The Role of Motor Vehicle Taxes in Shaping Australia's Oil Policy

Despite Australia being heavily reliant on foreign oil, with some 80% of transport fuel coming from overseas crude oil or imported fuel, it is surprising that it does not currently have a well-developed oil policy. This article makes a case for why Australia should have a well-developed oil policy and argues that the policy should recognise and respond to Australia’s high reliance on overseas crude oil or imported fuel. In this context, the article critically examines the role of motor vehicle taxes in shaping Australia’s oil policy. It is submitted that the current motor vehicle taxes in Australia are not based on sound environmental tax principles, namely the precautionary principle and the polluter-pays principle, and therefore there is a need to reform motor vehicle taxes in Australia.It is also submitted that existing motor vehicle taxes are not high enough to effect behavioural changes on motorists’ choice of motor vehicle and have little impact on the sustainability of oil as these taxes were mainly designed with the specific objective of raising revenue. Consequently, existing motor vehicle taxes have not halted the increase in demand for larger cars, including sports utility vehicles that consume more oil. Against this background, the article proposes a framework for motor vehicle tax reform and then offers some concluding comments

Consumer Law Implications of Ecommerce and Goods Warehousing

Australian consumers are increasingly purchasing goods online from platforms such as eBay. It is anticipated that global ecommerce sales will reach US$4.5 trillion by 2021, with Australia being in the top 10 countries worldwide to engage in this form of trade. Online platforms and logistic companies are increasingly providing overseas sellers with a local address, a warehouse and a local bank account. This paper examines whether the consumers in Australia have adequate consumer protection against overseas online sellers and associated problems with redress in the case of consumer law breaches. The paper also explores the shortcomings of the Australian and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines for consumer protection of electronic commerce and offers possible solutions

An evaluation of the case for a congestion tax in Australia

Traffic congestion has become a growing concern in most cities in Australia. A 2014 report by the Economic Regulation Authority (ERA) highlighted the need to implement a congestion charge in Perth. This article examines factors that cause congestion and alternative ways of dealing with congestion in Australia. Specifically, the article examines whether introducing a congestion tax could provide an effective means of resolving traffic congestion in Australian cities. Studies and results from other jurisdictions are examined in order to help inform the policies that Australia should adopt. It is submitted that an inquiry into congestion charges should include a wider investigation, including motor vehicle tax reform, city planning, redirection of revenues and a longer strategic plan. The article also recognises that congestion charging, if implemented, may have other implications for which Australian cities may not be ready

A review of knowledge of the potential impacts of GMOs on organic agriculture

The organic movement believes that organic agriculture, by its nature, cannot involve the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This has been incorporated into EU regulations which state that there is no place in organic agriculture for GMOs. The aim in this review is to consider the ways in which the use of GMOs in agriculture in the UK and internationally might impact on organic farming. It does not address the controversy about the rights or wrongs of GMO’s per se. The subjects covered are based on a set of questions raised at the beginning of the study. The review is based primarily on evidence from peer-reviewed literature. The report is based on a number of themes, as follows: • Fate of DNA in soil • Fate of DNA in livestock feed and possible impact of GM feed • Fate of DNA in slurry, manure, compost and mulch • Impact of herbicide tolerant crops • Impact of pest and disease resistant crops • Safety of promoters • DNA transfer in pollen and seeds • Horizontal gene transfer • Impact of scale The report’s Executive Summary includes summaries of the findings on each of these themes

In Situ, Nonlinear Soil Response Applying an Active Source

Soil sites have a profound effect on ground motion during earthquakes due to their low wave speeds, layered structure, and nonlinear constitutive relationship. Measurements of nonlinear soil response under natural conditions are critical to understanding soil behavior during earthquakes. Currently, quantitative measurements of nonlinear soil response are derived from laboratory experiments on small samples. In this paper, we extend laboratory methods for measuring nonlinear soil response to field-scale. We observe the in situ, nonlinear response of a natural soil formation using measurements obtained immediately adjacent to a large vibrator truck. The source generates a steady-state wavefield in the soil formation at a range of discrete source frequencies and amplitudes. Accelerometers within the source provide an estimate of the source output to the soil, and an array of 4 accelerometers adjacent to the source record the wavefield at 1.5 m spacing. We develop a homodyne analysis to extract the steady-state amplitude at each discrete source frequency and amplitude without contamination from source harmonics. Steadystate amplitude ratios are computed between the receivers and the source, and between adjacent receiver pairs within the array. Both sets of amplitude ratios show dramatic decreases in peak frequency as the source amplitude is increased. These peak frequency shifts are qualitatively similar to the nonlinear soil response observed for laboratory samples under resonance conditions. Amplitude ratios between adjacent receiver pairs suggest the nonlinear soil response persists across the receiver array and is not limited to the source-soil contact region. The magnitudes of the observed peak shifts appear to depend on their frequency, a proxy for depth, which is consistent with the confining pressure dependence of soil nonlinearity observed in laboratory experiments. Future work will include measurements of steady-state phase velocities across the array to better understand the nature of nonlinear wave propagation within natural soil formations.United States. Dept. of Energy (through Los Alamos National Laboratory)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Earth Resources Laborator

Sediment structure and physicochemical changes following tidal inundation at a large open coast managed realignment site

Managed realignment (MR) schemes are being implemented to compensate for the loss of intertidal saltmarsh habitats by breaching flood defences and inundating the formerly defended coastal hinterland. However, studies have shown that MR sites have lower biodiversity than anticipated, which has been linked with anoxia and poor drainage resulting from compaction and the collapse of sediment pore space caused by the site's former terrestrial land use. Despite this proposed link between biodiversity and soil structure, the evolution of the sediment sub-surface following site inundation has rarely been examined, particularly over the early stages of the terrestrial to marine or estuarine transition. This paper presents a novel combination of broad- and intensive-scale analysis of the sub-surface evolution of the Medmerry Managed Realignment Site (West Sussex, UK) in the three years following site inundation. Repeated broad-scale sediment physiochemical datasets are analysed to assess the early changes in the sediment subsurface and the preservation of the former terrestrial surface, comparing four locations of different former land uses. Additionally, for two of these locations, high-intensity 3D-computed X-ray microtomography and Itrax micro-X-ray fluorescence spectrometry analyses are presented. Results provide new data on differences in sediment properties and structure related to the former land use, indicating that increased agricultural activity leads to increased compaction and reduced porosity. The presence of anoxic conditions, indicative of poor hydrological connectivity between the terrestrial and post-inundation intertidal sediment facies, was only detected at one site. This site has experienced the highest rate of accretion over the terrestrial surface (ca. 7 cm over 36 months), suggesting that poor drainage is caused by the interaction (or lack of) between sediment facies rather than the former land use. This has significant implications for the design of future MR sites in terms of preparing sites, their anticipated evolution, and the delivery of ecosystem services

Adam Smith’s Green Thumb and Malthus’ Three Horsemen: Cautionary tales from classical political economy

This essay identifies a contradiction between the flourishing interest in the environmental economics of the classical period and a lack of critical parsing of the works of its leading representatives. Its focus is the work of Adam Smith and Thomas Malthus. It offers a critical analysis of their contribution to environmental thought and surveys the work of their contemporary devotees. It scrutinizes Smith's contribution to what Karl Polanyi termed the "economistic fallacy," as well as his defenses of class hierarchy, the "growth imperative" and consumerism. It subjects to critical appraisal Malthus's enthusiasm for private property and the market system, and his opposition to market regulation. While Malthus's principal attraction to ecological economists lies in his having allegedly broadened the scope of economics, and in his narrative of scarcity, this article shows that he, in fact, narrowed the scope of the discipline and conceptualized scarcity in a reified and pseudo-scientific way

StrategyNZ: mapping our future strategy maps - from Te Papa to the Legislative Council Chamber

This report explains the inputs, processes and outputs of the StrategyNZ workshop held in March 2011. The aim was to encourage a conversation about our long-term future. Consensus emerged that New Zealand should work to ‘create a place where talent wants to live’. See Report 12 and the workshop booklet

Building a conceptual framework for determining individual differences of accessibility to tourist attractions

This paper introduces a conceptual framework for determining individual differences of accessibility to tourist attractions. The framework includes three components: factors affecting accessibility to tourist attractions; the individual characteristics of tourists, such as age, gender; and other explanatory variables that assist in explaining why accessibility to tourist attractions varies. This research indicates that measures of accessibility should include not only commonly used factors such as socio-demographic variables and distance, but also the facilities available at various attractions, management and operational aspects relating to the attraction (what we term "functions"), and the infrastructure used to move between specific attractions (what we term "connectivity of networks"). A case study of the Ningaloo Coast region was conducted to identify individual difference in evaluation of accessibility to tourist attractions. We show that the evaluation of accessibility varies among tourist groups due to their spatial abilities, individual values and needs, and preparatory set