Climate change 'scepticism' as a cultural issue

Excerpts from The culture and discourse of climate scepticism by Andrew J. Hoffman* (2011) which looks at the American experience:

The scientific community has concluded that human activity is a major cause of GHG emissions and that these emissions influence global warming (this author subscribes to this view, most notably stated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] and the National Academies of Sciences). However, there is clearly more than science at play in shaping the public and political debate on climate change. It is striking that one of the strongest predictors of an American’s beliefs regarding climate change is his or her political party affiliation. According to a 2009 Pew survey, 75 percent of Democrats believe there is solid evidence of global warming compared to 35 percent of Republicans and 53 percent of Independents (Pew Research Center, 2009b). This variance can only be explained by the presence of a deeper ideological and cultural influence on both the definition of the problem and consideration of solutions…………………..

I recently began a study onthe climate skeptic movement and climate skepticism more broadly to better understand the cultural and ideological issues at play by systematically analyzing the frames used to mobilize the counter-movement. As part of this study, several cultural themes have emerged as dominant among the skeptic movement (Hulme, 2009).

For skeptics, climate change is inextricably tied to a belief that climate science and climate policy is a covert way for liberal environmentalists and the government to interfere in the market and diminish citizens’ personal freedom. In the words of a conference speaker at a 2010 climate skeptic conference, skeptics believe ‘the issue isn’t the issue’ and ‘the environmental agenda seeks to use the state to create scarcity as a means to exert their will, and the state’s authority, over your lives’. Many skeptic conference presenters invoked the idea that ‘climate change is just another attempt to diminish our freedom’ and climate policies will decrease personal liberty. One went so far as to suggest that a binding international agreement on climate change would end with individuals being required to carry ‘carbon ration cards’ on their person.

A second prominent theme among the skeptic movement is a strong faith in the free market. Members of the skeptic movement consistently argued that climate legislation will hinder economic progress and that renewable energy is not feasible without large government subsidies. Another skeptic suggested that ‘doing nothing about climate change is doing something [because] it enables people to keep their money and invest it in the future’.

Finally, one of the most intriguing themes that has emerged from the study is a strong distrust of the scientific peer review process. Skeptics argue that public funding of science in the post-Second World War era through organizations like the National Science Foundation (NSF) corrupted the scientific process. In their view, ‘peer review’ turned into ‘pal review’, and establishment scientist editors only published work by their friends and those whose scientific research findings agreed with their own. This frame was particularly salient at the skeptic conference in the wake of the 4 Strategic Organization 9(1) 2009 ‘Climategate’ controversy, in which thousands of emails were leaked from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit. Skeptics argue that these emails support their claims that dissenting scientific papers have been suppressed, although multiple investigations have cleared the scientists………..

Some may argue that the climate skeptic movement is small and thus irrelevant to the debate on what to do about climate change, but as social scientists, we cannot endorse such flippant dismissal. If, as we suspect, skeptics invoke climate frames that resemble abortion politics, this has serious policy implications. As long as members of the skeptic movement are included in the policy debate and sway the opinions of some lawmakers, their discourse is critically relevant.

* Andrew J. Hoffman is the Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan; a position that holds joint appointments at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the School of Natural Resources and Environment. Within this role, Andy also serves as associate director of the Frederick A. and Barbara M. Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. His research uses a sociological perspective to understand the cultural and institutional aspects of environmental issues for organizations. He has published eight books and over 90 articles and book chapters on these issues.

Stick 'em up! Your money or your health

Faarrck! When will this daylight robbery end?

“Our draft decision indicates that average regulated electricity prices will increase by around 18.1% for Country Energy customers, 17.9% for EnergyAustralia customers and 16.4% for Integral Energy customers (Table 1.1). These increases come on top of rises of around 7% to 13% in 2010.”

Maud Up The Street tells me that her winter electricity bill will rise by over $32 before she even turns her heater on during very cold evenings. Maud wonders how her old bones are going to manage and predicts an increase in aches and pains because she won‘t be able to keep her home warm enough.

IPART Draft Report and Draft Determination covering average price increases in standard supply areas.

American G.O.P. have lost their minds or lost their nerve?

 

According to Jonathon Chait at The New York Times there is a small problem concerning exactly which political hopeful will contest the presidential election against sitting President Barack Obama on 6 November 2012:

The hidden hand of the G.O.P. establishment is once again at work. Dissatisfied with a presidential field consisting of boring retreads (Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee) and Tea Party-endorsed outsiders (Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin), various elites have been trying to coalesce around a candidate of their own.

Now here is where the story gets strange. The candidates they are recruiting make Michael Dukakis look like John F. Kennedy. They are qualified enough to serve as president, but wildly unqualified to run for president. One way to put this is that most powerful people in the G.O.P. have suddenly gone idealistic. Another way to put it is that they’ve lost their minds.

God help us - it's the Shooter's Party at work

In The Daily Examiner letters column on 7 March 2011:

Shooting pains

The Manning River Times reports the Shooters and Fishers Party have wasted no time in taking advantage of the balance of power in the state's upper house, now held by elephant shooter, Robert Borsak and Previous MLA, Robert Brown.

According to the article, Warwick Murray, a local shooters' representative, is reported as saying: "We're keen to see shooting made a larger sport in schools", and also pushing for hunting to be allowed in national parks.

It is clear that the obnoxious Shooters Party Bill, which was rejected by the previous Labor Government, that would have allowed the shooting of a range of native animal and birds, as well as feral species, in national Parks using guns, bows and arrows, and packs of dogs, is still squarely on their agenda.

God help us if the Coalition Party is prepared to do deals if it needs their help to introduce its legislation.

JOHN EDWARDS

South Grafton

Dubbo's Mutton lambs it up about radio law

Former Lower Clarence resident, Richard Mutton, who now hails from down town Dubbo, has thrown his two cents worth into the discussion about radio station 2DU retrenching its announcers Angela Clutterbuck and Ash Keenan and cutting back its "live and local" weekend broadcasts.

Mutton has a bit of form (colloquially known as self interest) when it comes to commercial radio.

Mutton previously had a stint with UNE Radio in Armidale in his student days, where his call sign was "Swinging D*ck", and then moved on to commercial radio at 2GF in Grafton where he double-dipped while on the Education Department's payroll.

While he was live-to-air in Armidale, the same cannot be said about most of Mutton's late-night graveyard sessions on 2GF. Mutton pre-recorded most of his programs for 2GF and then sat at home and listened to himself.

Enough said!

Dubbo's Daily Liberal carries a report detailing Mutton's latest 'effort'. The hypocrisy of the bloke knows no bounds.

While I feel for Clutterbuck and Keenan, having Mutton batting for them isn't a good look.

There are some things a politician should not say on Facebook or in the media

Think a lot but say little. Anon

Nationals MP for Clarence, Steve Cansdell, shows his ignorance of the law as he unfairly abuses a Local Court magistrate on Facebook for the benefit of his 608 friends and assorted readers:

Snapshot 14 April 2011

Steve Cansdell ‎2010 Yamba Riots, police van burnt, cops rocked by drunken mob. All charges dropped & these Grubs walk free. Pissweak Magistrate 18 hours ago via Selective Tweets

Yamba solicitor Bob Thompson took Steve Cansdell to task for similar comments elsewhere. Thompson rightly drew attention to the fact that this NSW Nationals MP was publicly commenting before all matters concerning the 2010 Yamba riot were concluded before the courts and that Cansdell was prejudging the nine juveniles caught up in the original incident:

Excerpt from Thompson's letter to the editor
The Daily Examiner 14 April 2011
Click on image to enlarge

Major stuff up by NSW Police a candidate for Ripley's Believe It Or Not

Update:

In The Daily Examiner on 15 April, Steve Candell states that he wishes he had moderated his language when he made a Facebook comment about the result of the Yamba riot trial, but he stands by the sentiment. I suspect that what Mr. Cansdell actually regrets is the negative publicity his intemperate comments have generated and this Daily Examiner editorial of the same day:

Saffin continues to demonstrate her commitment to the Page electorate

On the NSW North Coast it would be hard to find an elected representative in any of the three tiers of government who is as committed to her electorate as the obviously hardworking Labor Federal Member for Page Janelle Saffin MP.

The Punch 7 April 2011:

There were 14,234 cases diagnosed in 2007 (the latest national data). One death for every three cases diagnosed. Bowel cancer has not, as yet, captured the public’s imagination. It does not have a legion of popular ambassadors at its front. There are no supermodels, pop stars or sportspeople selling the bowel cancer story. We are told by journalists: “It’s not a story for breakfast”. There is no ribbon for bowel cancer; there is no agreed colour to unite the cause. And, most importantly, there is no national screening program.

Currently, one in five bowel cancers is diagnosed at stage four, the most advanced stage, when the cancer is often terminal. This is particularly tragic given bowel cancer is easy to treat when detected early. It is a double blow to those dying of the disease to learn there is a simple $30 test that can pick up the cancer early.

Excerpt from Ms. Saffin’s 8 April same day email response to one resident in her electorate who expressed concern that the National Bowel Screening Program winds up at the end of this financial year and, asked for her representation on his behalf at ministerial level:

Please be assured I shall do so personally for you and that I have made representations already. I am aware of the programme and its worth to many of us.

Regards Janelle

Anti-whaling warrior the Bob Barker in the Clarence for maintenance

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s MY Bob Barker quietly slipped into the Clarence River last Saturday so that it can be repainted at the at the Harwood Slipway over the next two weeks.

The Society states:

Our “black ships” have served their purpose. Since 2002, our ships have been painted black with the objective of driving the Japanese whaling fleet from the waters of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

The color black served four purposes for the Sea Shepherd fleet. First, it’s an intimidating color, and up against the superior number of ships in the whaling fleet, I felt we should be as intimidating as possible. The black ships, coupled with our own Jolly Roger, lent an air of intimidation. Secondly, the color black absorbs heat and this helped conserve energy in an environment with 24-hour sunlight, but a close to zero degrees climate.

Added to intimidation and keeping warm, we had a third factor…the black ships have long been a part of Japanese culture signifying change. In Japan, the term “black ships” has a specific meaning. First, with the black fleet of the Portuguese that brought Catholicism and Western trade to Japan, and then with the black fleet led by American Admiral Matthew Perry, that brought Japan out of centuries of isolationism in 1854. Our objective was to stop Japan from whaling, and we succeeded. We drove the Japanese whalers from the Antarctic waters…hopefully for good. If they return, we will return, but the prospect is very good that they will not.

Our fourth factor was to symbolize mourning for the death of so many whales due to Japanese harpoons in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

Meanwhile we have other challenges to deal with including shark finning, tuna poaching, and the slaughter of seals, sea turtles, and small cetaceans. And with campaigns before us in the Mediterranean, Palau, Galapagos, and across the Indian Ocean, Equatorial Africa, and the South Pacific, the color black is not the most comfortable. We now need to reflect heat instead of absorbing it. The Gojira will be painted metallic silver,…….

Photograph from The Daily Examiner

In defence of free speech and the rights of First Peoples

On 8 April 2011 North Coast Voices embedded a Vimeo video made by the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation here on our blog.

Since then Crikey has published this:
Lawyers representing Fortescue Metal Group (FMG) and CEO Andrew Forrest have sent legal letters to a video hosting website requesting they take down a controversial clip of a native title meeting held in Roebourne last month despite issuing a denial to Crikey yesterday that they'd been in touch with Vimeo.
In an email from FMG's legal team to Vimeo, Fortescue say the video is defamatory, misleading, "incites racial hatred" and is "designed to intimidate."
Uploaded by Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, the video attracted 12,000 plays in nine days before being removed on Tuesday by the New York-based video hosting site in response to the threats.
The video has since been uploaded to YouTube and has been the subject of heated discussion on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
A spokesperson for Vimeo confirmed that the videos had been taken down for legal reasons. Fortescue spokesman Cameron Morse told Crikey yesterday his company had not had any contact with Vimeo about the controversial video. When contacted by Crikey this morning, Morse declined to clarify his comments.
Michael Cheah, legal counsel representing Vimeo, says the video was removed after the hosting site received correspondence from lawyers for FMG and Forrest alleging that the video contained defamatory and misleading statements about them.

So in the interests of free speech, North Coast Voices again embeds the video - this time in two parts from YouTube.





YINDJIBARNDI PRESS RELEASE: Vimeo forced to delete “FMG’s Great Native Title Swindle” video after legal threats from FMG and CEO Andrew Forrest.

Black Caviar-gate

My second cousin, who's a nephew of the late Clarence the Clocker, was at Royal Randwick when Black Caviar donkey-licked her opposition and won the Group 1 T.J. Smith Stakes over 1200 metres last Saturday.

But, here's the rub. Officially, a crowd of 25,368 was reported to have turned up to see her. However, my second cousin says he's prepared to take London-to-a-brick-on odds about the crowd being closer to 35,000 and not the reported 25,000.

So, who tickled the till? Who helped themselves to the gate takings? Nothing less than a Royal Commission is required to get to the bottom of this scandal. 

Credit: Image of BC from formguide.cyberhorse.com.au

Wahluu: Australia's premier car racing circuit

While much debate continues to rage about how to pronounce the name of the NSW city that hosts Australia's premier car racing event, Aboriginal man Bill Allen is pushing for Mount Panorama at Bathurst to be given duel names in order to recognise its Wiradjuri name, Wahluu.

Mr Allen will be taking his case to the local naming authorities and is hoping for a positive decision by October when the city hosts the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout, just prior to the next Bathurst 1000 motor race.

Speaking on ABC North Coast local radio, the Koori Mail's Darren Coyne remarked that people readily acknowledge Wollumbin and Mt Warning are one and the same thing.

So, there shouldn't be a problem using Wahluu and Panorama in the same breath, should there?

All that's needed will be an educational program for television and radio broadcasters, especially those from the Old Dart (and their cronies), to add Wahluu to their lexicon. Admittedly, that task will be a bit difficult, but not impossible.

Source: The Koori Mail

Help Yamba Go Plastic Free

Live in Yamba? Visit on weekends? Holiday there?

Then you can help Yamba keep its environment litter free by spurning plastic shopping bags in favour of the environmentally friendly variety. Bring your own or buy them in the town.

Since 2009 the Yamba Chamber of Commerce and a committee of concerned local residents (in conjunction with Clean Up Australia, Australian Retailers Association and the Australian Government) have been promoting sustainable shopping by selling hemp shopping bags.

These large, durable, attractive cloth bags sell for $5 each and, money raised will be used to purchase more of these bags for sale in the town.

For more information email: info@yambaNSW.com.au

SAY NO TO PLASTIC

PCEHR opt-in provision expected to allay privacy concerns. Pull the other one!

Sometimes I wonder exactly where on the globe this LaLa Land pollies live in is to be found.
Because no-one could seriously believe that the e-Health initiative (laughing called the voluntary Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) System) that Roxon and Co are intent on saddling Australia with is not part of a national database which will be packed with inerasable and sometimes error-riddled records.
A system which will allow every nosey parker, from police through to the local chemist, access to someone else's personal information if they decide to class their data crawl as an 'emergency' request.
To make the entire situation a little more bizarre; it seems that if an emergency request goes in on someone whose does not yet have a digital health record in this system (and perhaps never wanted to opt-in) then one is created without that individual's knowledge or consent.
Once created this new record can be hidden from view but can't be eradicated.
Even death won't see your record disappear; so be prepared for the possibility that eventually these records will turn up in the National Archives for your great-grandkids entertainment. Just as anyone can now find out if their dead Anzac grandpa contracted the clap on the way to the front in WWl by looking at a copy of his military record online.
And apparently this e-Health system can be accessed after July next year by Roxon's nosey parkers on the move using iPhone and Blackberry.
The potential for abuse is enormous.

Dodgy 'carbon tax' claims using the Coalition's favourite North Coast butcher as an example

The one thing about public life that remains constant is that eventually all politicians who purvey dodgy claims get found out – unfortunately it’s not always in their own lifetimes.

However, in this case two Australian politicians – Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and the Nationals MP for Cowper Luke Hartsuyker – have been discovered trying to slap suspect meat on the bones of their argument against putting a price on carbon pollution.

In February 2010 Hartsuyker rose to his feet in Parliament to wail about the sad plight of a Coffs Harbour butcher who paid $7,400 per quarterly electricity bill, which would see his annual power cost coming in at $29,600.

While in April 2011 Abbott fronted the media with the claim that the very same butcher was now paying around $22,000 per year for electricity, which works out at $5,500 each quarter.

Now this would mean either the figures quoted in Parliament by Hartsuyker were blatantly false or that (despite rising electricity costs) the butcher will probably now pay considerably less for electricity this year than he did in the previous year.

If it is the latter, then based on current carbon price rise projections for 2012-14 this butcher would see next year’s electricity bill come in at about $3,600 less than his stated total 2010 power costs for the business.

Couple that with Lenore Taylor’s observation that (using the butcher’s admissions concerning annual turnover) any post-carbon price electricity costs passed on by the butcher in 2012-13 would mean T-bone steak at $22 a kilo would now cost … wait for it … . $22.04. Minced meat at $11 a kilo would now cost $11.02 and the Abbott-Hartsuyker argument about future prices spiraling because of a ‘carbon tax’ falls apart.

Major stuff up by NSW Police a candidate for Ripley's Believe It Or Not

From the pen of The Daily Examiner editor, David Bancroft, on Page 8 of the 12^th April 2011 newspaper issue:

“IT is almost beyond comprehension that no-one has been convicted of anything more serious than a misdemeanour following the Valentine's Day riots in Yamba last year.

It is beyond dispute that a police car, probably worth in excess of $100,000, and another vehicle were set alight and that police from all over the North Coast were pelted with a variety of missiles, including bricks and rocks.

It is conceivable someone could have been asleep in the second car to catch fire, with disastrous consequences.

All this was caught on police video and from the mobile phones of those attending a loud, late night party in the Yamba industrial estate.

Scores of people were there and witnessed the action.

But despite there being enough evidence to keep a trial going for six weeks, no riot convictions were recorded.

In fact, the only charge that stuck was that of failing to comply with a noise abatement order and, because of his previous good record, the occupier of the premises, Craig McNeill, was released on a good behaviour bond. One of the difficulties in prosecuting a case where there are multiple accused is that almost everyone has a different interpretation of what occurred and, in the court's mind, that can be enough to create the reasonable doubt required for acquittal.

This trial has already cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars for no result, but that figure could climb substantially higher if those who have now been released (remember some spent months in jail) pursue compensation.”

The Daily Examiner article “Yamba riot accused set free” on Page 1 of the 12^th April 2011 issue:

“In handing down his findings, Mr Andrews questioned why police held a debrief on February 17 before they prepared their statements.

“It is difficult to believe why experienced police officers would undertake a process that would lead to their evidence being criticised by the defence,” he said.

He then went on to question the honesty of police evidence.

“If police are prepared not to be honest in such matters, how can a court be prepared to consider their evidence seriously?” he said.

“There is little doubt that the various police witnesses have collaborated with their evidence.”

NSW Northern Rivers region one of the tourism industry's solid earners

Joint media release from Federal Minister for Tourism Martin Ferguson, Justine Elliott MP for Richmond and Janelle Saffin MP for Page on 12 April 2011:

The Economic Importance of Tourism in Australia’s Regions report released today by the Federal Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson reveals the Northern Rivers economy is one of the largest tourism earners as well as one of the most tourism dependent regional economies in Australia.

The value of the tourism output to the Northern Rivers in 2007/08 was $1.2 billion. This was 6.1 percent of the overall output from the region, making it the fourteenth largest tourism earner and twentieth most tourism dependent region in Australia.

“Tourism is the lifeblood of many regional areas; it creates jobs where people live. Tourism is a source of employment in the Northern Rivers for many people including hospitality professionals, uni students, travellers, and older Australia’s looking for part-time employment,” said the Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson.

Page MP Janelle Saffin said the Northern Rivers is rightly proud of its tourism industry.

“We know regional areas see 46 cents in every dollar of tourism spending. So our local industry isn’t just important to the people who work in it – it’s important to everyone who lives here.

“Government is working across ministerial portfolios to strengthen the tourism industry. Employer Brokers is a good example, operating across the Richmond-Tweed and Clarence Valley areas. This scheme helps hotel and catering managers to find the staff they need,” Ms Saffin said.

“The Northern Rivers region has a great tourism story to tell,” said Justine Elliot MP. “We’re part of the Legendary Pacific Coast Tourism Initiative, an Australian Government TQUAL Grants project which stretches from Sydney to the Queensland border. It includes signposting, website development, branding, innovation and project management. It aims to encourage visitors to stay longer and to spend more widely across the region.”

Tourism ministers from all jurisdictions meet in Darwin later this week to discuss a two-year work program to drive greater regional tourism resilience under the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy.

The Economic Importance of Tourism in Australia’s Regions is at http://www.ret.gov.au/tourism/tra/Pages/default.aspx

A 'man drought' is declared? It must have been a slow news day.

Jules Faber cartoon, The Daily Examiner 6 April 2011

At 30 June 2010, the sex ratio of the total population for Australia was 99.2 males per 100 females. At age 0, the sex ratio for Australia in 2010 was 105.3 males per 100 females. This excess of males in the earlier years contrasts with the opposite situation in the older years and for the total population which can be attributed to female longevity. [Australian Bureau of Statistics, 21 December 2010]

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics in the 2006 Census (held on 8 August 2006) there were 48,146 persons usually resident in Clarence Valley Local Government Area, of which 49.6% were males and 50.4% were females or in raw numbers 23,875 were male and 24,271 were female.

That represented an undifferentiated gender imbalance of 396 more females than males spatially distributed across 44 towns, villages and city environs over approximately 10,440 sq. kms.

Of the 38,597 residents 15 years of age and over; 51.4% were married, 26.8% never married, 13.8% separated or divorced, 8.1% widowed and about 4,893 stated they lived alone.

A fairly typical regional profile in the coastal sea-change cum tree-change belt I would have thought and one that was not all that remarkable. So imagine my surprise when I woke one day last week to find that there was a ‘man drought’ occurring in Grafton which is the main commercial centre in the Clarence Valley.

On the basis of a newspaper table showing that for every 95 Grafton men aged 20-29 there are 100 females in the same age bracket and for every 80 Grafton men aged 30-39 there are 100 similarly aged females, an unidentified local journalist has stoutly issued the drought declaration.

Now I’d be the first to admit that in 2006 the Grafton statistical area showed the resident population was 48.9% male and 51.1% female.

However in 2006 when it came to Graftonian adults in the 20-29 age range there was only one more female than there were males and, in the 30-39 range there was only 41 more females in total than males. Making the overall gender imbalance between 20 and 39 years of age in Grafton City and environs a mere 42 extra females.

When looking at presumed ‘availability’ of the unmarried then there were 2 more females who had never married than total males in that same category and, probably around 11 more "not married" women between 20 and 34 than there were men of the same age who had no wife or de-facto partner.

However, if a man drought is really occurring then Grafton women have to have lost the ability to socialise outside city boundaries because there are 10,000 plus people without spouses or partners living in the Clarence Valley local government area and some of those have to be males of the species.

Of course the possibility exists that many of those 20 to 39 year-old women mentioned in the newspaper article are quite happy being footloose and fancy free and, are chortling over the idea that a ‘man drought’ is something to seriously worry about.

A little background on the MSM's love of the notion of a man drought.

Taking Australia's temperature

Aussies don’t live as long as people in Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Japan, San Marrino or Andorra but we’re doing way better than the Yanks, the poor regularly fall off the perch sooner than silvertails and swells, Aboriginal babies die often and early, living in the bush is a health hazard for many, there are more of us 'enjoying' a spell in hospital, we gobble down anti-depressants while a heck of a lot of us are obviously topping ourselves - but she’ll be right mate. Last year, after asking the nation to “Say Aarrh, stick out your tongue, turn your head and cough” the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released its rather self-congratulatory bi-annual report card and here are the key points :

General

Life expectancy and death

• Australia’s life expectancy at birth continues to rise and is among the highest in the world—almost 84 years for females and 79 years for males.


• Death rates are falling for many of our major health problems such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and injuries.


• Coronary heart disease causes the largest number of ‘lost years’ through death among males aged under 75 years, and breast cancer causes the most among females.

Diseases

• Cancer is Australia’s leading broad cause of disease burden (19% of the total), followed by cardiovascular disease (16%) and mental disorders (13%).


• The rate of heart attacks continues to fall, and survival from them continues to improve.


• Around 1 in 5 Australians aged 16–85 years has a mental disorder at some time in a 12-month period, including 1 in 4 of those aged 16–24 years.


• The burden of Type 2 diabetes is increasing and it is expected to become the leading cause of disease burden by 2023.


• The incidence of treated end-stage kidney disease is increasing, with diabetes as the main cause.

Health risks

• Risk factors contribute to over 30% of Australia’s total burden of death, disease and disability.


• Tobacco smoking is the single most preventable cause of ill health and death in Australia.


• However, Australia’s level of smoking continues to fall and is among the lowest for OECD countries, with a daily smoking rate of about 1 in 6 adults in 2007.


• Three in 5 adults (61%) were either overweight or obese in 2007–08.


• One in 4 children (25%) aged 5–17 years were overweight or obese in 2007–08.


• Of Australians aged 15–74 years in 2006–2007, less than half (41%) had an adequate or better level of health literacy.


• Rates of sexually transmissible infections continue to increase, particularly among young people.


• Use of illicit drugs has generally declined in Australia, including the use of methamphetamines (the drug group that includes ‘ice’).

Life stages

Mothers and babies

• The proportion of females having caesarean sections has continued to increase over the latest decade, from 21% in 1998 to 31% in 2007.


• The perinatal death rate of babies born to Indigenous mothers in 2007 was twice that of other babies.

Children and young Australians

• Death rates among children and young people halved in the two decades to 2007, largely due to fewer deaths from transport accidents.


• More children are being vaccinated against major preventable childhood diseases, with 91% (the target level) being fully vaccinated at 2 years of age—but only 82% of 5 year olds are covered.


• Land transport accidents and intentional self-harm accounted for 2 in every 5 deaths (42%) among young Australians (aged 15–24 years) in 2007.

People aged 25–64 years

• The main causes of death in this age group in 2007 were coronary heart disease for males (14% of their deaths) and breast cancer for females (12%).

Older Australians

• For older people, the main causes of death are heart disease, stroke and cancer.


• At age 65, Australian males can now expect to live a further 19 years to almost 84 years of age, and females a further 22 years to almost 87.

Groups of special interest

• People with disability are more likely than others to have poor physical and mental health, and higher rates of risk factors such as smoking and overweight.


• Compared with those who have social and economic advantages, disadvantaged Australians are more likely to have shorter lives.


• Indigenous people are generally less healthy than other Australians, die at much younger ages, and have more disability and a lower quality of life.


• People living in rural and remote areas tend to have higher levels of disease risk factors and illness than those in major cities.


• Compared with the general community, prisoners have significantly worse health, with generally higher levels of diseases, mental illness and illicit drug use than Australians overall.


• Most migrants enjoy health that is equal to or better than that of the Australian-born population—often with lower rates of death, mental illness and disease risk factors.


• Compared with those in the general community, Defence Force members have better health, although their work can place them at higher risk of injury.


• The veteran community is less likely than the general community to report being in very good or excellent health.

Health services

• In 2007–08, just over 2% of total health expenditure was for preventive services or health promotion.


• Between 1998–99 and 2008–09, there was an increase in general practitioners’ management of some chronic diseases, including hypertension, diabetes and depression.


• Ambulances attended 2.9 million incidents in 2008–09, of which 39% were emergencies.


• The number of hospital admissions rose by 37% in the decade to 2007–08.


• Over half of the hospital admissions (56%) in 2007–08 were same-day admissions, compared with 48% in 1998–99.


• In 2008–09, about 1 in 9 of all prescriptions under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme were for a mental health-related medication.

Health workforce

• Employment in health occupations is still growing—23% growth between 2003 and 2008, almost double that across all occupations (13%).


• Between 2002 and 2007, there was a 26% increase in people completing health occupation university courses.


• The mix of the medical workforce changed between 1997 and 2007


• the supply of primary care doctors (in ‘full-time equivalent’ numbers per 100,000 population) has decreased


• the supply of specialists, specialists-in-training and hospital-based non-specialists has increased.

Health expenditure

• Health expenditure during 2007–08 was $103.6 billion, exceeding $100 billion for the first time.


• Health expenditure in 2007–08 equaled 9.1% of gross domestic product (GDP).


• As a share of its GDP, Australia spent more than the United Kingdom in 2007–08 (8.4%), a similar amount to the OECD median (8.9%) and much less than the United States (16%).


• Governments funded almost 70% of health expenditure in 2007–08.


• For Indigenous Australians in 2006–07, spending per person on health and high-level residential aged care was 25% higher than for other Australians.

When a Christian church decides that direct access to government funding allows it to disregard the basic tenets of public education

In this case it was the Living Waters (Uniting) Church which decided that it knew best and appears to have misunderstood and then exceeded its role in the National School Chaplaincy Program famously instigated by former Prime Minister John Howard and continued to this day by the Gillard Government.

A 2010 investigation by the Northern Territory Ombudsman revealed that:

· There was insufficient consultation with community before the chaplaincy services were implemented at specific NT rural public schools and, in at least one school all students were automatically included in what should have been an opt-in voluntary chaplaincy service

· The National School Chaplaincy Code of Conduct was breached by at least one chaplain

· One chaplain allegedly attempted to contact the parents of children on the opt-out list of students who would not be accessing these services

· Inappropriate one-on-one counselling was undertaken by unqualified chaplains, with regard to students' behavioural and emotional problems amongst other matters

· Private and unsecured records of students were kept by at least one chaplain and, in one instance these same records were initially denied to a psychologist treating the student in question

· Conflicts of interest arose and there were perceived problems with duty of care on the part of chaplains

· Proselytising religious beliefs appears to have occurred at times

· In at least one instance there was failure to disclose to a relevant government authority

· There were allegations of improper payments being made to the chaplaincy services

· Chaplains had access to intimate personal information re certain students even when schools were in receipt of ‘no contact’ letters from parents

· In one instance there was defiance of a DET Executive directive in relation to the continued provision of services to one child

· Complaints concerning chaplaincy services or the conduct of specific chaplains were often inadequately handled by both schools and DET/ DEEWR

· The Church permanently housed a convicted paedophile (at least 20 counts of offences against minors recorded) within a building complex also used as emergency accommodation for families with children and in close proximity to a school and park

This is not an exclusive list of problems encountered in the National School Chaplaincy Program and, the fact that there was such a hasty national implementation of this school program and that funding flows directly to the religious organisation (by-passing state eduction authorities) has led to a service which is apparently wide open to abuse.

NT Ombudsman’s 2010 Investigation Report On The Operation of the Chaplaincy Service Within Five Government Rural Schools of the Northern Territory [162 page PDF file]

The road to a hardier banana

With half the Northern Rivers rigid with shock since the humble Aussie banana skyrocketed past $15 a kilo and then entered the stratosphere to become a diamond-studded luxury item in the wake of record breaking natural disasters across the country; the mind turns to how limp yet pricey nanas might be avoided in future. Perhaps Waitrose found an answer on 1 April 2010 when it published this advert?

Securing their future

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to visit a protected population of orang-utan in Sarawak. It was a fabulous experience quietly watching them as they went about feeding, grooming and playing. The ease with which they moved through the canopy, often with a baby clutching on, was truly an amazing sight. However, despite the good work of many people who work to protect these animals in these reserves, sadly the future of the orang-utan is threatened by loss of habitat as rainforests are cleared.

Closer to home the situation is not much better for our wildlife. Australia has one of the highest rates of mammal extinctions in the world. Also largely due to loss of habitat. Though our wildlife is often cryptic and many are nocturnal and so may not be considered as visually spectacular as the orang-utan, Australian native animals are unique. Many are found only in Australia and have evolved in isolation, giving them characteristics not seen in other animals of the world. They have developed alongside our native plants and so a distinctive Australian environment has been produced. However, as trees are lopped and vegetation cleared, the food and shelter essential to the survival of our native animals is lost.

Australia’s 2010 Biodiversity Conservation Strategy indicates that more than 1,700 species and ecological communities are known to be threatened and at risk of extinction. Now is the time for us to take steps to protect our unique wildlife. Attention was drawn to the plight of the orang-utan many years ago, but still their future is not secure. As a developed nation we are in a better position to ensure our Australian animals have a future in their native environment.

Imelda Jennings
Wildlife SOS

A tongue in cheek look at the ethics of found money

 

Jessica Irvine, journalist, in The Sydney Morning Herald 6 April 2011

There's an old economist joke: an economist is walking with a friend when they both notice a $100 note lying on the footpath. As the friend bends to pick it up, the economist shakes her head and says: ''Don't bother! If it were a real $100 note, someone would have picked it up already.''

Col Shephard, Yamba identity, in The Sydney Morning Herald 7 April 2011:

About that economist and the $100 note lying on the footpath: if the economist, in a fleeting moment of total irrationality, picked up the note and found it was genuine, he or she would immediately say there are only two things that can be done with it. Spend it or save it.
On the other hand, the economist's friend would look for its rightful owner.

Not so far from the secret wish of Tony Abbott and Fred Nile?

The Onion's video take on the Christian Right's approach to a woman's right to choose finds an echo in the Leader of the Christian Democratic Party in the NSW Upper House as quoted in The Daily Telegraph on 31 March 2011:

Mr Nile said he would raise abortion as a priority.
"I would like it to be banned, but that is like raising a red flag to a bull," he said.
"I would like to see abortion laws refined so either women will be shown an ultrasound of their foetus before the procedure, as they do in some parts of America, or they have to see a counsellor once they make the decision."

Left hand drive vehicles for sale in Grafton

Is this Grafton car dealer really selling left hand drive vehicles?

I

Its ad in the local paper would, at first glance, have its customers believe it is.

Hey, wait a minute! It's not all it seems to be.

Someone has reversed the images of the two cars on the right hand side of the ad.