Down to Earth: Local government and greenhouse policy in Australia

Global environmental politics and policy are conventionally seen as the province of nation-states and international negotiations. However, there has been increasing attention devoted to the part that local places can play in the pursuit of (global) sustainable development. In this paper, I explore the role of local government in Australian greenhouse policy. A brief outline of the role of local government in environmental management is followed by a short history of greenhouse policy in Australia. From its initial marginal position, local government has begun to occupy a more prominent role in greenhouse policy development and implementation. The paper examines the processes that have led to this change, the development of local greenhouse and energy policies in Newcastle, New South Wales, and the initiation of the 'Cities for Climate Protection' program by the federal government. In conclusion, some thoughts on the problems and prospects of a local approach to the greenhouse issue are offered.     

Towards Closure? Coexistence,remoteness and righteousness in Indigenous policy in Australia

The policy framework claiming to support Indigenous people in remote parts of Australia is in disarray with Commonwealth, state and territory governments proposing closure of remote communities on a range of economic and social policy grounds, but facing significant criticism on economic, environmental, social and cultural grounds. Western Australia's proposal to close 150 remote communities, announced in late-2014, is reviewed and found to reveal a profound failure of geographical literacy.     

Competitive Productivism and Australia's Emerging ‘Alternative’ Agri-food Networks: producing for farmers' markets in Victoria and beyond

This paper advances the theoretical argument for moving beyond the conventional/alternative divide in the analysis of emerging ‘alternative’ agri-food networks (AAFNs). In order to understand how ‘place’, ‘nature’ and ‘quality’-based food networks emerge and develop, we argue that careful attention needs to be paid to the way in which specific political-economic environments shape the options available to farmers and consumers. Australia's ‘competitive productivism’ is the outcome of an export-oriented economy and a neoliberal political orientation, and this environment affects the development of AAFNs in various ways. Most notably, a case study of farmers that sell at farmers' markets in the State of Victoria shows that the competitive-productivist policies pursued by Australian governments entice some farmers who participate in AAFNs to develop their ideas into higher output businesses tailored to compete in emerging export markets. Other farmers deliberately choose to keep marketing through alternative channels despite competitive-productivist pressures to expand. These findings demonstrate the centrality to the experience of AAFN participants of negotiating productivist pressures, adding nuances to the story of the complex relations between AAFNs and conventional supply chains.     

The Northern Myth Revisited? Aborigines,environment and agriculture in the Ord River Irrigation Scheme,Stages One and Two

Western Australia's Ord River Irrigation Scheme has been controversial since its establishment more than twenty-five years ago. A substantial expansion of the scheme, known as Ord Stage Two, is currently underway as a joint project of the Western Australian and Northern Territory governments. In this study I examine and compare Stages One and Two in the context of the significant social and economic changes that have occurred during this period, focusing on attitudes to, and conceptualisations of, nature and the human place in it. Despite a context in which consideration of both Aboriginal and environmental issues is now integrated into the development process, three colonial themes persist in the rhetoric of Stage Two. These are the empty landscape, the invisible Aborigine, and the idealisation of agricultural land use. When expressed together these three help to naturalise the development process as both inevitable and strategically implemented. The contradictions inherent in this process enhance existing doubts about the social and ecological sustainability of continuing attempts to 'develop' Australia's north.     

Mobility Patterns of Overseas Human Capital in Australia: the role of a ‘new’ graduate visa scheme and rural development policy

In 2007, the Australian federal government introduced a ‘new’ graduate visa scheme, the 485 visa sub-class. This visa facilitates the transition from student to worker for overseas graduates from Australian higher education institutions, with the potential to significantly increase their numbers in the country. At the same time, local governments have introduced various policies designed to attract and retain human capital in rural areas to address the shortfall of highly skilled individuals. This paper redresses the current lack of research into the spatial dynamics of overseas human capital in Australia and their relation to the new visa scheme in combination with shifts in rural development policies. Drawing on survey data of graduates describing the ‘before’ (2005) and ‘after’ (2008) periods of the introduction of the 485 visa scheme, this paper shows that the propensity of overseas graduates to move between Australia's regions has increased substantially. In particular, there have been an increasing proportion of overseas graduates moving to major cities despite rural development policy efforts to attract human capital to rural areas. However, these policy efforts appear to have attracted overseas graduates with particular qualifications (education and health) to work in such locales.     

Population and environment in Australia: issues in the next half century

This paper considers the likely future population in Australia to 2050 and is cast within the context of environmental limitations, to which Griffith Taylor alerted the nation in the 1920s and 1930s, and for which he was vilified in several quarters. While acknowledging the relative accuracy of his long-range forecasts, the arguments here depart from environmental determinism, although varying sets of environmental ethics and values are considered in relation to Australia's global responsibilities and international commitments. It is argued that an increase in population to 26 million by 2050 will not place severe stresses on the physical environment, provided environmental and resource management strategies are put firmly in place, and if consumption and resource use practices are significantly modified. An ideological linkage exists between a resurgent Australian nationalism and a number of environmental perspectives, but one which rejects growth and biological diversity among humans while embracing environmentalism. This inward-looking nationalism–environmentalism is seen as harmful both to Australia's moral integrity as a nation, and in local and world citizenship.     

Managing the Murray‐Darling Basin

Within the Murray‐Darling Basin lie Australia's most important water and land resources as well as some of the country's most serious resource management problems. This paper summarises the importance of the resource‐based industries, especially agriculture. The major agricultural and water resource problems are outlined, with most attention being paid to salinity. Critical to the problems and their solution are the institutional arrangements for the management of this large interstate river basin. The River Murray Waters Agreement, dating from 1914, has had limited success in tackling the basin's problems, because of its limited geographical and functional scope, especially in the area of water quality. The growing severity of the latter problems, especially salinity, resulted in the 1987 signing of the Murray‐Darling Basin Agreement to promote and coordinate the management of the basin's water, land and environmental resources. As it is concerned with the basin as a whole, its success is dependent on the full cooperation of the Commonwealth and three state governments involved.     

Contemporary Geographies of Indigenous Rights and Interests in Rural Australia

More than half of Australia's lands and coastal regions are now encompassed within the boundaries of native title claims. The claims and the 'native title communities' who have lodged them are shaping a new geography of Australia's lands and seascapes. These communities derive from traditional ownership and thus have a different, and more fundamentally authoritative, basis to the indigenous 'residential communities' whose representative organisations are the mechanism through which governments have promoted indigenous self-management and which dominate in public affairs. Recognition of native title provides some opportunities for indigenous people to negotiate for benefits which will address their marginalised and economically dependent status but these are limited by the protection given to non-indigenous interests and are often proving they can be very difficult to realise. Overcoming indigenous marginalisation, promoting co-existence between indigenous and other Australians, and securing sustainability in rural regions requires that institutional reform goes beyond legally bounded interpretations of where native title does and does not still exist. Rebuilding indigenous institutions for governance of country is fundamental to achieving necessary change but political will and resources to support the process are critically lacking.     

能源合理利用与CO2减排的国际经验及其对我国的启示

减少温室气体排放,以减缓和控制气候变化,是《联合国气候变化框架公约》和《京都议定书》的主要目标。美英法德日等主要发达国家,在工业化道路上,已走过数百年的历程,积累了包括能源节约和CO₂减排在内的先进技术和丰富经验。为了减少CO₂排放,实现可持续发展,必须借鉴国外在能源利用、结构调整和节能方面的经验。可供我国借鉴的国外经验主要有：(1)制订和实施能源合理利用与减少CO₂排放的发展战略;(2)建立和健全法律;(3)调整能源结构;(4)运用经济激励的政策和手段。     

Are We There Yet? NSW local governments’ progress on climate change

Local governments are responding to top-down policy initiatives from both federal and State governments to reduce emissions, and adapt to any potential impacts of climate change. Although climate change is clearly a global problem, many of the solutions will be implemented at the local level. To explore this issue, the aim of this research was to examine regional variation in climate change response across New South Wales (NSW). To this end, between September 2010 and September 2011, we reviewed publicly available council and regional documentations for all NSW councils. The indicators of response examined were based on the NSW Greenhouse Plan (2005). These were awareness-raising, emissions reduction and adaptation planning. It was found that councils were undertaking many practical projects to fulfil the goals of this plan. As a result, they are abating significant quantities of emissions. Adaptation is progressing through the development of risk-based climate change adaptation plans. Councils are addressing particular areas of management, such as water management, assisted by guidelines which incorporate consideration for climate change as part of best practice. While overall responses to this threat are progressing, a distinct urban bias in action has been observed, due to biases in policy and funding arrangements.     

Taking Stock: Farmers' reflections on the deregulation of Australian dairying

On 1 July 2000 significant changes to the regulation of Australian dairying came into effect. These changes eliminated subsidies to milk producers and removed barriers to the inter-State trade of dairy products. Victoria's dairy industry group was a powerful proponent of deregulation, because of the comparative advantage that the State's farmers have in production relative to Australia's other milk producers. However, the deregulation of the dairy industry was contested stridently by many stakeholders, particularly farmers and their representative groups in States other than Victoria. Even within Victoria some farmers were equivocal and some were opposed to the regulatory changes. This paper draws on interviews with informants in the Victorian dairy sector to reveal responses to the regulatory changes. The interviews indicate that opinion was divided before deregulation and remains so. The debate was largely between those who saw the regulatory changes as 'inevitable', some of whom thought it would be a 'good thing' and others who accepted, grudgingly, that it was simply going to happen, and those who thought there had to be alternatives that would avoid the expected adverse consequences.     

Pushing the boundaries: the exclusion of disability rights groups from political influence in Victoria

An Australian federal government report ‘Acting against disability discrimination’ (1994) claims that disabled people ‘throughout Australia have organised themselves into a movement which is growing in strength, militancy, numbers and political sophistication, particularly over the last two decades’. The purpose is to determine whether the disabled people's movement has any strength or influence on government in Victoria. Participant observation, focused interviews, and document analysis showed that confrontational disability rights groups remain marginal to the decision making and policy making of governments in Victoria. This is because of their strategies of direct action, staging visible actions to attract media attention and subverting the ‘normal’ use of space, their non-hierarchical structure, lack of direct government funding and their small membership base that includes non-disabled people. Marginalisation may require disability groups to rethink their organisation and means of resistance if they are to gain greater influence in the formal political arena.     

Australia's Box–Ironbark Forests and Woodlands: saving the fragments of a threatened ecosystem

Australia's box–ironbark forests and woodlands once covered about 14 per cent of the State of Victoria on the riverine plains and foothills of the Great Dividing Range. But approximately 83 per cent of the total original habitat has been destroyed and what remains of this significant ecosystem is now highly fragmented and vulnerable to further degradation. Moreover, only 14 per cent of the area remaining is on public land. A 10 year campaign on the part of the environmental movement eventually succeeded in forcing the State government to conduct an independent inquiry into this ecosystem and make recommendations on future management. This paper outlines the innovative public participation process adopted by the Victorian State government and the outcomes of the inquiry. A subsequent compensation package for commercial operations disadvantaged by the proclamation of a series of new national parks is also discussed, as are the shortcomings of a process that can have little or no impact on what happens on private land.     

Distancing Asylum Seekers from the State: Australia's evolving political geography of immigration and border control

Australia's border enforcement strategies and immigration control policies operate in distant geographies, concealed from human rights groups, media and the public. From offshore detention to militarised maritime defence operations, Australia's exclusion of asylum seekers is increasingly dependent upon geographical processes that ensure asylum seekers do not have access to the state's systems of protection. This article explores a critically overlooked geopolitical strategy of mobility regulation that relies on processes simultaneously expanding geographies of control, while contracting spaces of rights. The outcome of these rapidly evolving bordering practices is the exaggeration of the distance separating asylum seekers from the state, suspending them within a space devoid of an operational system of rights, and emphasising a new and restructured maritime legal geography.     

中国能源领域温室气体排放现状及减排对策研究

自工业革命以来,随着化石燃料的广泛应用,能源领域的温室气体排放逐渐成为其主要的人为排放源,能源、环境和经济发展之间的矛盾也日益成为各国政府共同关注的焦点。如何有效地进行能源活动中温室气体的减排已经成为涉及环境、经济、政治、外交等多方面的全球性科学问题。文章对中国能源开发利用现状和主要温室气体二氧化碳(CO₂)、甲烷(CH₄)、氧化亚氮(N₂O)能源排放源进行了简要分析,并对适合中国国情的温室气体减排与能源可持续开发与利用"双赢",实现"发展型减排"的有效途径进行了初步的探讨。     

Suffer a Sea Change? Contrasting perspectives towards urban policy and migration in coastal Australia

Has the notion of ‘sea change’ and its considerable implications for non-metropolitan coastal Australia been exaggerated? In this article alternative perspectives of ‘sea change’ in Australia are reviewed, and the policy implications of each assessed. One perspective regards migration to coastal areas beyond the capital cities as incidental to continued metropolitan primacy and unlikely to affect or change Australia's overall urban or economic structure. The other considers the movement as a significant and enduring process with major environmental and socio-economic repercussions. With reference to research conducted for the National Sea Change Taskforce, the article finds partial support for both positions, leading to a more revealing understanding of ‘sea change’ in Australia. A set of policy responses, sensitive to the particular qualities of Australian coastal environments and communities, are proposed for consideration by all three tiers of government.     

The Demographic Constraints on Future Population Growth in Regional Australia

Concern about rapid population growth in Australia's large cities and slower growth in many non-metropolitan areas has stimulated a range of government policies attempting to lift non-metropolitan growth rates. However, there is relatively little research on which to base these policies. It would be helpful to understand more about the consequences of current demographic trends continuing and the effects of alternative migration patterns. This paper presents sub-national population projections for Australia over the horizon 2011–2041, basing the projections on more socially meaningful Remoteness Areas instead of common statistical geographies. Three sets of projections were generated: a Current Direction scenario in which recent demographic trends are maintained, a Regional Immigration scenario in which more immigrants settle in regional and remote areas, and a Metro Exodus scenario in which there is increased internal migration from metropolitan to non-metropolitan areas. The future of Australia's population geography is shown to be one of spatially varying growth and population ageing, and continued metropolitanisation. In regional areas rapid population ageing will lower natural increase rates and thus reduce overall growth, resulting in a falling share of the national population. Policy measures attempting to increase the share of growth in regional areas will struggle against natural demographic forces operating in the opposite direction.     

Integrating Natural Resource Management for Better Environmental Outcomes

Severe problems of fragmented policies and uncoordinated implementation undermine natural resource management in Australia. There have been promising signs of progress through activities such as the National Forest Policy, Council of Australian Government water reforms, National Land and Water Resources Audit, the Murray‐Darling Basin initiative and the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality to integrate resource policies. There have also been some notable successes at State and local level. But fragmentation endures. This paper provides evidence of the enduring problem of fragmentation and presents a framework to analyse Australia's experience in natural resource management. The analysis reveals the multi‐dimensional character of the problems and identifies a diverse set of actions that need to be taken to improve integration in policy and implementation. Particular attention is given to the potential for regional programs to contribute to improved integration and NRM.     

Australian Climate,Energy and Water Policies: conflicts and synergies

Responding to the threat of climate change, conserving freshwater ecosystems and securing adequate energy and water supplies are among the greatest challenges facing modern societies. Yet recognition of the interdependencies between climate, energy and water policy—with resulting synergies and trade-offs—remains limited, leaving societies and governments alike vulnerable to the dangers of conflicted or unintended policy outcomes from sectoral decisions. In this paper, we analyse current Australian climate, energy and water policies to identify the risks of perverse outcomes between the three policy sectors. In doing so we categorise the conflicts and synergies between particular energy generation, carbon sequestration and water supply policies to improve understandings of the challenges facing decision makers in Australia and internationally. Four types of interventions are identified that would enable integration and optimisation of policies, namely: better cross-sectoral knowledge to inform decisions; the identification of technologies with co-benefits; markets with broader cross-sectoral participation (including linking water and carbon markets); and better-integrated governance institutions.     

中国低碳治理的制约因素和相应对策

作为全球碳排放大国,中国低碳治理的发展方向对全球气候变化有深远的影响,值得深入研究。通过中国低碳治理的制约因素及其成因的分析,提出地方政府行为是中国低碳治理的主要制约因素。这主要表现在地方政府鼓励不符合低碳发展的粗放式经济增长和城市开发及地方政府制定与执行低碳政策的积极性不高。而地方政府行为背后是各种制度环境因素。因此,改善中国低碳治理需要从制度改革入手。对制度改革提出3个建议：① 强化节能目标责任制;② 缓和地方政府过于强烈的发展意愿;③ 加强公民参与低碳治理。