Renegotiating nature in the Anthropocene: Australia’s environment movement in a time of crisis

The Anthropocene raises two interrelated problems for the Australian environment movement. The first concerns the movement’s normative and political relationship to non-human nature: climate change in particular is forcing an urgent reconsideration of how nature is to be understood and managed. The second problem concerns the implications of full recognition of the rights of First Peoples for environmental justice. These issues may lead to crises of identity, legitimacy, and effectiveness for the Australian movement. The normative bases upon which Australian environmentalists may draw in order to ‘protect nature’ in the Anthropocene are discussed. Setting aside the simple emancipatory ambition of preservationist environmentalism and the Australian movement’s earlier Romantic protectionism, a new pragmatic, pluralistic environmental politics – based on precaution, the avoidance of pain and suffering, and protection of the most vulnerable – is suggested.     

Australian Greens party members and supporters: their profiles and activities

In an era of widespread party membership decline, there is debate over the utility, within the ‘European’ tradition, of conceptualising party membership as the locus of individual party engagement, and of maintaining membership and supportership as distinct categories in analysing party activism. This debate is particularly relevant to Green parties, which, through their particular social movement origins and emphasis on grass-roots democracy, bring into question the assumption that the activities and profile of members and supporters are functionally different. Using original data gathered from two surveys of Australian Greens party members and supporters undertaken in 2012 and 2013, the political activity, associational membership, ideological position, and demographic characteristics of these two groups are compared. While active party members are distinctive in their party-specific political activities and their ideological positioning, there is much less difference between the rest of the formal party membership and the party’s active supporter base.     

Triclosan in individual human milk samples from Australia

Triclosan is a chlorinated phenol ether that has been in widespread use as a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent for four decades. When compared to the limited international data available on human body burden of triclosan, results from a pooled blood study suggested that triclosan concentrations in Australia were a factor two higher than observed in Sweden. This study determined triclosan levels in individual human milk samples (n = 151) collected between 2002 and 2005 from primiparous Australian mothers. It provided the first report of population triclosan levels and individual variation in Australia and gave a measure of infant exposure via breast feeding. The distribution of triclosan concentration was positively skewed, with 7.2% of the samples below the LOQ, 66% with a concentration of less than or equal to 1.0 ng g⁻¹ fresh weight and the remaining samples above 1 ng g⁻¹ reaching a maximum concentration of 19 ng g⁻¹ fresh weight. The mean and median triclosan concentrations were 1.3 ± 2.7 ng g⁻¹ f.w. and 0.26 ng g⁻¹ f.w., respectively. The results of this study showed high variability in triclosan concentrations between individuals and no correlations with maternal age (p = 0.094), maternal weight (p = 0.971) or infant age at the time of sample collection (p = 0.621). A large number of samples contained low or non-quantifiable concentrations of triclosan and so, in Australia, ubiquitous background exposure due to environmental sources is low. This means that body burden can be influenced by an individual’s use of triclosan containing product. Given that triclosan containing product use is continuing, it is important that monitoring in both humans and the environment is continued and that triclosan containing products are adequately labeled so that an individual can choose to avoid exposure.     

Commodity booms and their impacts on the Western Australian economy: The iron ore case

Western Australia is a resource-rich province. Since the 1890s, resources booms have played a key role in the development of the state's economy. In the last few years, Western Australia's resources industry has continued to enjoy exceptional conditions created by strong international demand for commodities. This paper aims to examine the likely impact of this commodity boom in the iron ore sector on the Western Australian economy, using a general equilibrium approach. The modeling results indicate that the Western Australian economy will benefit from the expansion in iron ore exports and investment in terms of rising consumption and employment, although at the industry level there will be losers as well as winners.     

Spatial Analysis of Soil Salinity and Soil Structural Stability in a Semiarid Region of New South Wales,Australia

Salt-affected soils are a major threat to agriculture especially in the semiarid regions of the world. The effective management of these soils requires adequate understanding of not only how water and, hence, solutes are transported within the soil, but also how soil salinity and sodicity spatially interact to determine soil structural breakdown. For sustainable agricultural production, information on quantitative soil quality, such as salinity, is required for effective land management and environmental planning. In this study, quantitative methods for mapping indicators of soil structural stability, namely salinity and sodicity, were developed to assess the effect of these primary indicators on soil structural breakdown. The current levels of soil salinity, as measured by electrical conductivity (EC) of the soil/water suspension, soil sodicity, represented by exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), and aggregate stability, were assessed. Remote sensing, geographical information system (GIS), and geostatistical techniques-primarily regression-kriging and indicator-kriging-were used to spatially predict the soil sodicity and salinity. The patterns of salinity (EC) and sodicity (ESP > 5%) were identified. The effect of land use on these soil quality indicators was found to be minimal. Co-spatial patterns were elucidated between sodic soils (defined by ESP > 5%) and highly probable mechanically dispersive soils predicted from indicator-kriging of ASWAT scores. It was established that the incorporation of EC with ESP into an objective index, called electrolyte stability index (ESI = ESP/EC), gave a good indication of soil dispersion, although the threshold ESI value below which effective structural breakdown might occur is 0.025, which is twice as small as the expected 0.05. The discrepancies between ESI and ASWAT scores suggest that other soil factors than salinity and sodicity are affecting soil structural breakdown. This calls for further investigation. The study provides valuable information in the form of risk zones of soil structural breakdown for land management. These zones, with a probability of mechanical soil dispersion of >0.70, require immediate management attention with greater monitoring and amelioration techniques, particularly gypsum or lime application and/or altered cultivation techniques.     

Ethical Issues Associated With Sheep Fly Strike Research, Prevention, and Control

Fly strike is a painful conditioncaused by live maggots eating at the flesh of sheep.Remedies for this disorder are traumatic, with sheepundergoing painful mulesing and tail dockingoperations to protect against flystrike. In an attemptto find control solutions and to understand thedisorder, Australasian researchers increase sheepsuffering by conducting experiments that artificiallyinduce fly strike. Some of these experiments have noapplication in prevention and control of fly strike.Many others could be modified or replaced with lesspainful techniques.Anecdotal evidence through communication withorganic farmers suggests that fly strike is largelypreventable if farmers keep sheep healthy and inspectthem regularly. Some organic farmers have largelyeliminated fly strike from their farm. Investigationson fly strike control using non-intrusive techniquesare also progressing in Australasia and the UnitedKingdom.Since it is possible to conduct useful research andto run profitable farms with little or no fly strike,much of the current management, research and policy onsheep farming is ethically questionable even to thoseholding the moderate view that animals can be used forhuman purposes providing suffering is kept to aminimum. Sheep farmers will need to take animalwelfare problems into consideration. Greatercommunication among researchers needs to be encouragedto prevent unnecessary duplication of experiments.International trade regulations will also need toallow trade barriers based on animal welfareconcerns.     

Integrated mite control in apples in Queensland, Australia

An interdisciplinary team introduced Integrated Mite Control (IMC) to the Queensland apple industry in Australia from 1989 to 1992. Project funding supported the employment of a consultant to monitor mite levels and provide management advice to growers who paid for the service. Interviews at the beginning and end of the project showed widespread adoption of IMC over this period. Overall use of chemicals was not reduced, but the use pattern changed towards wider use of chemicals that are less toxic to predatory mites. The future of IMC in the Queensland apple industry is in doubt because the seasonal nature of apple production does not allow the paid consultancy service to be self-sustaining. Indications are that the integrated approach to pest management may not be generally accepted as a strategic management process while the availability of effective chemicals allows the continuation of a spray routine for mite control. The lack of availability of effective and proven methods of pest control was seen by growers as the major constraint to adoption of IMC.     

THE CONTINUING EVOLUTION OF AN AUSTRALIAN WATER RESOURCES POLICY1

ABSTRACT: Australia's extremely limited water resources highlight the need for policy guidelines for management. During the 1970s, there was the gradual evolution of a national water resources policy, facilitated by a nationally agreed statement of objectives and culminating in a federal policy statement presented in 1979. However, the Australian constitution gives major responsibility for water resources to the states. Further, the federal policy statement seems to assume that each state has a water resources policy and that it accords with the nationally agreed objectives. This is not the case, and the practical management of Australia's water resources falls short of the principles set out in the policy document. The River Murray, the nation's major water resource, provides ample evidence of this fact. With very limited water resources, Australia urgently needs to reduce the disparity between principle and practice in their management.     

Taxation of uranium mining in Canada and Australia

The objective of this paper is to compare the nature of the taxation schemes facing uranium mine operators in Australia's Northern Territory and in Canada's Province of Saskatchewan. The findings demonstrate that, although the Canadian system appropriates up to 85% of incremental sales revenue, it is extremely sensitive to industry profitability. Its Australian counterpart is, in contrast, a regressive scheme which, at the current selling price of yellowcake, captures a significantly larger proportion of available economic rent.     

The responses of professional fire-fighters to disaster

This paper reports the results of a survey of the physical and mental reactions of a group ( N = 72) of members of the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS) who were engaged in fighting the bushfires close to Adelaide, 16th-19th February 1983. A questionnaire, designed to elicit reports on both physical and mental reactions to exposure to the fire, as well as perceptions of several measures of social strain and social support, was administered to the firefighters when they came off duty. The results reported show the possible influence of role strain factors in predicting mental reactions, and also demonstrate what may be mediating effects of perceived social support. The paper also discusses methodological problems affecting this and other studies of the reactions of emergency service personnel to disaster.