Creating Markets for Biodiversity: A Case Study of Earth Sanctuaries Ltd

This papers examines the activities and operations of the first publicly listed company in Australia with wildlife conservation as its primary goal. Earth Sanctuaries Ltd (ESL) is the first publicly listed company in Australia with wildlife conservation as its primary goal. Its focus to date is on conservation of small native mammals that are threatened by exotic predators and loss of habitat. Its strategy has been to acquire land, erect electrified vermin-proof fencing, remove feral animals, regenerate native vegetation and reintroduce selected native species. The paper finds that there does not appear to be a consistent and coordinated approach across jurisdictions for private conservation providers to access, keep, relocate and trade native wildlife, amplifying uncertainty for organisations which operate in several jurisdictions.biodiversity - environment - conservation - wildlife - Earth Sanctuaries - regulation - property rights - competitive neutrality - contestability - ecological outcomes - private sector conservation

Not so straight: a national study examining how Catholic Schools can best respond to the needs of same sex attracted students

The Christian Church believes that every person is made in the image and likeness of God. The human person is defined in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis on the basis of a relationship with God. This report, prepared as a resource and training document for school administrators in Catholic schools, focuses on the needs of “same sex attracted students” among the 660,000 students who attend Catholic schools in Australia today. Not So Straight is a national study examining how Catholic schools can best respond to the needs of same sex attracted students. Such young people are well represented in our social service programs and are significantly over-represented in that group of young Australians who resort to self-harm or suicide. Yet in many schools same-sex attracted students remain completely invisible and there is a virtual absence of discussion on, and engagement with, the issue of homosexuality. This is despite two recent Australian studies that have identified 11 per cent (Hillier, Warr & Haste, 1996) and 8-9 per cent (Lindsay, Smith & Resenthall, 1997) of secondary school students as not exclusively attracted to people of the opposite sex. Not So Straight highlights “good practice” among those Catholic secondary schools that have responded to the needs of such students. These are schools that have taken steps to make their campuses both safe and inclusive learning environments

Implementing US-style anti-fraud laws in the Australian pharmaceutical and health care industries

This article critically analyses the prospects for introducing United States anti-fraud (or anti-false claims) laws in the Australian health care setting. Australian governments spend billions of dollars each year on medicines and health care. A recent report estimates that the money lost to corporate fraud in Australia is growing at an annual rate of 7%, but that only a third of the losses are currently being detected. In the US, qui tam provisions - the component of anti-fraud or anti-false claims laws involving payments to whistleblowers - have been particularly successful in providing critical evidence allowing public prosecutors to recover damages for fraud and false claims made by corporations in relation to federal and state health care programs. The US continues to strengthen such anti-fraud measures and to successfully apply them to a widening range of areas involving large public investment. Australia still suffers from the absence of any comprehensive scheme that not only allows treble damages recovery for fraud on the public purse, but crucially supports such actions by providing financial encouragement for whistleblowing corporate insiders to expose evidence of fraud. Potential areas of application could include direct and indirect government expenditure on health care service provision, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, defence, carbon emissions compensation and tobacco-related illness. The creation in Australia of an equivalent to US anti-false claims legislation should be a policy priority, particularly in a period of financial stringency

Consequences of long-term infrastructure decisions—the case of self-healing roads and their CO2 emissions

What could be the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions if the conventional way of maintaining roads is changed? Emissions of greenhouse gases must be reduced if global warming is to be avoided, and urgent political and technological decisions should be taken. However, there is a lock-in in built infrastructures that is limiting the rate at which emissions can be reduced. Self-healing asphalt is a new type of technology that will reduce the need for fossil fuels over the lifetime of a road pavement, at the same time as prolonging the road lifespan. In this study we have assessed the benefits of using self-healing asphalt as an alternative material for road pavements employing a hybrid input–output-assisted Life-Cycle Assessment, as only by determining the plausible scenarios of future emissions will policy makers identify pathways that might achieve climate change mitigation goals. We have concluded that self-healing roads could prevent a considerable amount of emissions and costs over the global road network: 16% lower emissions and 32% lower costs compared to a conventional road over the lifecycle

Anzac Day

On 25 April, the anniversary of t he landing at Gallipoli in 1915, Australians and New Zealanders honour those of our men and women who have served and died in wars, peacekeeping and other operations. It is now 98 years since the landing, and 97 years since Anzac Day was observed for the first time in 1916.The date of 25 April was etched into the national consciousness with the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli. The Anzacs forged a tradition of service and sacrifice that has continued to this day. We remember that more than 1.5 million Australians have served their country in wartime, and more than 100 000 have lost their lives.Anzac Day is Australia\u27s national day of commemoration to remember those of our own who have fallen. Later in the year, on Remembrance Day, 11 November, we pause for a second time, sharing with other countries the tradition of observing a silence on the anniversary of the Great War\u27s armistice to remember the dead of all wars.This kit has been produced to assist Members and Senators with their representational and ceremonial duties on Anzac Day. It can be accessed by members of the public, but for copyright reasons many linked items are available to Members of Parliament only

Anzac Day 2015

This resource is produced by the Parliamentary Library to assist Members and Senators with their representational and ceremonial duties on Anzac Day. Introduction On 25 April, the anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli in 1915, Australians and New Zealanders honour those of our men and women who have served and died in wars, peacekeeping and other defence operations. It is now 100 years since the landing, and 99 years since Anzac Day was observed for the first time in 1916. The date of 25 April was etched into the national consciousness with the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli. The Anzacs forged a tradition of service and sacrifice that has continued to this day. We remember that more than 1.5 million Australians have served their country in wartime, and more than 100,000 have lost their lives. Anzac Day is Australia’s national day of commemoration to remember those of our own who have fallen. Later in the year on 11 November—Remembrance Day—we pause for a second time, sharing with other countries the tradition of observing the anniversary of the Great War’s armistice to remember the dead of all wars

The Chrysalid Crown: An un-national history of the Crown in Australia 1808 – 1986

This thesis set out to answer a deceptively simple question: why did the 1999 referendum to abolish the Australian Crowns fail? It focuses on the evolving civic personalities, communal identities and popular representations of the Crown in Australia, and how those representations and agents changed over 180 years. Capacities for the Crown’s continuing mutability, especially its divisibility, are at the heart of these imaginings. The answer to the question lies partly in emotions, in passion and the heart rather than in reason and the mind, along with a complex historical mix of other factors. Each chapter focuses on a single event or artefact: a usurpation of vice-regal authority, a proposal for a cadet kingdom of Australia, a mystic royal response to anti-German persecution, a State’s attempt to secede under the Crown and the invention of a chivalric order. The thesis posits a complex, iterative and changing network of social relationships rather than a simple metropole-periphery binary or hierarchy. It disaggregates ideas of crown, Britishness, empire, nation and Australianess, and concludes on the eve of the 1988 bicentennial celebrations when the Crown in Australia appeared splendid, popular, modern, federal, natural and regenerative. They were characteristics that, with hindsight, girded an Australian institution at once ancient and contemporary for the challenges of the 1990s when it stared-down what appeared to be an existential threat from Australian republicanism

Cost-effective road safety measures for reducing serious casualty crashes in South Australia

A large number of road safety countermeasures were evaluated as to their likely effectiveness in reducing the total number of serious casualty crashes in South Australia and the cost to government authorities of their implementation. The five most promising countermeasures identified were speed limit reductions in three speed zones, raising the age of licensure and sealing the shoulders on the outside of curves.C.N. Kloeden, A.J. McLean and V. Lindsa

The Victorian Naturalist

v.116 (1999