Setting Australia’s post-2020 target for greenhouse gas emissions: issues paper

The Australian Government will announce Australia’s post-2020 emissions reduction target in mid-2015. This paper presents the factors that will be considered when deciding the target, and invites submissions from the public. Abstract Climate change is a global problem that requires a global solution. The Australian Government has committed to review Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and settings this year. This review is in the context of negotiations for a new global climate agreement to be concluded at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties in Paris in late 2015 (30 November to 11 December). All countries have agreed to propose a post-2020 emissions reduction target well in advance of the Paris conference. Australia will announce a post-2020 emissions reduction target in mid‑2015.   You can make a submission here. Submissions close 3pm AEST on Friday 24 April 2015

Martin Place siege: joint Commonwealth-New South Wales review

This review analysed the events that led up to the Martin Place siege and the range of interactions the gunman had with agencies including the criminal justice system, beginning with his arrival in Australia. Abstract At around 8.33 am on 15 December 2014, Man Haron Monis walked into the Lindt Café, on the corner of Martin Place and Phillip Street, in the heart of Sydney’s commercial district. Shortly thereafter, he produced a gun and ordered that the customers and staff be locked inside as hostages. After a standoff lasting around 17 hours, the siege ended in gunfire. Three people died: two hostages and Monis. Several of the other hostages sustained injuries.  The Martin Place siege has deeply affected the community. The Review analysed the events that led up to the siege and the range of interactions Monis had with agencies including the criminal justice system, beginning with his arrival in Australia. It asked: were the decisions of government agencies in respect of Monis reasonable given the laws and policies in place when the decisions were made?  should decision-makers have had other information before them when making their decisions? This Review, jointly commissioned by the Prime Minister of Australia and the Premier of New South Wales the day following the end of the siege, is the first official government review of the incident.  The Review has been completed in six weeks, drawing on the records and advice of agencies in the Commonwealth, New South Wales and other States and Territories.  Other more detailed inquiries and proceedings into matters concerning the siege and Monis will follow, notably the report of the NSW Coroner who is inquiring into the circumstances of the deaths arising from the siege. The Review has been careful not to prejudice the work of the Coroner, who will be undertaking detailed investigations including interviewing a large number of witnesses before making his findings

Reform of the Federation: discussion paper 2015

This discussion paper, to prepare for the Reform of the Federation Green Paper, was published online after several chapters were leaked to the media. The Green Paper is yet to be finalised and is intended to be released later in 2015 after further discussions with the States and Territories. Introduction Australia’s Federation has worked well since 1901. Since that time, Australian governments have worked together to help deliver a standard of living that makes us the envy of much of the world. Australia today, though, is very different from the country it was back then—the world in which Australians live has changed enormously, and continues to change at a rapid rate. So, the question needs to be asked—is our Federation still fit for purpose? Does it provide the system of national governance that Australians need right now, and will it help or hinder efforts to adapt and thrive in the vastly different economic, political and social realities of the 21st century? There are many opportunities and challenges facing the Australian economy. Asia’s economic strength continues to increase and the global economy is becoming more integrated. There is no room for complacency, otherwise Australia risks being left behind on the world stage—meaning fewer jobs, lower economic growth, and lower living standards. This challenge should not be underestimated. Technological change is disrupting and making obsolete traditional models of business and government. It is also empowering individuals and local communities with new knowledge and opportunities. Is Australia ready for this

Collaboration and interconnectivity: Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services and higher education institutions in Nottingham

This paper will describe the developing relationship between Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services and the two Higher Education Institutions in Nottingham. It will chronicle how a very traditional relationship has been transformed, initially by a simple consultancy project, into a much closer working relationship characterised by a much richer variety of collaborative projects. It demonstrates the potential mutual benefits that greater trust and reciprocity between the institutions can bring to both academia and to practice and the impact it has already had on curriculum development, teaching and learning in Nottingham

New housing association development and its potential to reduce concentrations of deprivation: An English case study

Social housing across Western Europe has become significantly more residualised as governments concentrate on helping vulnerable households. Many countries are trying to reduce the concentrations of deprivation by building for a wider range of households and tenures. In England this policy has two main strands: (i) including other tenures when regenerating areas originally built as mono-tenure social housing estates and (ii) introducing social rented and low cost homeownership into new private market developments through planning obligations. By examining where new social housing and low cost home ownership homes have been built and who moves into them, this paper examines whether these policies achieve social mix and reduce spatial concentrations of deprivation. The evidence suggests that new housing association development has enabled some vulnerable households to live in areas which are not deprived, while some better off households have moved into more deprived areas. But these trends have not been sufficient to stem increases in deprivation in the most deprived areas

Anaemia in pregnancy among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women of Far North Queensland: a retrospective cohort study

Aim: Anaemia during pregnancy is common worldwide. In Australia between 7.1% and 11% of mothers have been reported to have anaemia in pregnancy. Higher rates are reported for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women (Townsville: 34.2%, remote Northern Territory: 50%). The present study describes anaemia in pregnancy among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women of Far North Queensland. Methods: Health service information was analysed for 2076 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who gave birth between 2006 and 2010. The prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy, characteristics of the mothers and pregnancy outcomes were described. Logistic regression for bivariate analyses and multivariable linear modelling with and without imputed data were used to compare those mothers who had anaemia in pregnancy with those who did not. Results: More than half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women (54.5% (95% CI: 52.4%, 56.7%)) had anaemia in pregnancy. For mothers who gave birth in 2009 and 2010 (n = 1796) with more complete data, those who were iron deficient during pregnancy were more likely to be anaemic (RR: 1.40, P = <0.001). Mothers (29.0%) from localities of relative socioeconomic advantage had lower risk of anaemia in pregnancy (RR: 0.86, P = 0.003), as did mothers (31.9%) who were obese (RR: 0.87, P = 0.013). Conclusions: The prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women of Far North Queensland is high. Prevention and treatment of anaemia will improve the health of these mothers, and possibly the health and early development of their children

Life after Regions? The Evolution of City-regionalism in England

This item was accepted for publication in the journal, Regional Studies [© Regional Studies Association]. The definitive version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2010.521148].This paper examines the evolving pattern of city-regional governance in England. Following the demise of English regional policy in 2004, city-regions have come to represent the in vogue spatial scale amongst policy elites. The result has been a proliferation of actual and proposed policies and institutions designed to operate at a, variously defined, city-regional scale in England. Nevertheless, attempts to build a city-regional tier of governance have been tentative and lacking coherence. Alongside this city-regions are to be found emerging alongside existing tiers of economic governance and spatial planning. Arguing that what we are witnessing is not ‘life after regions’ but life with (or alongside) regions, the analysis presented argues that to understand why contemporary state reorganisation results in a multiplication of the scales economic governance and spatial planning we must recognise how the state shapes policies in such a way as to protect its legitimacy for maintain regulatory control and management of the economy. The final section relates these findings to wider debates on state rescaling and speculates on the future role of transition models in sociospatial theory