Monthly Archives: November 2011

Slimmed down surplus as Swan unveils mid-year budget: experts respond

By Sinclair Davidson | Published: 30/11/2011
The Federal Government is still aiming to deliver a slimmed down surplus next financial year, but has downgraded economic growth forecasts amid a slowing world economy and news that Europe may already be in recession. Announcing the government’s mid year economic and fiscal outlook, Treasurer Wayne Swan said the 2012-2013 surplus would be $1.5 billion, down [...]
Posted in Business, Economics & Finance, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Biodiversity offsets: solving the habitat-saving equation

By Ascelin Gordon | Published: 24/11/2011
Biodiversity offsets are touted as a new tool for protecting our natural environment. While they have the potential to deliver real gains, understanding the possible consequences of these polices over the long-term raises many challenges. These policies aim to balance biodiversity loss arising from habitat destruction at one location by enhancing and/or protecting similar but separate [...]
Posted in Business, Economics & Finance, Politics, Research, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

Is Australia truly ready for the Asian century?

By Ken Waller | Published: 23/11/2011
Australia’s future is clearly linked to the dynamism of North Asia and Indonesia, Vietnam and other economies in the region. Yet many significant challenges confront Australia in realising the promised prosperity. With the relative decline in the economic power of the United States and Europe, and the recognition that the 21st Century is the “Asian century”, [...]
Posted in Business, Economics & Finance, Law, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Pregnancy sucks: Twilight’s high-risk journey

By Evelyn Tsitas | Published: 21/11/2011
When it comes to The Twilight Saga’s latest instalment, Breaking Dawn, author Stephenie Meyer pulls no punches. Pregnancy sucks, literally. After a series of successful movies in her unstoppable vampire franchise, which is notorious for its lack of blood and violence as well as abstinence, fans are subjected to Bella’s high-risk pregnancy from hell. The second-last [...]
Posted in Art & Design, Entertainment, Media & Communications, Research | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments closed

March of the Moguls

By Vincent ODonnell | Published: 16/11/2011
From Thirst to Lust, from regulation of alcohol advertising on TV to classification of pornography in cinema, the challenge to design a regulatory framework for media & communications is still ahead for the Convergence Review Panel and its happy team of elves in the Department of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy. Formal public submissions to [...]
Posted in Media & Communications, Politics, Social Media, Writing | Tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Hackers hit Steam: is it time to open the Valve on e-commerce regulation?

By Mark Gregory | Published: 15/11/2011
One of the world’s largest online video gaming networks, Steam, has been hacked and its 35 million users may have had their accounts “compromised”. And yes, “compromised” means their (encrypted) credit card details may have been stolen. At the risk of asking the obvious, have we finally reached the moment for stricter regulation of e-commerce, [...]
Posted in Business, Engineering, Information Systems, Media & Communications, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Steve Jobs, John McCarthy, Dennis Ritchie: three of a kind, and don’t forget it

By John Lenarcic | Published: 11/11/2011
Last month saw the passing of three pioneers of the information age – an age we more or less take for granted now. These luminaries were John McCarthy, Dennis Ritchie and, of course, Steve Jobs. Of the three in this cluster, only the latter’s demise registered as a zeitgeist moment worthy of the death of JFK [...]
Posted in Business, Information Systems, Media & Communications, Social Media, Technology | Tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Anonymous, child porn and the wild, wild web

By Mark Gregory | Published: 09/11/2011
Is it right for hackers, regardless of public support, to take the law into their own hands? High-profile hacktivist group Anonymous has turned its attention to fighting child pornography. As a sign of what it pledges will become more widespread, the group this month launched an attack on a server by the name of Freedom Hosting. [...]
Posted in Information Systems, Media & Communications, Politics, Social Justice, Social Media, Technology | Tagged , , , , | Comments closed

The future of Australian air travel may belong to international airlines, not Qantas

By George Cairns | Published: 08/11/2011
Following on from Qantas CEO Alan Joyce’s controversial decision to lock out staff and ground the entire fleet, there has been a flurry of writing – in The Conversation and across the world – on the rights and wrongs of this action. The debate has raised issues of current industrial relations law in Australia, political [...]
Posted in Business, Economics & Finance, Media & Communications, Politics | Tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

Can businesses really plan for the future? Introducing ‘scenario thinking’

By George Cairns | Published: 03/11/2011
We are currently faced with a seemingly endless list of global and local uncertainties. What will the global financial markets do tomorrow, next week, or next month? What is the reality of climate change, and what will its impacts be? What does the future hold for Australia’s resources sector? These issues are of critical concern not just [...]
Posted in Business, Economics & Finance, Politics, Sustainability | Tagged , , | Comments closed