted to bombs manufacture within hours. “Australia could best be defended by nuclear weapons and that conventional forces and armaments could be cut”, he is quoted as saying. </p>
<p>Was he developing a pacifist public face while also trying to persuade Canberra to develop its own bomb? It certainly feels like it. Some Australian cabinet ministers also wanted an independent Australian nuclear deterrent in the late 1950s, though then Prime Minister Robert Menzies <a href="https://nautilus.org/apsnet/0623a-broinowski-html/">disagreed</a>. </p>
<p>Oliphant’s ambivalence is echoed in certain Australian administrations. In 1971, the Liberal prime minister, William McMahon <a href="https://nautilus.org/apsnet/0623a-broinwski-html/">scrapped plans</a> to build a nuclear reactor that could produce weapons-grade plutonium. His Labor successor Gough Whitlam then ratified the <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/npt">Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968</a>, overturning previous Liberal <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/46413/78806_1.pdf?sequence=1">reluctance</a>. </p>
<p>Malcolm Fraser, another Liberal prime minister, introduced a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2011-2012/UraniumPolicy">safeguards regime</a> for exporting uranium in 1978 that included only selling it to countries that were parties to the 1968 treaty – including the Americans, of course. Fraser later became involved in founding ICAN, and <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/hawke-fraser-join-anti-nuclear-campaign-group/news-story/dd832b27726b6a7633bd016d4b910cc7">campaigned</a> against nuclear weapons alongside his successor as prime minister, Bob Hawke.</p>
<p>The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to ICAN comes at a time when the pros and antis have rarely been more polarised or the choices more difficult. When the Nobel ICAN award first made news in October, Turnbull’s office made a <a href="http://www.theage.com/victoria/nobel-peace-prize-winners-thought-it-was-a-hoax">statement</a> acknowledging the campaign group’s commitment. </p>
<p>But it concluded: “So long as the threat of nuclear attack exists, US extended deterrence will serve Australia’s fundamental national security interests.” With a rogue nuclear power nearby, in other words, this is no time for contradictory policies from Australia. It raises difficult questions about where the country goes from here.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88973/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sue Rabbitt Roff does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Canberra’s attitude to nuclear weapons has always been riddled with contradictions. Homegrown nuclear campaigners winning the Nobel prize have put the cat among the pigeons.Sue Rabbitt Roff, Researcher, Social History/Tutor in Medical Education, University of DundeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/871742017-12-07T19:18:23Z2017-12-07T19:18:23ZLooking beyond the sandstone: universities reinvent campuses to bring together town and gown<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196874/original/file-20171129-28846-zdgw1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">RMIT University transformed the look and function of its city campus as part of its New Academic Street project.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tess Kelly</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Curtin University has a <a href="http://about.curtin.edu.au/policy-governance/master-plan/">redevelopment plan</a> to transform 114 hectares of its Bentley campus in Perth into a “<a href="http://about.curtin.edu.au/who/centre-of-innovation/">city of innovation</a>”. Its <a href="http://mobilityatcurtin.com.au/Curtin%20IT&MP%20Briefing%20Paper.pdf">stated vision</a> is to provide an “urban context that supports constant exchange between education, research, industry and government … where knowledge and innovation extend beyond buildings”. </p>
<p>Also in Perth, the University of Western Australia is heading towards the tail end of its decade-long <a href="http://www.cm.uwa.edu.au/plan/campus-plan-2010">Campus Plan 2010</a>. Its ambitions are to create a “university in a town” that cultivates a distinct sense of place while knitting itself into the local community. The project hinges on adaptable spaces that promote social contact. </p>
<p>In Victoria, Melbourne’s laneway culture and the idea of the 24-hour city inspired RMIT University’s A$220 million <a href="http://nas.rmit.edu.au/">New Academic Street</a>. In Canberra, the Australian National University’s A$220 million <a href="http://www.reunioncourt.com.au/">revitalisation of Union Court</a> has kicked off with a pop-up village, with student accommodation, a student services hub, learning spaces and an events centre to come.</p>
<h2>What’s driving this transformation?</h2>
<p>Historically, European ideas of the campus as a place apart, shielded from the unruly city, shaped Australia’s “sandstone” university campuses. Postwar planning continued the separation of the campus from the city by putting it in the suburbs. </p>
<p>However, in an increasingly deregulated global market, universities must change tack and become more inclusive. Competition to attract the best and brightest students and researchers is increasing. Universities are vying for industry and social partnerships, research grants and a seat at the policy table. The digital revolution has also transformed study habits.</p>
<p>In this climate, being able to create an engaging experience on a real-world campus can set an institution apart, potentially offering social and educational benefits that can’t be had online or on other universities’ campuses. </p>
<p>The focus on the public realm taps into today’s urban planning orthodoxies of porous boundaries and <a href="http://www.bealsandthomas.com/designing-open-space-program-program/">programmed public spaces</a> combined with statement architecture. Campus-centred public programming might involve inviting the “neighbours” over not only for public lectures, but also for summer day parties and winter footy matches. Private-sector tenants might include farmers’ markets and lifestyle retailers, making the quad more like a local high street. </p>
<p>With its public programming, mixed-use planning and the insertion of small-to-medium private enterprises, campus design strategy has begun to mirror many Australian urban regeneration strategies. We can already see an “urbanisation” of campus buildings. In particular, new student accommodation resembles share houses, boutique hostels or luxury condos.</p>
<h2>Campuses are going downtown</h2>
<p>As well as bringing urban design principles onto campus, universities are taking the campus to the city. Different schools, research clusters and faculties are being dispersed into the city. </p>
<p>Curtin University <a href="https://www.campusreview.com.au/2016/04/curtin-opens-new-perth-city-law-school-premises/">Law School</a> is nestled in Perth’s legal district, exposing students to the cut and thrust of the judicial world. Similarly, Newcastle University relocated its Faculty of Business and Law from the main Callaghan campus to its A$95 million <a href="https://www.newcastle.edu.au/about-uon/our-environments/new-space">NeW Space CBD campus</a>.</p>
<p>These satellite campuses in city centres are also developing a civic sensibility. </p>
<p>A key international example can be found in the United States. In 2016, the <a href="https://law.asu.edu/about/new-building">Beus Center for Law and Society</a> (BCLS), the new home of Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, opened in downtown Phoenix, next to the legal and government precincts. (The main campus is in suburban Tempe.) </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law’s new home, the Beus Center for Law and Society, is in downtown Phoenix.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Arizona State University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The mission of the law college is to “raise the bar” through ethical legal practices. This includes helping the local community – many of whom are struggling with poverty and a lack of citizenship documentation – to understand their rights and how the law shapes society.</p>
<p>The college invites the neighbourhood into a space that, for most, is intimidating. Lines between campus and city are made intentionally hazy through the form and function of spaces, programming and public-facing services. The campus houses small to medium-sized social enterprises, including the Arizona Justice Project, which reviews and assists in cases of innocent or wrongly imprisoned individuals.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More than 90% of students at the Beus Center for Law and Society take part in pro bono activities and public service.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Arizona State University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The college encourages students to engage with the community. More than 90% of them take part in pro bono activities and public service. Some work with review teams at the Arizona Justice Project.</p>
<p>In a climate of economic, social and environmental challenges, universities are well placed to take on this kind of public leadership role. By reorienting a networked research culture towards the broader community, universities can become catalysts for social development.</p>
<h2>Creating a critical mass of innovation</h2>
<p>Another way universities can increase their impact is by physically clustering together students, researchers, social-impact businesses and startups. The <a href="https://mid.org.au/">Melbourne Innovation Districts</a> partnership between the University of Melbourne, RMIT University and the City of Melbourne was announced in August 2017. The initiative seeks to drive investment in the knowledge economy by leveraging the knowledge in Melbourne’s northern CBD.</p>
<p>The district, which includes the two universities’ main campuses, accounts for 21% of knowledge-sector jobs in the city. According to the <a href="https://economicdevelopment.vic.gov.au/about-us/news/launchvic-maps-victorias-startup-ecosystem">Mapping Victoria’s Startup Ecosystem report</a>, commissioned by LaunchVic and released in August 2017, Victoria is home to most of the startups in Australia that have a value of more than A$1 billion. However, only 34% of Victorian startups partner with universities or research institutions. </p>
<p>An explicit ambition of Melbourne Innovation Districts is to attract more small businesses, startups and social enterprises to build the talent pool that feeds innovation. Public spaces and resources designed with civic participation in mind – cycling networks, free Wi-Fi and smart-sensor technologies – are part of the plan.</p>
<h2>Transformation starts with procurement</h2>
<p>The project shows how universities might employ innovative processes to create innovative places. Universities need only look in their own backyards for expertise in designing campuses. </p>
<p>Importantly, procurement processes could better reflect the aspirations of the diverse neighbourhoods and innovation districts universities seek to emulate. The focus should be on the value of emergent and smaller players in driving change. </p>
<p>Australia’s design sector is largely made up of small-to-medium-sized businesses. However, risk-averse processes mean they are rarely involved in campus planning in a meaningful way.</p>
<p>Campus procurement could build in mechanisms, such as large offices partnering smaller offices, to help smaller, younger and newer practices to scale up. Redefining risk to include them in funded competitions and merit-based tender selection would support a local industry while capturing new ideas. </p>
<p>Innovation in procurement would help reshape universities as open platforms for shared discovery. This would expand the opportunities to plan memorable, distinctive campuses textured with local character.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point, with the latest series focusing on the public domain. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87174/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bree Trevena does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>European ideas of the campus as a place apart shaped Australia’s “sandstone” universities. Now universities are adopting urban regeneration strategies, bringing the city to the campus and vice versa.Bree Trevena, PhD Researcher, Research Unit in Public Cultures, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/800692017-07-05T20:09:50Z2017-07-05T20:09:50ZWhat income inequality looks like across Australia<p>With affordable houses <a href="https://theconversation.com/get-used-to-your-commute-data-confirms-houses-near-jobs-are-too-expensive-77867">increasingly out of reach</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-is-wage-growth-at-record-lows-66552">wage growth slow</a> and <a href="http://thenewdaily.com.au/money/finance-news/2017/07/03/australia-debt-new-records/">household debt high</a>, Australians are certainly feeling poor. But how do they compare to their neighbours? New Census data confirms there’s a lot of variability in income. </p>
<p>The Census breaks the country up into 349 geographic regions (named in quote marks below), some of which cover more than one major town and some of which group related suburbs within cities. We examined 331 of these regions, excluding those containing fewer than 1,000 households. </p>
<p>The data show there are high levels of income inequality within these regions. A simple way to measure this is to look at the ratio of income between those who are well off (the top 20% within a region) and of those who are relatively disadvantaged (the bottom 20%) in the Census data. In Australia the weekly household income for the top 20% (A$1,579 per week) is 3.5 times the income of the bottom 20% (A$457).</p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-111" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/111/f2b689c1ab84b5613696b7ec6810186798244fac/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<p>The “Melbourne City” region has the most unequal incomes in Australia, where the top 20% have an income that is 8.3 times as high as those in the bottom 20%. “Adelaide City” (ratio of 5.5) and the “Sydney Inner City” (4.8) also have quite high levels of inequality. </p>
<p>Two of the poorest regions in the Northern Territory also have very high inequality. These are the vast region that encircles Darwin, called “Daly, Tiwi, West Arnhem” (ratio of 5.2) and the “East Arnhem” region (5.3).</p>
<p>However, there are regions with varying income levels, that also had relatively low inequality ratios. The region of “Molonglo”, in South Canberra (ratio of 2.2), “West Pilbara” in Western Australia (2.4) and “Kempsey, Nambucca” on New South Wales’ north coast (2.5) all have low levels of inequality.</p>
<p>For our analysis, we used equivalised household income. Equivalisation is a technique in which members of a household receive different weightings, based on the amount of additional resources they need. </p>
<p>The Australian Bureau of Statistics assumes that the first adult in a household has a weighting of 1, each additional adult a weighting of 0.5, and each child a weighting of 0.3. Total household income is then divided by the sum of the weightings for a representative income.</p>
<h2>Incomes across Australia</h2>
<p>For the whole of Australia, the equivalised median household income (the income in the middle of the distribution) is A$878 per week. The region with the lowest median income was “Daly, Tiwi, West Arnhem” in the Northern Territory, at A$510 per week. </p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-109" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/109/19cd8878d4e989ae653c8c1338ef8552106a1e10/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<p>However, several regional areas like “Maryborough, Pyrenees” (northwest of Ballarat in Victoria), “Kempsey, Nambucca” (NSW), “Maryborough” (between Bundaberg and the Sunshine Coast in Queensland), “Inverell, Tenterfield” (in NSW’s Northern Tablelands) and “South East Coast” in Tasmania all had median incomes of A$575 per week or less.</p>
<p>At the other end of the distribution, households in leafy suburbs of North Sydney – “Mosman” (NSW) had a median income of A$1,767 per week. Areas like “South Canberra” (ACT), “Manly” (in Sydney’s east) and the mining-dominated “West Pilbara” (WA) all had median incomes of A$1,674 or more per week.</p>
<p>We also looked at the extremes of the distribution. We define high income as those households with an income of A$1,500 or more per week. This equates to about 22% of the population. We defined low-income households as having an income of less than A$400 per week (about 14% of households).</p>
<p>Around 40% of households in the “Daly, Tiwi, West Arnhem” region were classified as being in poverty compared to around 6% in “North Sydney, Mosman” region. Conversely, around 60% of households in this region were classified as having high income, compared with only 6% of households in “Kempsey, Nambucca”.</p>
<h2>How segregated are we within regions and cities?</h2>
<p>While government policy is often delivered at the regional level, people live their lives at the local or neighbourhood level. However, the relatively disadvantaged and the upper-middle class are often segregated within these regions.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/book/dream-hoarders/">Richard Reeves of the Brookings Institute argues</a> the segregation of the upper-middle class in Australia means this group “hoards” the benefits in the region they live in. Among the location advantages he lists are: access to the best schools, opportunities to network with the wealthy and powerful and the ability to disproportionately accrue capital gains on housing assets. To avoid this kind of “opportunity hoarding”, the rich and poor would need to be evenly spread within a region. </p>
<p>A simple way to look at this is through a “dissimilarity index”. In essence, this measures the evenness with which two groups are spread across a larger area. It ranges from zero to one, with higher values indicating a more uneven distribution and zero indicating complete mixing.</p>
<p>Looking at the distribution of the high income. Across Australia, the dissimilarity index has a value of 0.27. This means that around 27% of high-income households would have to move neighbourhoods to make the distribution completely even. </p>
<p>This varies quite substantially by region. “Far North” (encompassing Cape York in QLD) has a dissimilarity index of 0.42. “Auburn” (in western suburbs of Sydney, NSW) and “Playford” (on Adelaide’s northern fringe) also have quite large values.</p>
<p>Our richest regions tend to have the most even distribution of the wealthy, with “North Sydney, Mosman”, “Molonglo” and “Manly” having values of 0.06 or less.</p>
<p>“East Arnhem” has a very high level of concentration of low income individuals by neighbourhood, with a dissimilarity index of 0.70. The next two highest regions (“Katherine” and “Alice Springs”) are also in the Northern Territory, with index values of 0.53 and 0.55 respectively. </p>
<p>We can also compare the measures we used, to find out how they relate to each other. The following figure shows that the richest regions tend to be those with the highest level of income inequality. </p>
<p>However, as inequality goes up, there tends to be a greater concentration of low income households by neighbourhood (there’s also less of a concentration of high income households).</p>
<h2>Have and have nots</h2>
<p>It’s true that the level of income mobility is <a href="https://www.cese.nsw.gov.au/publications-filter/income-mobility-in-australia">higher in Australia</a> than it is in the US. However, Australia also has prominent examples of economic policies that disproportionately benefit the upper-middle class, such as the capital gains tax discount and superannuation tax incentives. </p>
<p>Australia also has a geographically concentrated income distribution, with the rich living in neighbourhoods with other rich people. The poor are also more likely to live in close proximity to people who share their disadvantage. </p>
<p>If Richard Reeves is right, and the spatial segregation of high and low income households reinforces inequality across the generations, then policies that encourage the mixing of different social classes in the same neighbourhood and region should be a way forward.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was put together with research assistance from Hubert Wu, Australian National University and Harvard University.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80069/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Census data shows there is income inequality between, but also within, regions of Australia.Nicholas Biddle, Associate Professor, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National UniversityFrancis Markham, Research Fellow, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/738542017-03-02T05:01:08Z2017-03-02T05:01:08ZClimate change’s signature was writ large on Australia’s crazy summer of 2017<p>Australia’s summer is officially over, and it’s certainly been a weird one. The centre and east of the continent have had severe heat with <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/statements/scs61.pdf">many temperature records falling</a>, particularly in New South Wales and Queensland.</p>
<p>For much of the country, the heat peaked on the weekend of February 11-12, when many places hit the high 40s. That heatwave, which mainly affected NSW, was <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-doubled-the-likelihood-of-the-new-south-wales-heatwave-72871">quickly attributed to climate change</a>. But can we say whether the whole summer bore the fingerprint of human-induced climate change?</p>
<p>Overall, Australia experienced its <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/season/aus/summary.shtml">12th-hottest summer on record. NSW had its hottest recorded summer</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159078/original/image-20170302-14709-advijk.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159078/original/image-20170302-14709-advijk.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159078/original/image-20170302-14709-advijk.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159078/original/image-20170302-14709-advijk.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159078/original/image-20170302-14709-advijk.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159078/original/image-20170302-14709-advijk.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159078/original/image-20170302-14709-advijk.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159078/original/image-20170302-14709-advijk.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parts of eastern Australia had their hottest summer on record, but it was a different story in the west.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bureau of Meteorology</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The NSW record average summer temperatures can indeed be linked directly to climate change. We have reached this conclusion using two separate methods of analysis. </p>
<p>First, using coupled model simulations from a <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/amm/docs/2014/lewis2_hres.pdf">paper led by climatologist Sophie Lewis</a>, we see that the extreme heat over the season is at least 50 times more likely in the current climate compared to a modelled world without human influences.</p>
<p>We also carried out an analysis based on current and past observations (similar to previous analyses used for record heat in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-the-arctics-freakishly-warm-winter-is-due-to-humans-climate-influence-70648">Arctic in 2016</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/englands-set-to-swelter-through-a-rash-of-record-hot-years-41028">central England in 2014</a>), comparing the likelihood of this record in today’s climate with the likelihood of it happening in the climate of 1910 (the beginning of reliable weather observations). </p>
<p>Again, we found at least a 50-fold increase in the likelihood of this hot summer due to the influence of human factors on the climate.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159079/original/image-20170302-14721-1pipozu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159079/original/image-20170302-14721-1pipozu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159079/original/image-20170302-14721-1pipozu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159079/original/image-20170302-14721-1pipozu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159079/original/image-20170302-14721-1pipozu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159079/original/image-20170302-14721-1pipozu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159079/original/image-20170302-14721-1pipozu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159079/original/image-20170302-14721-1pipozu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New South Wales had its hottest summer since at least 1910 when reliable national records began.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bureau of Meteorology</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is clear that human-induced climate change is greatly increasing the likelihood of record hot summers in NSW and Australia as a whole.</p>
<p>When we look at record summer heat, as represented by average maximum temperatures, we again find a clear human fingerprint on the NSW record.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159080/original/image-20170302-14706-1veevc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159080/original/image-20170302-14706-1veevc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159080/original/image-20170302-14706-1veevc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=844&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159080/original/image-20170302-14706-1veevc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=844&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159080/original/image-20170302-14706-1veevc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=844&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159080/original/image-20170302-14706-1veevc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1060&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159080/original/image-20170302-14706-1veevc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1060&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159080/original/image-20170302-14706-1veevc1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1060&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme summer heat (high average maximum temperatures) in New South Wales.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Climate Central</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Sydney and Canberra heat</h2>
<p>So what about when we dig down to the local scale and look at those severe heatwaves? Can we still see the hand of climate change in those events? </p>
<p>As climate varies more on local scales than it does across an entire state like NSW, it can be harder to pick out the effect of climate change from the noise of the weather. On the other hand, it is the local temperature that people feel and is perhaps most meaningful.</p>
<p>In Canberra, we saw extreme heat with temperatures hitting 36°C on February 9 and then topping 40°C for the following two days. For that heatwave, we looked at the role of climate change, again by using the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-your-computer-could-reveal-whats-driving-record-rain-and-heat-in-australia-and-nz-24804">Weather@home model</a> and by comparing past and present weather observations. </p>
<p>Both of these methods show that climate change has increased the likelihood of this kind of bout of extreme heat. The Weather@home results point to at least a 50% increase in the likelihood of this kind of heatwave.</p>
<p>For Sydney, which also had extreme temperatures, especially in the western suburbs, the effect of climate change on this heatwave is less clear. The observations show that it is likely that climate change increased the probability of such a heatwave occurring. The model shows the same, but the high year-to-year variability makes identifying the human influence more difficult at this location.</p>
<h2>A sign of things to come?</h2>
<p>We are seeing more frequent and intense heatwaves across Australia as the climate warms. While the characteristics of these weather events vary a great deal from year to year, the recent heat over eastern Australia has been exceptional. </p>
<p>These trends are projected to continue in the coming decades. This means that the climate change signal in these events will strengthen as conditions diverge further from historical averages.</p>
<p>Traditionally, Sydney’s central business district has had about three days a year above 35°C, averaged over the period 1981-2010. Over the decades from 2021 to 2040 we expect that number to average four a year. </p>
<p>To put this summer into context, we have seen a record 11 days hitting the 35°C mark in Sydney.</p>
<p>It is a similar story for Canberra, where days above 35°C tend to be more common (seven per year on average for 1981-2010) and are projected to increase to 12 per year for 2021-40. This summer, Canberra had 18 days above 35°C.</p>
<p>All of these results point to problems in the future as climate change causes heatwaves like this summer’s to become more common. This has many implications, <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/silentkillerreport">not least for our health</a> as many of us struggle to cope with the effects of excessive heat.</p>
<h2>Some of our more unusual records</h2>
<p>While the east battled record-breaking heat, the west battled extreme weather of a very different sort. Widespread heavy rains on February 9-11 caused <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-10/wa-towns-being-evacuated-amid-heavy-rainfall-flooding/8258178">flooding in parts of Western Australia</a>. And on February 9 Perth experienced its coldest February day on record, peaking at just 17.4°C.</p>
<p>Back east, and just over a week after the extreme heat in Canberra, the capital’s airport experienced its <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/canberra-weather-city-records-its-coldest-february-night-on-record-20170221-guhmqv.html">coldest February morning on record</a> (albeit after a weather station move in 2008). Temperatures dipped below 3°C on the morning of February 21.</p>
<p>The past few months have given us more than our fair share of newsworthy weather. But the standout event has been the persistent and extreme heat in parts of eastern Australia – and that’s something we’re set to see plenty more of in the years to come.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Data were provided by the Bureau of Meteorology through its collaboration with the <a href="https://www.climatescience.org.au/">ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science</a>. This article was co-authored by <a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/what-we-do/people/heidi_cullen">Heidi Cullen</a>, chief scientist with <a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/">Climate Central</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73854/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew King receives funding from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Karoly receives funding from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science and an ARC Linkage grant. He is a member of the Climate Change Authority and the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geert Jan van Oldenborgh receives funding from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Hale receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>New South Wales has just had its hottest summer on record – an event that was made 50 times more likely by humans’ impact on the climate.Andrew King, Climate Extremes Research Fellow, The University of MelbourneDavid Karoly, Professor of Atmospheric Science, The University of MelbourneGeert Jan van Oldenborgh, Climate researcher, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute Matthew Hale, Research Assistant, UNSW SydneySarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, Research Fellow, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/704942016-12-21T19:01:50Z2016-12-21T19:01:50ZWhen it comes to election campaigns, is the gambling lobby all bark and no bite?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151172/original/image-20161221-14203-1cppkff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Poker machines are wildly unpopular in the electorate – so why fight an election on them?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Paul Jeffers</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/11/ka-ching-how-the-gambling-lobby-won-the-fight-over-pokie-reforms">gambling lobby’s influence</a> in overriding popular opinion and the public interest in Australia <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/the-lobby-group-that-got-much-more-bang-for-its-buck">is well-known</a>. But is its electoral power exaggerated? A look at this year’s ACT election suggests that perhaps the gambling industry is less influential than it appears to be.</p>
<h2>Generating fear</h2>
<p>One crucial weapon in Big Gambling’s lobbying arsenal is its threat to campaign against MPs at elections.</p>
<p>Former politicians <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/oct/20/politicians-fear-being-targeted-by-the-gambling-lobby-rob-oakeshott-says">describe the fear</a> generated by threats of being targeted at elections: that the gambling industry will bring such financial resources to bear in an election campaign that proponents of gambling reform will be defeated at the ballot box.</p>
<p>The 2011 campaign against federal independent MP Andrew Wilkie’s poker-machine reform agenda provides evidence of this electoral fear. Aided and abetted by a <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/09/27/the-conflicts-of-interest-muddying-the-anti-pokies-campaign/">conflicted media</a>, the gambling lobby <a href="http://www.afr.com/news/politics/national/pokies-industry-precommits-40m-to-see-mps-lose-20111013-jafgk">boasted of a A$40 million war-chest</a> that would “eviscerate the government’s ranks of ministers and parliamentary secretaries at the next election if no compromise was reached” on Wilkie’s reforms. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/the-lobby-group-that-got-much-more-bang-for-its-buck">marginal seats campaign was promised</a>, in which vulnerable government MPs would be targeted with vast electoral resources to blast those who did not acquiesce to Big Gambling’s wishes out of office.</p>
<p>History shows this campaign was successful in spooking the Gillard government. It <a href="https://theconversation.com/gillards-pokie-rethink-shows-weakness-while-wilkie-wavers-4979">reneged on its promised reforms</a> well before the 2013 election. This gave the gambling industry an easy victory without an election being fought on the issue.</p>
<p>We don’t know if the gambling industry’s promised electoral strategy would have been successful because it has never been tested. Its great success has been in the <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/the-lobby-group-that-got-much-more-bang-for-its-buck">fear it generates among politicians</a> well before any election is called.</p>
<p>However, there are good reasons to think the industry’s popular support is lacking. For one, poker machines are wildly unpopular in the electorate. <a href="http://www.gamblingandracing.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/846901/2014-Survey-on-Gambling,-Health-and-Wellbeing-in-the-ACT-.pdf">In 2014</a>, 86% of ACT residents stated a belief that pokies do more harm than good, and a majority would like to see the number of machines reduced. </p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="http://lyceum.anu.edu.au/wp-content/blogs/3/uploads/ANUpoll-%20Gambling1.pdf">a national study</a> conducted during the gambling reform debate in 2011 found 74% in favour of mandatory pre-commitment.</p>
<h2>What happened in the ACT?</h2>
<p>With such little popular support for Big Gambling among voters, the wisdom of fighting an election campaign over pokies is questionable.</p>
<p>The 2016 ACT election finally put this question to the test. The issue was the Labor government’s decision to allow the Canberra Casino to <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-casino-to-get-200-poker-machines-20160505-gon6ol.html">purchase 200 pokie licenses from ACT clubs</a>, allowing the machines in the casino for the first time. </p>
<p>Lobby group ClubsACT <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/clubs-launch-campaign-against-casino-pokies-bid-20160322-gnp2ke.html">promised to campaign</a> hard on the casino issue, arguing it was a threat to the clubs sector’s viability in Canberra. But ACT Labor did not back down prior to the election, and decided to face a concerted electoral campaign by the gambling industry.</p>
<p>ClubsACT, which is reliant on pokies for the <a href="http://www.parliament.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/726407/Sub-No.-55-ACT-Gambling-and-Racing-Commission.pdf#page=24">majority of its income</a>, launched a campaign against Labor and the Greens. It <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/clubs-act-sells-deakin-offices-to-pay-for-campaign-against-pokies-in-the-casino-20161209-gt7i15.html">reportedly spent</a> $185,000 funding the creation of a new political party, Canberra Community Voters (CCV), headed by lobbyist Richard Farmer. Most of this money was reportedly <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-election-2016/clubs-bankrolling-100k-of-minor-partys-antilabor-ads-20161004-grugwm.html">spent on TV advertising</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M4a169PPuvE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A ‘Your Canberra Clubs’ ad.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>CCV’s signature issue was the future of clubs in the ACT. While it always seemed unlikely that it would gain seats in the Legislative Assembly, the political strategy appears to be one of diverting primary votes away from Labor and the Greens, and directing preferences to the Liberals. </p>
<p>A second front of attack was launched directly through the clubs themselves. During the months leading up to the election, banners and beer coasters appeared in Canberra’s community clubs bearing the slogan:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Imagine Canberra without community clubs. </p>
</blockquote>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"775928458937368576"}"></div></p>
<p>And, on election day, text messages were sent to club members, imploring them to “save your community club” by voting Liberal.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A text message sent to a voter on the morning of the ACT election.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Francis Markham</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In all, ClubsACT reportedly <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/clubs-act-sells-deakin-offices-to-pay-for-campaign-against-pokies-in-the-casino-20161209-gt7i15.html">spent $240,000</a> on its electoral efforts. </p>
<p>But this much-feared campaign amounted to very little. CCV <a href="https://www.electionresults.act.gov.au/">received just 1,703 first-preference votes</a>, or 0.7% of validly cast votes, at a cost of $109 per vote. Clubs in the ACT collectively have more employees than CCV received votes. </p>
<p>If the clubs’ <a href="http://www.parliament.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/726440/Sub-No.-68-Clubs-ACT.pdf">claim of 200,000 members</a> across the ACT is taken at face value, then less than 1% of members voted according to their wishes. Ultimately, the sitting Labor government was <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-wins-act-election-decisively-67120">returned for a fifth term</a>. The Liberals, the supposed beneficiary of the clubs’ campaign, received a swing against them of 2.2%.</p>
<p>While it is impossible to know exactly what role the gambling industry’s campaign played in this election, the clubs’ monopoly over pokies clearly wasn’t a decisive issue. Few voters were swayed to change their vote by the clubs’ arguments or CCV’s advertising blitz. In the final analysis, the clubs’ willingness to spend almost a quarter-of-a-million dollars on campaigning came to little.</p>
<p>This should embolden governments around Australia that have a mind to deal with the social fallout caused by poker machines. Poker machine reform remains very popular in Australia. What we now know is that the gambling industry’s much-vaunted electoral power is more bark than bite.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70494/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francis Markham has been employed on projects funded by the Australian Research Council, the government of the Northern Territory and the government of the Australian Capital Territory. He is currently employed on a project funded by the Community Benefit Fund of the Northern Territory. He is a member of the Public Health Association of Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Young has previously received research funding from the Australian Research Council, Gambling Research Australia, and several state government departments. His research is currently funded by the Community Benefit Fund of the Northern Territory Government. In addition to his SCU position, he a Visiting Fellow, Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU.</span></em></p>The gambling lobby’s failure to seriously influence the 2016 ACT election should embolden governments around Australia that have a mind to deal with gambling reform.Francis Markham, PhD Candidate, The Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National UniversityMartin Young, Associate Professor, School of Business and Tourism, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/598992016-06-15T03:44:50Z2016-06-15T03:44:50ZState of the states: Australian Capital Territory voters face two elections in 2016<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125331/original/image-20160606-25972-uergxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Both ACT-based seats in the federal parliament are held by Labor MPs.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Mick Tsikas</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Ahead of polling day on July 2, our <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2016">State of the states series</a> takes stock of the key issues, seats and policies affecting the vote in each of Australia’s states and territories.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>The Australian Capital Territory comprises just two House of Representatives electorates: <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/canb/">Canberra</a> to the south and the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-28/electorate-of-canberra-creeps-north-to-encompass-inner-city/7122282">recently renamed</a> <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/fenn/">Fenner</a> (formerly Fraser) to the north. A <a href="http://www.aec.gov.au/Electorates/Redistributions/2014/act/index.htm">redistribution</a> has changed the boundaries somewhat. </p>
<p>As they are both very safe Labor seats, political attention is usually focused instead on the contest for the second Senate seat, as well as on the bellwether seat of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/emon/">Eden-Monaro</a> across the border in New South Wales.</p>
<h2>Key seats</h2>
<p>The sitting members are running on national issues, including housing affordability and federal support for major road works. Their Liberal opponents have highlighted the leadership of the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull – counting on his Canberra appeal to lift the party vote.</p>
<p>The sitting Labor MPs, Andrew Leigh and Gai Brodtmann, are well-established members of the shadow ministry. They were both first elected in 2010. Leigh is the shadow assistant treasurer and Brodtmann is the shadow parliamentary secretary for defence. Their Liberal and Greens opponents are all first-time candidates, which should advantage the incumbents somewhat.</p>
<p>The Australian Electoral Commission categorises <a href="http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/act/canberra.htm">the</a> <a href="http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/act/fenner.htm">seats</a> – among the largest in the lower house by population – as inner metropolitan: that is, situated in a capital city and with well-established built-up suburbs. The ACT is also demographically quite homogenous, with a highly educated white-collar workforce.</p>
<p>The safer of the two seats is Fenner, in which Leigh holds on a very substantial margin of 12.5%. The recent redistribution may eat into that margin somewhat, though, as the suburbs lost in the inner north were strong Labor-Green areas. </p>
<p>The seat, which covers Gungahlin, Belconnen and parts of the inner-northern suburbs, also includes the Jervis Bay Commonwealth Territory on the south coast. First established in 1974, Fenner has always been held by Labor. </p>
<p>The Greens’ heartland is the inner north, which is now split between the two seats. In 2013, the Greens candidate polled 14.1% of the first-preference vote.</p>
<p>The seat of Canberra, held by Brodtmann on a margin of 7.5%, has never been quite as safe as Fenner. The Liberals have held it twice: between 1975 and 1980 and 1995 and 1996. </p>
<p>As well as the inner south, which includes Parliament House itself, the electorate includes Woden, Weston Creek, Tuggeranong, and the industrial districts of Fyshwick and Hume. Norfolk Island residents entitled to vote also vote in Canberra. </p>
<p>The southern suburbs of Tuggeranong are slightly less rusted-on Labor voters. In recent times the perception they have been neglected by the territory government has taken hold.</p>
<p>The strong likelihood is Labor will easily hold both ACT seats, possibly with increased margins over the Liberals. The redistribution may even out the voting across the two seats. The Greens will again poll strongly.</p>
<p>The two ACT senators are the former chief minister, Katy Gallagher, and the former ACT opposition leader, Zed Seselja. Both are relatively new. For years there has been most interest in the ACT in the contest for the second of the two Senate seats, invariably held by the Liberal Party. </p>
<p>The challenge for the Greens, and previously the Democrats, has been to reach the quota of 33.4% with the assistance of Labor preferences. On several occasions, high-profile candidates have come quite close, but it is a near impossible task.</p>
<p>In 2016 Seselja, an <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-15/act-senator-zed-seselja-has-no-regrets-over-abbott-support/6778626">unabashed Tony Abbott supporter</a>, is being challenged by the Greens’ Christina Hobbs, a UN food security expert. But he should hold the seat.</p>
<h2>Key local issues</h2>
<p>Federal politics is intertwined with local ACT politics more than usual this year: there is a territory poll due on October 14 for the <a href="http://www.elections.act.gov.au/elections_and_voting/2016_legislative_assembly_election">ACT Assembly</a>. The Barr Labor government is under pressure. </p>
<p>Local politics is dominated by one big issue: Labor’s plans to build an expensive <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-07/does-the-act-labor-government-have-a-mandate-for-light-rail/7144218">light rail system</a> from the city to the northern district of Gungahlin. </p>
<p>The plan is very divisive – especially in southern Canberra. It could feed into the federal election against Labor.</p>
<h2>Policy proposals</h2>
<p>As neither ACT seat is marginal, major election promises from either major party are not expected. </p>
<p>Canberra is a public-service city. So, one big issue is the Abbott-Turnbull government’s <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-04/labor-warn-budget-cuts-to-public-service-will-hurt-canberra/7381782">cuts to the federal public service</a>, though the impact on the local economy has not been as drastic as many feared – and Labor’s record is not entirely clean. The recent federal budget has been <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/federal-budget-2016-andrew-barr-slams-cuts-to-canberra-institutions-20160503-golf19.html">calculated to mean</a> a loss of 1,400 public-service jobs in Canberra.</p>
<p>Associated with these cuts are the <a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-more-bang-for-public-bucks-is-the-efficiency-dividend-efficient-24803">efficiency dividends</a> imposed on the national cultural institutions such as the Australian War Memorial, the National Library of Australia, the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. These institutions are not only of cultural importance in Canberra but, as tourist destinations, increasingly significant in the local economy.</p>
<p>The ACT’s demographics, with Greens support above the national average, means policies such as action on climate change, same-sex marriage, and refugee and asylum-seeker policy also have a particular impact.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Catch up on <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2016">others in the series</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59899/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Warhurst does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Federal politics is intertwined with local ACT politics more than usual this year: there is a territory poll due on October 14 for the ACT Assembly. And the Barr Labor government is under pressure.John Warhurst, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/577332016-04-13T06:30:00Z2016-04-13T06:30:00ZDelays at Canberra: why Australia should have built fast rail decades ago<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118508/original/image-20160413-18119-1hgyppz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Are we there yet?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mattinbgn/Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/malcolm-turnbulls-ticket-to-deliver-fast-train/news-story/feae238d4c3a6253982e28ff4e156c94">front-page headlines</a> generated this week by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s promise to link Australia’s major eastern cities by fast rail may be seen by many voters as yet another major infrastructure pledge made hurriedly in the run-up to a federal election that is likely to evaporate just as quickly afterwards. </p>
<p>Fast intercity rail certainly has form when it comes to being put on the table only to be whipped away again. Linking Australia’s two biggest cities by rail would be in the same nation-building category as the <a href="http://www.snowyhydro.com.au/energy/hydro/snowy-mountains-scheme/">Snowy Mountains Scheme</a>, yet we have been talking about it for decades without actually doing it. </p>
<p>How different might things be now if Australia had built the <a href="http://www.repositoryofideas.com/VFT_information.html">Very Fast Train</a> (VFT), first proposed in 1984 by the then CSIRO chairman, Paul Wild. The plan (on which I worked) attracted the support of leading companies of the day, including BHP and Elders IXL, but was bogged down in taxation issues and eventually scrapped in 1991. </p>
<p>If it had gone ahead, we would have had an infrastructure capable of shaping the new century for Australia’s densely populated east coast, instead of still waiting for it today.</p>
<h2>The route</h2>
<p>The first choice was a coastal route running from Melbourne through the Latrobe Valley (and what a boost that would have been to a region that even then was struggling with its over-reliance on brown coal), the Gippsland lakes (with a branch line to the mountain resorts), the southern New South Wales coastal towns and into Sydney via Wollongong (a rust-belt city at that time that would also have benefited from this investment). </p>
<p>This was later replaced by an inland route identified by the CSIRO and the VFT consortium, after a series of localised environmental protests. Canberra became one of the designated stations on the inland route and the rest is history – there has never been a return to the original route, despite the fact that <a href="https://infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure/pab/soac/">more than 90% of Australians</a> live near the coast. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118501/original/image-20160413-18122-w2r2vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118501/original/image-20160413-18122-w2r2vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118501/original/image-20160413-18122-w2r2vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118501/original/image-20160413-18122-w2r2vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118501/original/image-20160413-18122-w2r2vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118501/original/image-20160413-18122-w2r2vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118501/original/image-20160413-18122-w2r2vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118501/original/image-20160413-18122-w2r2vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fast rail route proposed in 1987, after being diverted inland via Canberra.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.repositoryofideas.com/resources/VFT-route-map-from-June-1987-pre-feasibility-report.pdf">VFT consortium</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The funding</h2>
<p>Perhaps unsurprisingly, finance was the original project’s downfall. It became a private-sector joint venture in 1987 but collapsed in 1991 when the federal government decided against easing the tax burden on the project’s initial major outlays in return for higher tax overall.</p>
<p>Australian governments have struggled ever since to find ways for public-private partnerships to fund big projects. Until now, perhaps. </p>
<p>This time around, Turnbull has touted the prospect of “<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-build-light-rail-in-our-cities-without-emptying-the-public-purse-39255">value capture</a>”: the financial benefit that the private sector could gain from the boost to urban development around stations – as seen, for example, near Japan’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinkansen">Shinkansen (bullet train) stations</a>. </p>
<p>In <a href="http://infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/policy-publications/submissions/published/files/486_propertycouncilofaustralia_SUB2.pdf">tax increment financing</a> (TIF) schemes, which are more common in the United States for financing infrastructure projects, value capture by governments via increased property rates and taxes has provided a basis for public sector funding. But this has not proved popular in Australia.</p>
<h2>The challenge</h2>
<p>We have even more urban and regional challenges than we did three decades ago. Sydney and Melbourne are each facing rapid population growth and will need to avoid the damaging consequences of urban sprawl and car dependence. Both cities will need to redirect growth inwards, to <a href="https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfield-overview-and-definition">brownfield</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/unlocking-the-greyfields-to-inhibit-urban-sprawl-7748">greyfield</a> sites.</p>
<p>Another consideration is how to disperse the population into regional cities, so these areas can also benefit from improved economic activity. Fast rail can potentially help regional cities become part of a “mega-metropolitan” economic region. </p>
<p>For example, a 350 km per hour service connecting Melbourne with Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Warragul would transform these provincial centres into the equivalent of Melbourne’s middle-ring suburbs, where 30-minute commutes are the norm. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118492/original/image-20160413-15868-hprsf4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118492/original/image-20160413-15868-hprsf4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118492/original/image-20160413-15868-hprsf4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118492/original/image-20160413-15868-hprsf4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118492/original/image-20160413-15868-hprsf4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118492/original/image-20160413-15868-hprsf4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118492/original/image-20160413-15868-hprsf4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118492/original/image-20160413-15868-hprsf4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Travel times in minutes from Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO/Australia State of the Environment Report, 1997</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This route would also be the beginning of an inter-capital fast rail route, from Melbourne to Canberra (possibly via Shepparton), and then running through various population centres, via Badgery’s Creek (Sydney’s proposed second international airport) to the Sydney CBD. </p>
<h2>The carbon case… and a bump in the track</h2>
<p>Almost <a href="https://www.commsec.com.au/content/dam/EN/ResearchNews/ECO_Insights_230316.pdf">8 million passengers</a> flew between Melbourne and Sydney in 2015, making this route the world’s fourth busiest (ahead of Beijing-Shanghai). The carbon savings from a Melbourne-Sydney fast rail link therefore represent a major potential reduction in greenhouse emissions, especially if it is powered significantly by renewable energy. </p>
<p>This obviously wasn’t part of the business case back in the 1980s. But in 2016 it is surely a candidate for the federal government’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/emissions-reduction-fund">Emissions Reduction Fund</a>.</p>
<p>The government’s proposed value capture funding model has a sting in the tail. Privately held land near the rail link and its stations will need to be rezoned and handed to private firms to build facilities (and surrounding developments) that they would then own and operate.</p>
<p>Land acquisition, even with compensation at market value, is generally not welcome in Australian cities. This is just one example of what makes transformational urban change so hard. But this kind of transformation will be critical to the creation of 21st-century cities that are productive, competitive, sustainable and liveable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57733/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Newton receives funding from the Co-operative Research Centres for Low carbon Living and Spatial Information. He was also a member of CSIRO's VFT research team in the 1980s.</span></em></p>A fast rail link between Sydney and Melbourne was first proposed in 1984. So why haven’t we done it yet?Peter Newton, Research Professor in Sustainable Urbanism, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/572062016-04-06T01:32:00Z2016-04-06T01:32:00ZTrees versus light rail: we need to rethink skewed urban planning values<p>Looking out of the window on my morning bus journey from Kensington into Sydney’s CBD, I saw more trees being cut down to make way for the new light rail. This time, it was the historical fig trees that line Anzac Parade. </p>
<p>Trees like these provide a host of important ecological, environmental and aesthetic benefits. I – like <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-light-rail-centennial-park-trees-felled-despite-protest-20160107-gm1o4v.html">many Sydneysiders</a> – am deeply saddened by their loss. It leaves me wondering, why can’t we have a modern transport system but also enjoy a nice view along the way?</p>
<p>In meeting the needs of growing populations across our capital cities, it is vital that we have efficient, integrated public transport, with <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/commuter-crush-more-trams-needed-to-cope-with-surge-in-light-rail-demand-20160120-gm9vse.html">enough capacity to meet demand</a>. The challenge of retrofitting transport systems into an established urban fabric means difficult decisions are inevitable. But what if building these new transport systems actually leaves parts of our cities more vulnerable to even bigger challenges, such as climate change?</p>
<p>Sydney and <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/what-would-northbourne-avenue-look-like-without-trees-20151210-gll2id.html">Canberra</a> are <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/northbourne-avenue-trees-set-to-be-cut-down-from-april-20160320-gnmjri.html">forging ahead</a> with light rail projects intended to reduce traffic congestion and improve accessibility. However, in both cities a significant number of mature trees will be impacted.</p>
<p>In Canberra, the ACT government is set to <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/860-trees-to-go-during-light-rail-construction-in-canberra-report-20150622-ghu8ep.html">remove approximately 860 trees</a>. In Sydney, about <a href="http://www.tec.org.au/images/reports/Summary%20Report%20-%20Final_Tree%20Data%20-%20from%20Light%20Rail%20Project%20Arborist%20Report%20-%208%20February%202016.pdf">1277 mature trees</a> will either be removed or have their canopy or roots pruned. </p>
<p>Of the condemned trees, 871 are classified as trees of significant value. These trees, some of which were 160 years old, provide an array of benefits that make our cities liveable. These include clean air, amenity, <a href="https://theconversation.com/concrete-jungle-well-have-to-do-more-than-plant-trees-to-bring-wildlife-back-to-our-cities-51047">biodiversity</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/trees-are-a-citys-air-conditioners-so-why-are-we-pulling-them-out-21890">cooling in hot temperatures</a>. </p>
<p>The tree felling has has caused <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-16/protesters-hold-funeral-for-heritage-trees-felled-in-sydney/7093076">outrage among Sydney residents</a> who are frustrated by the way planning decisions were made. A <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/randwick-council-campaigns-to-save-centennial-park-trees-on-light-rail-route-20151213-glmdi8.html">controversial amendment to the route</a> to accommodate private commercial interests meant many trees were removed at the end of 2015.</p>
<h2>Cutting down cities’ natural cooling system</h2>
<p>Many places in Australia are going to become hotter with climate change. The number of extreme heat days over 35 degrees is projected to increase.</p>
<p>The impact will be greater in cities due to the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-are-cities-warmer-than-the-countryside-53160">heat island effect</a>”. This amplifies the impacts of heat due to the abundance of hard and dark surfaces. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=169&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=169&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=169&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Extreme heat days in Australian cities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BoM 2013b, CSIRO and BOM 2007</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The table above shows that, by 2070, heatwaves are projected to nearly double the long-term average in both Sydney and Canberra. This is significant as major heatwaves are Australia’s <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901114000999">deadliest natural hazard</a>. Extreme heat accounts for 55% more deaths than all other natural hazards combined.</p>
<p>A recent study showed that heat stress on the workforce <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v5/n7/full/nclimate2623.html?message-global=remove">costs the Australian economy US$6.2 billion</a> a year due to absenteeism, reduced productivity and injuries. This is a problem that has become too big to ignore.</p>
<p>However, increasing the amount of green cover in urban areas can help us adapt to extreme heat. Urban street trees provide the only cost-effective way to cool our cities, due to the direct correlation between heat and tree canopy cover.</p>
<p>Trees create their own microclimates through a combination of shading and the evapotranspiration of water from leaves, which reduces ambient temperatures. Removing canopy trees today means those cooling benefits will be gone for at least another 20 years – and that is only if new plantings survive to maturity.</p>
<p>The federal government recently announced plans for <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jan/19/government-to-create-plan-for-more-tree-coverage-in-cities">decade-by-decade goals</a> – out to 2060 – for increasing overall tree coverage in our cities. Internationally, cities such as Madrid, which regularly experiences temperatures over 30 degrees and extremes above 40 degrees in summer, are starting to see the serious health implications of heat islands. These cities are implementing bold strategies to increase urban tree cover. </p>
<p>It is clear that to adapt to a hotter climate, we need to retain as many trees as possible. Australia needs to set strong targets to increase urban tree cover.</p>
<p>It could have been a very different outcome in Sydney if the value of the trees had been considered equally in the planning decisions. We could have had a modern transport system and valuable and attractive tree-lined view to enhance the journey. </p>
<p>As someone who works in the area of climate change adaptation, I can see how the loss of these trees will have major environmental, economic and social consequences. As a local resident who has walked and cycled daily under the trees, the loss has a personal cost.</p>
<p>It is imperative that we find better ways to balance the needs of growing city populations, while ensuring the protection of the natural environment we ultimately rely on to survive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57206/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Louise Boronyak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If planning decisions properly considered the value of trees in a city, we could have a modern transport system and tree-lined views to enhance the journey.Dr. Louise Boronyak, Senior Research Consultant, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/307952014-12-11T22:21:47Z2014-12-11T22:21:47ZNew evidence: culling kangaroos could help the environment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66945/original/image-20141211-6027-1fp0wty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=411%2C2%2C881%2C634&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How many kangaroos is too many?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/birdsaspoetry/15223446926">David Jenkins/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Each year rangers in the Australian Capital Territory cull kangaroos as part of the territory’s <a href="http://www.tams.act.gov.au/parks-recreation/plants_and_animals/urban_wildlife/local_wildlife/kangaroos">Kangaroo Management Plan</a>. This year they killed a few over 1,500 kangaroos. </p>
<p>Even though millions of kangaroos are killed for their skin and meat in other parts of Australia, the kangaroo cull never fails to provoke <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberras-kangaroo-cull-to-begin-after-challenge-fails-20140611-zs3w1.html">controversy</a>, with opponents suggesting there is no evidence that reducing kangaroos numbers helps the environment. </p>
<p>For many years, Australian conservationists have expressed concern over the potential harm large kangaroo numbers could have on other wildlife. But evidence for such impacts has been limited.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0105966">new research</a> published today in the journal PLOS One we show there’s a link between kangaroo numbers and the quality of habitat for reptiles in temperate grassland and grassy woodlands in south-eastern Australia.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qgIqLY1VdCc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Brett Howland describes the impact of kangaroos on reptiles.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Culling kangaroos</h2>
<p>Kangaroos are a group of large grazing marsupials. Iconic Australian species include the common wallaroo, eastern grey kangaroo, western grey kangaroo and red kangaroo.</p>
<p>Every year, millions of kangaroos have been harvested for their skins and meat. Farmers have also been permitted to shoot them to reduce competition with domestic livestock for food and water.</p>
<p>While this number seems large, large-scale population surveys over large parts of the Australian continent have reported the total number of kangaroos is in excess of <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/wildlife-trade/natives/wild-harvest/kangaroo-wallaby-statistics/kangaroo-population#2011">25 million animals</a>. Those results show kangaroos are one of the most abundant large land mammals on the planet.</p>
<p>Historically, Aboriginal hunting, drought and predators such as dingoes have controlled kangaroo populations. The loss of these controls in many areas has allowed kangaroo populations to flourish. </p>
<p>In some areas, there are more than 300 kangaroos per square kilometre.</p>
<p>At such large numbers kangaroos graze on grassy vegetation until it is like lawn, which leaves no shelter for other animals, such as insects, birds and reptiles.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58557/original/cyfcw2ww-1410249717.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58557/original/cyfcw2ww-1410249717.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58557/original/cyfcw2ww-1410249717.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58557/original/cyfcw2ww-1410249717.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58557/original/cyfcw2ww-1410249717.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58557/original/cyfcw2ww-1410249717.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58557/original/cyfcw2ww-1410249717.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58557/original/cyfcw2ww-1410249717.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Result of high kangaroo numbers on ground cover.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brett Howland</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Managers of conservation areas have resorted to culling to reduce kangaroo numbers in several areas. This lethal control was in response to pressure to stop kangaroos harming biodiversity. The operation of these “conservation culls’” has been relatively small-scale to date. For example, <a href="http://www.tams.act.gov.au/parks-recreation/plants_and_animals/urban_wildlife/local_wildlife/kangaroos/2013-kangaroo-control-program-questions-and-answers">1,601 kangaroos were culled in ACT nature reserves in 2014</a>.</p>
<p>But these actions have caused an enormous amount of controversy, such as protests, vandalism and court challenges to government policy. Opponents of lethal control of kangaroo numbers have claimed there was insufficient evidence of the harmful effects of kangaroo grazing to justify culling a native animal.</p>
<h2>Look to the reptiles</h2>
<p>Native reptile populations are an excellent indicator of grassland health. This is because they depend on grass-cover for food and shelter. Reptiles are an important part of the food web, being prey for birds and small mammals. They also eat insects, which helps control pests.</p>
<p>Our recent study examined reptiles living in different grassy habitats across south-eastern Australian. These habitats also supported kangaroo numbers ranging from 25 to 360 kangaroos per square kilometre.</p>
<p>The study looked at whether kangaroos change grassy habitats, and how these changes might affect reptiles. </p>
<p>In habitats with low kangaroo grazing, reptiles were more than three times as abundant, and contained twice as many species of reptile than compared to areas with high kangaroo grazing levels.</p>
<p>The study showed no one single level of grazing was good for all species. Legless lizards, including the threatened striped legless lizard, were most common in areas of moderate kangaroo grazing (50 to 100 kangaroos per square kilometre in grasslands). </p>
<p>But the eastern three-lined earless skink was more common in areas with low kangaroo grazing (fewer than 50 kangaroos per square kilometre in grasslands). Importantly, no reptile species were more common at high kangaroo grazing. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58556/original/vdwwzgt5-1410249392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58556/original/vdwwzgt5-1410249392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58556/original/vdwwzgt5-1410249392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58556/original/vdwwzgt5-1410249392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58556/original/vdwwzgt5-1410249392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58556/original/vdwwzgt5-1410249392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58556/original/vdwwzgt5-1410249392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58556/original/vdwwzgt5-1410249392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Striped legless lizard - a threatened grassland species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brett Howland</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The need for different kangaroo-grazing levels for different reptile species has created a problem for reserve managers. Do they manage grazing to increase species abundance and diversity? Or do they manage grazing to increase abundance of a threatened species?</p>
<p>The answer might be to create a mix of areas subject to light and moderate grazing across the landscape. This may require a variety of approaches, such as fencing, culling and fire.</p>
<h2>Culling for conservation</h2>
<p>Control of kangaroo numbers has been undertaken in all of the states and territories in Australia, however, only the ACT has a published government policy on kangaroos and conservation – <a href="http://www.tams.act.gov.au/parks-recreation/plants_and_animals/urban_wildlife/local_wildlife/kangaroos">the ACT Kangaroo Management Plan</a>.</p>
<p>Under this policy, kangaroo numbers are controlled across several high-value conservation reserves. The new results support this policy and suggest expanding the program beyond a few high conservation reserves could benefit a range of reptiles, especially where there is a mix of areas subject to low intensity and moderate grazing within reserves.</p>
<p>This research adds to a growing body of evidence that too many kangaroos can harm the environment — just like too many sheep, cattle, horses or any other large herbivores can.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30795/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brett Howland has consulted for the ACT Government, the Australian Government, and Bush Heritage. Financial support was provided by Canberra Birds Conservation Fund, Bush Heritage Andyinc Foundation Environmental Research Postgraduate Scholarship and the Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education Australian Postgraduate Award. Financial support was also provided by the Australian Government for biodiversity monitoring activities at a single research property, and by the ACT Government to conduct several kangaroo counts that formed part of this research.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Lindenmayer has received funding from the ARC. He is a member of Birdlife Australia and the Canberra Ornithologists Group</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iain Gordon receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Each year rangers in the Australian Capital Territory cull kangaroos as part of the territory’s Kangaroo Management Plan. This year they killed a few over 1,500 kangaroos. Even though millions of kangaroos…Brett Howland, Phd candidate in conservation biology, Australian National UniversityDavid Lindenmayer, Professor, The Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National UniversityIain Gordon, Chief Executive, James Hutton InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/262432014-05-04T20:37:20Z2014-05-04T20:37:20ZSorry, Joe Hockey – Canberra is Australia’s home of wind farms<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/47686/original/hd2j7br7-1399175499.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=52%2C122%2C687%2C350&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lake George, complete with "offensive" wind turbines. Expect more views like this around Canberra soon.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Darcyj/Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We now know that Treasurer Joe Hockey is not a fan of wind farms, on aesthetic grounds at least. On Friday he told Macquarie Radio’s Alan Jones he finds the view <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-02/joe-hockey-wind-turbines-utterly-offensive/5425804">“utterly offensive”</a> and “a blight on the landscape”. </p>
<p>The vista that has so irked Mr Hockey can be seen while driving along the Federal Highway on the western side of Lake George. Across the water, dotted along the lake’s eastern shore, are turbines belonging to the <a href="http://www.infigenenergy.com/capital-precinct/capital-wind-farm.html">Capital Wind Farm</a>, the largest of six wind farms now operating to the north and northeast of Canberra.</p>
<p>The bad news for the Treasurer is that the Australian Capital Territory is one of the few places where wind farms are a growth industry, and are set to remain so regardless of what happens to the federal <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/cleaner-environment/clean-air/renewable-energy-target-scheme">Renewable Energy Target</a>.</p>
<h2>Windy city</h2>
<p>The area north of Canberra has some of the best wind resources anywhere in Australia. Since it was commissioned in 2011, the <a href="http://www.acciona.com.au/business-divisions/energy/operational-projects/gunning-wind-farm">Gunning Wind Farm</a>, about 70 km north of the capital, has consistently achieved a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacity_factor">capacity factor</a> (the ratio of power generated, relative to the facility’s theoretical maximum) of 40%, making it one of the best-performing wind farms in the country and, indeed, the world. </p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, there are several more wind farms planned for the area around Canberra – some quite advanced in the planning process. The total capacity of these projects is more than <a href="http://www.environment.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/272562/AECOM_wind_report_website.pdf">1,000 megawatts</a>. For comparison, the total capacity of operating wind farms currently supplying the National Electricity Market is just over <a href="http://www.aemo.com.au/Electricity/Registration">2,300 MW</a>.</p>
<h2>Power and certainty</h2>
<p>However, like many wind farm projects at a similar stage of development around Australia, most of the projects in the Canberra region, including some which have received planning approval, are yet to sign a power purchase agreement with an electricity retailer or other party. This means that they do not have the financial certainty needed to start construction. </p>
<p>The main purchasers of wind-generated electricity are electricity retailers which, until now, have been legally required to buy a specified (and increasing) quantity of renewable electricity each year up to 2020 under the <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/cleaner-environment/clean-air/renewable-energy-target-scheme">Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme</a>. Most retailers already have contracts in place for all the renewable electricity they need now and for at least the next year. In normal circumstances, retailers would be signing up new supplies of renewable electricity to cover their growing obligations from 2016 onwards.</p>
<p>Circumstances, however, are not normal. The RET scheme is undergoing its <a href="https://theconversation.com/killing-renewables-softly-with-endless-reviews-23409">second review in two years</a>, and several ministers – including Mr Hockey – have expressed what can only be described as extreme scepticism about the scheme’s merits. Many backbenchers and influential advisers are openly hostile to it.</p>
<h2>ACT embracing wind power</h2>
<p>Perhaps Mr Hockey thinks that winding back the RET scheme will ensure that no more wind farms appear to blight the view from his car. But unfortunately for him, the one area where new wind farms may continue to be built, even if the RET is scrapped, is around Canberra. </p>
<p>Earlier this year, the ACT government called for tenders to supply <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-12/act-to-source-wind-power-from-nsw/5314338">200 MW of wind generation</a>, as a major step towards its <a href="http://www.environment.act.gov.au/energy/90_percent_renewable">target of sourcing 90% of the territory’s electricity use from renewable sources</a>. </p>
<p>The electricity generated by the contracted wind farms would not be supplied explicitly to the ACT. It will be fed into the National Electricity Market (NEM), where it will displace other sources that would otherwise be required to meet the territory’s power demand. But the ACT wind contracts will not be registered under the RET scheme because the territory’s government is aiming to make extra reductions in overall emissions, even if the nationwide RET scheme survives in something like its present form. </p>
<p>The tender documents state that the selected wind farm(s) may be located anywhere within the NEM, but also that tenderers will have to deliver economic benefits to the ACT. The territory government clearly expects that successful bidders will have projects close to Canberra.</p>
<h2>Powering into the future</h2>
<p>The ACT government has said that it will eventually commission about 382 MW of wind and 91 MW of solar generation, which, together with some smaller renewable sources, should be sufficient to achieve the 90% target. This target is a core element of the territory’s legislated plan to cut greenhouse emissions, including from power stations supplying the ACT with electricity, <a href="http://www.environment.act.gov.au/cc/ap2">by 40% relative to 2000 levels by 2020</a>. </p>
<p>This makes the ACT unique among Australia’s state, territory and federal governments. It is the only one with a legislated emissions-reduction target and a credible plan to make it happen. </p>
<p>Unlike the rest of Australia, the ACT has negligible emissions from industry, agriculture, forestry and land use changes – the majority of its emissions come from from electricity generation and transport. The government has concluded that it will be hard to make major reductions in emissions from transport fuels by 2020, but much easier to cut electricity-generation emissions. So making deep cuts in electricity emissions would be the cheapest way to hit the overall emissions target.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/47687/original/f34fwznc-1399175909.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/47687/original/f34fwznc-1399175909.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47687/original/f34fwznc-1399175909.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47687/original/f34fwznc-1399175909.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47687/original/f34fwznc-1399175909.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47687/original/f34fwznc-1399175909.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47687/original/f34fwznc-1399175909.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Royalla Solar Farm - just a short drive from Canberra.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royalla_Solar_Farm_2.JPG">Grahamec/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the current tender is the first for wind generation, the ACT government has already contracted 40 MW of large-scale solar power. The first contracted project, the 20 MW <a href="http://actsolarfarm.com/">Royalla Solar Farm</a>, is almost finished and will soon be up and running. It’s about 20 km south of Canberra along the Monaro Highway, and is easy to spot from a car. </p>
<p>Let’s hope, if Mr Hockey drives that way, that he prefers looking at solar panels rather than wind turbines.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/26243/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hugh Saddler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We now know that Treasurer Joe Hockey is not a fan of wind farms, on aesthetic grounds at least. On Friday he told Macquarie Radio’s Alan Jones he finds the view “utterly offensive” and “a blight on the…Hugh Saddler, Research Associate, Centre for Climate Economics & Policy, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.