Poisonous Plants of Australia and New Zealand

Abstract The focus of this chapter is the indigenous flora of Australia and New Zealand that has been noted to produce significant livestock losses. The arid climate of Australia and the long biogeographic isolation of New Zealand have resulted in a series of unique plant toxidromes. Important indigenous plant toxidromes in Australia, such as walkabout disease, McKenzie River disease, swainsona poisoning, Birdsville disease, bitter bark poisoning, floodplain staggers (Stewart Range syndrome), wamps, zamia staggers and related toxidromes, finger cherry poisoning, blind grass poisoning, Gympie stinger poisoning, plant-related fluoroacetate poisoning, billy button poisoning, pimelea poisoning, and a number of others are discussed in this chapter. Economically important introduced plant toxidromes, such as Paterson’s curse poisoning and heliotrope poisoning, are also discussed. In relation to New Zealand, important indigenous plant poisonings, such as Strathmore poisoning, tutu poisoning, ngaio toxicity, karaka poisoning, tree nettle toxicity (ongaonga poisoning), poroporo toxicity, and rangiora toxicity are discussed

Border adjustments under unilateral carbon pricing: the case of Australian carbon tax

Abstract In the absence of a global agreement to reduce emissions, Australia adopted a carbon tax unilaterally to curb its own emissions. During the debate prior to passing the carbon tax legislation in 2011, there were concerns about the challenge that Australia’s emissions-intensive and trade-exposed (EITE) industries may face in terms of decreasing international competitiveness due to the unilateral nature of the tax and hence the potential for carbon leakage. In order to address these concerns, this paper explores possible border adjustment measures (BAMs) to complement the domestic carbon regulation in Australia using the multi-sector computable general equilibrium approach. We consider four border adjustments: border adjustments on imports based on domestic emissions; border adjustments on exports via a rebate for exports; a domestic production rebate; and full border adjustment on both exports and imports. We compare the numerical simulation results of these scenarios with a no border adjustments scenario from the standpoint of welfare, international competitiveness and carbon leakage. The key finding is that BAMs have a very small impact on the overall economy and on EITE sectors. In other words, the different BAMs have minimal impact on the outcomes of carbon pricing policy. This finding is consistent with studies for EU, USA, Canada and other countries. Hence, we conclude that the border adjustments are ineffective instruments to safeguard EITE industries in Australia