Twenty years ago in 1989, Environment Minister Graham Richardson took a proposal to Cabinet for a 20% reduction in greenhouse emissions by 2005. He was unsuccessful, but two years later Cabinet agreed to a similar proposal, on condition it would not affect the economy. The Opposition Liberal Party after 1987 had a strong climate change policy under Shadow Environment Minister Chris Puplick, and took that policy to subsequent elections
Activists often look to colourful actions to draw attention to issues, and delivering a birthday cake must surely fall into this category. However, AID/WATCH, the small, non-government organisation (NGO) that monitors the quality of overseas aid, never expected that their ironic 60th birthday cake delivered to the World Bank asking it to retire would be described by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) as unacceptable political activity and used against them
It took over 10 years and US$3 billion to sequence the first human genome. Next generation sequencing (NGS) technolo- gies have made it possible to replicate this feat in a matter of days and at a fraction of the cost, and have led to an explosion in our understanding of the genetic determinants of health. Genomic testing is set to transform healthcare, from disease diagnosis to personalised risk assessments, tailored treatments and preventative interventions. Where are we going to be in 2050, and what challenges lie ahead?
As an undergraduate student, I encountered an unexpected love; a love for cell biology and a compartment found within the confines of each of our cells, the mitochondrion. For cell biologists like myself, the term ‘mitochondria’ can evoke a feeling of enquiry and a reminder of the joy we experienced when learning about these marvellous cellular compartments. But for many, their first encounter with the term ‘mitochondria’ comes with a feeling of confusion and despair, often associated with their diagnosis, or that of a loved one with a mitochondrial disease
Place, culture and landscape all provide continuity to our lives. Continuity of biophysical settings, of people and activities, of values and memories; in short, our sense of who we are. Yet communities become most aware of the importance of such continuity only when it is threatened — whether incrementally, for example, through globalisation; deliberately, through redevelopment; or dramatically, through natural disaster or conflict
What is this ‘physical activity’ thing people keep talking about? Simply put, physical activity is movement of the body (this may be your upper or lower body or both) which expends energy. It is important to remember that physical activity does not just mean exercise!
Apple’s 2015 decision to allow ad-blocking apps on the iOS App Store sparked a larger debate — ‘a kind of war’, in the words of one developer. At issue were the ethics and practices of both advertisers and ad-blockers. For some participants, the stakes were, and remain, high: the future prospects of the advertising-supported web, and therefore our established systems for producing, paying for, and circulating journalism
Most people care about the welfare of future generations. Parents want their children and grandchildren to live good lives. A British poll found that 64% of citizens think that the needs of future generations should take priority in the division of resources. But political and economic decisions do not reflect this concern. The reluctance of governments to adopt effective policies for mitigating climate change is the most obvious example of a failure to prevent harm to future people
Suppose that nothing much is done to prevent global warming and that the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere continues to increase. In 2070, according to the Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the average temperature in Australia will have increased as much as 6 degrees centigrade. Australia will be drier, although floods and cyclones will occur more frequently
National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are seen as an integral part of the protection of human rights in the 21st century. These institutions play a remarkably unique role within human rights frameworks, both globally and within individual states. Yet the importance and effectiveness of NHRIs are closely linked to how independent they are from states, in both form and practice. This chapter considers the role of NHRIs and their effectiveness in maintaining independence