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Carbon Pricing Mechanisms In Australia: Simulations With A Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Model, Fariba Ramezani Khansari

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Purpose – This thesis investigates the environmental and economic effects of emissions pricing policies in Australia. By considering emissions as a by-product, that is, as a function of production, it can be seen that emissions follow output fluctuations. Ignoring the correlation between economic fluctuations and emissions may increase the risk of encountering undesired changes in emissions over a period of time. This issue has motivated the current research to investigate the impacts of emissions reduction policies on emissions fluctuations during business cycles. This thesis specifies four emissions reduction scenarios, in line with programs which have been designed and/or implemented in …

The Annihilation Of Memory And Silent Suffering: Inhibiting Outrage At The Injustice Of Torture In The War On Terror In Australia, Aloysia Brooks

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

The War on Terror, initiated by the US Government under George W. Bush, reintroduced torture as an overt tool of the state. The Australian Government was heavily implicated in colluding and covering up the US torture program. Drawing on a model of outrage management, newspaper articles from 2002-2012 reveal extensive evidence that government officials, their agents, and the media, utilised methods that served to reduce outrage over the use of torture in the War on Terror. These tactics not only inhibited outrage, but promoted acceptance of torture as a legitimate security tool in the post 9/11 era.

There is significant …

Hydrology And Scaling Relationships Of Snowy Mountain Rivers, Sander Van Tol

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Australian rivers are generally considered to have high flow variability with large differences between baseflow and flood flows as well as large differences in the volume of floods of various return periods. This comparative study systematically assesses the hydrology of Snowy Mountain rivers to determine whether snowmelt rivers demonstrate similar discharge characteristics to their non-snowmelt counterparts. Historical and current gauging data was used to investigate flood frequency and flow scaling relationships for unregulated alluvial and semi-alluvial rivers in eighteen Snowy Mountain rivers and fifteen temperate east coast and semi-arid non-snowmelt rivers.

The results demonstrate that Snowy Mountain rivers do not …

Career Crossroads: Motivations And Concerns Of Mid-Career Teachers In Nsw Department Of Education Primary Schools, Ruth Lusty

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This Australian study investigates the motivations and concerns of mid-career teachers in NSW Department of Education (NSW DoE)i primary schools. Although existing literature relating to notions of mid-career and worker motivation is extensive and cross-disciplinary, literature specifically related to teachers in mid-career has, until recently, been limited. The three areas of mid-career, teachers and the organisational context of the NSW DoE, underpin this research and contribute to developing conceptualisations of the professional lives of mid-career teachers. This study builds upon the broad themes identified in my recent Delphi study (Lusty 2013). As there is little literature specific to mid-career teachers …

Sumptuary Law By Any Other Name: Manifestations Of Sumptuary Regulation In Australia, 1901-1927, Caroline Irene Dick

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

It is generally considered that sumptuary law is an archaic form of governmental intervention that targeted the personal lives of people living in the early modern period in Europe, and has no modern significance. This thesis examines the post Federation period, between 1901 and 1927, to reveal that the sumptuary impulse was alive and well in modern Australia. This impulse was now transmuted by a new patrician elite into a form of social and legal regulation in order to control the clothing and entertainment choices of working Australians. The impulse was sustained through taxation and fiscal legal mechanisms (ie: tariffs), …

Trace Element Pollution In Marine Sediments From Botany Bay And Port Hacking Estuary, Nsw, Australia, Yasir Muyasser Mohammed Alyazichi

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Anthropogenic trace element pollution comes from a combination of urbanised catchment areas, road surfaces, stormwater outlets, mining sites, sewage overflows, soil erosion and illegal discharges, as well as atmospheric emissions. Estuaries play an important role as sinks for trace elements and other pollutants which can be detrimental to aquatic ecosystems and human health via the food chain (flora and fauna).

The objective of this research was to assess how field and laboratory techniques could be used to investigate and understand the spatial and vertical distribution of trace element pollution in marine sediments. Additionally, an assessment of the applicability of lower …

Middle Pleistocene To Holocene Sea-Level Changes And Coastal Evolution On The Mount Gambier Coastal Plain, Southern Australia, Amy Blakemore

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Reconstruction of palaeo-sea levels provides a framework for determining Quaternary ice volumes and assisting in modelling predictions of future sea-level change. Commonly, records of palaeo-sea level derived from past shorelines only extend back to the last interglacial, marine isotope stage (MIS) 5e, due to erosion of older coastal successions by successive sealevel changes on tectonically stable coastlines. On the Mount Gambier coastal plain, southern Australia, palaeo-shorelines of the Bridgewater Formation, a succession of aeolianite barriers, are preserved by the gentle uplift of the region and the strongly indurated calcrete horizons which blanket the regional landscape, and provide a sea-level archive …

Weather-Ways: Experiencing And Responding To Everyday Weather, Eliza De Vet

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Climates are changing, yet how these changes will affect individuals in their everyday lives is unclear. In climate change research, weather and climate (change) have largely been represented quantitatively. Such representations offer individuals, societies and institutions limited tangible explanation of future climate change, impeding efforts to develop and implement effective climate change responses. In order to comprehend the realities of climate change and potential adaptation capacities, research must recognise how individuals and societies currently relate to weather in context of everyday life.

This thesis contributes to research on weather relations by exploring the role of weather in everyday life in …

Dark Dragon Ridge: Chinese People In Wollongong, 1901-39, Peter Charles Gibson

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This thesis sheds new light on Chinese people in Australia's past by examining Chinese in the town of Wollongong, on the New South Wales South Coast, between 1901 and 1939. Although the historiography of Chinese people in Australia has advanced considerably over the last few years, more local-level histories are needed to understand their diverse experiences. There are several areas that this thesis explores: early Chinese immigrants to Wollongong; Chinese agriculture; business, community life; and the engagement of local Chinese with government and the law. Drawing on a range of sources including English and Chinese-language newspapers, Commonwealth, State and local …

‘It Was Florence Nightingale By Torch’: Military Nursing Traditions And Australian Nurses In Vietnam, Janice Margaret Twomey

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This thesis examines the experiences of two groups of nurses who served in the Vietnam War, the members of Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps (RAANC) and the women who volunteered as members of the civilian aid surgical teams who served in Vietnam under the humanitarian aid clauses of the Southeast Asian Treaty Organisation (SEATO). The oral testimonies of 31 members of both RAANC and the civilian aid teams provided the evidence used for this thesis.

The thesis argues that both groups of women, irrespective of their mode of deployment worked within a tradition of Australian nursing: the military nursing tradition, …

Geochemistry And Dating Of Iron (Iii) Oxides And Clays Of The Australian Regolith, Behrooz Karamiqucham

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This project focused on the study of oxygen-isotope variations in iron (III) oxides and their corresponding clays during their formation in selected weathered profiles of the Australian regolith.

The aim of this project was to study oxygen-isotope fractionation in iron ferric oxides and clay minerals during regolith weathering in southern Australia. For this study, samples with high iron ferric oxide content were separated from clay-rich samples. Many physical, chemical and technical procedures including physical abrasion on sample exteriors, crushing, high gradient magnetic separation, clay settling analysis, and chemical treatments have been employed to ensure that the iron ferric oxides and …

A Search For A New Identity: Examining The Journey Of Former Refugee Youths Living In Australia, Jonnell Uptin

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Resettlement of refugees has long been considered as a durable solution by the international community and the United Nations. Australia’s resettlement programme has had a history of officially accepting refugees from some of the poorest and most war torn parts of the world. There is, however surprisingly little research that narrates how refugees themselves are experiencing resettlement and even less for refugee youth (Gifford 2007; Chatty, 2007; Cassity & Gow, 2005). This is particularly significant as 59% of new entrants arriving in the five years between July 2005 and June 2010 aged under 25 years on arrival, and 31% aged …

Hedge Fund Regulation In Australia: Mitigating Fraud Risk In An Environment Of Mandated Disclosure, Lagnesh Kumar

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

The mandate to regulate the hedge fund industry in Australia is motivated by the need to protect retail investors and the requirement to maintain market integrity while not impeding economic growth. As such, regulators have taken a light touch supervisory approach based on the premise that the hedge fund sector is not a large portion of the Australian funds management industry and hence, does not pose a risk to the financial system. This assumption is contingent to the theory that hedge fund investment activities are carried out with no link to the unregulated shadow banking system and the prevalence of …

Amongst Friends: The Australian Cult Film Experience, Renee Michelle Middlemost

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This thesis explores the relationship between cult films and audiences in an Australian context. As a topic that has received little prior scholarly attention, several strands pertaining to the study of cult film are unpacked, including attempts to define the term ‘cult’ by both popular and academic studies. Relevant studies in the related fields of genre, audience and film spectatorship are explored and rearticulated in terms of the findings from interviews, questionnaires and participant observation carried out with the organisers, archivists and audiences of cult film in Australia.

My contention is that cult film fandom in Australia represents more than …

Soulful Work Or Selling The Soul? Cultural Production And The Custom Surfboard Industry, Andrew Warren

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This thesis documents custom surfboard-making as a distinctive cultural industry, drawing on archival and ethnographic work with eighteen surfboard workshops and their eighty-seven workers operating in four renowned surfing regions: O`ahu Hawai`i, southern California, Gold Coast and Illawarra regions, Australia. As a cultural industry, custom surfboard production is tightly linked to physical geography. Focused in coastal settings, board design is driven by the creativity of key individuals who seek to produce a faster, smoother and more responsive ride for surfers specific to prevailing waves and surf breaks. Unlike many other forms of commodity production, surfboard markers are not detached from …

Fights And Fancies: A Search For Australian Magical Realism, Caroline Elizabeth Graham

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Fights and Fancies: The Search for Australian Magical Realism attempts to answer the question: Can magical realism successfully translate into the Australian experience?

To respond to this question, I have written a collection of nine short stories, titled The Town Time Forgot. Although its approach to the genre is somewhat unconventional, this 50,000 word creative work demonstrates that magical realism can be a valid and successful way to present the Australian story and landscape. The collection is set in the fictional central Queensland town of Marvale (based on Mackay), where the past has a habit of showing up uninvited …

Exposure To Legal Risk For Climate Change Damage Under The Unfccc, Kyoto Protocol And Losc: A Case Study Of Tuvalu And Australia, Keely Boom

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

In 2002, the Pacific Island State of Tuvalu made international news when its Prime Minister announced that Tuvalu intended to sue Australia and the United States in the International Court of Justice. To date, Tuvalu has never brought the threatened litigation. Tuvalu is one of a number of small island developing States that could eventually become uninhabitable due to the effects of climate change. This thesis aims to test to what extent legal responsibility for climate change damage may arise under international law. It also seeks to determine what level of exposure to legal risk Australia may face for such …

The Retention Of Rural Pactice Nurses, Kathryn Godwin

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This study has been conducted to explore the issues affecting the recruitment and retention of nurses in the rural general practice setting. There is a lack of qualitative research about the rural practice nurse role and why rural practice nurses remain in the Australian primary healthcare workforce. Commonly, research in this area has been characterised by the role of urban practice nurses, the role and retention issues of rural community and hospital nurses and workforce retention issues for rural health practitioners. This is the first study conducted solely on rural practice nurses in Australia, and seeks to capture three key …

Liberalism, Human Capital And Equity: An Historical Analysis Of Australian Commonwealth Government Reports On University Education, 1950 To 2000, Kim Draisma

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This thesis provides an historical examination of the development of Australian university education, 1950 to 2000, a period of rapid population expansion and social and technological change. The thesis examines the variants of liberal ideology held by successive Commonwealth Governments that influenced the direction of changes in university education. In so doing it examines the relationship of liberal ideology to notions of what constituted a university education - and the kinds of people who gained access to it. Consequently, the thesis also examines concepts of human capital, equity and equality of access, since these are fundamental to an understanding of …

An Analysis Of Collaboration In The Australian And Chinese Mobile Telecommunication Markets, Yu (Aimee) Zhang

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Inter-firm collaboration has become increasingly important in the global economy. Firms rely on collaborations to access new resources, new technology, skills, latest market information, new markets and knowledge, to increase innovation, to reduce costs, and to overcome government policy barriers. Given the importance of business collaboration, it is not surprising that the topic has been extensively researched in both economics and business studies even though the term “collaboration” has not generally not used consistently in the literature. The empirical research has primarily focused on inter-firm collaborations in developed countries and involving large firms. There are many differences between developed countries …

Depression And Antidepressants In Australia And Beyond - A Critical Public Health Analysis, Melissa Raven

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

In Australia and most developed countries, depression has vaulted from an obscure affliction to a high-profile modern epidemic, accompanied by a significant escalation in antidepressant prescribing. A strong orthodoxy has developed that depression is common, serious, and treatable, and that the appropriate treatment is antidepressants. However, there are public health and social grounds for questioning this orthodox story. Vastly more people are being diagnosed with depression, and treated with antidepressants, now than several decades ago. Yet diagnosis of depression is subjective, and is based on highly criticised criteria. Furthermore, the evidence that underpins the orthodoxy is weak and biased, and …

Developing And Testing New Spatio-Temporal Modelling Techniques To Explore The Dynamics Of Changing Rural Landscapes In Australia, Rohan Chandralal Wickramasuriya Denagamage

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Amenity-led counterurbanization is driving a multifunctional transition in rural lands of Australia. Fundamental to this transition is the subdivision of large farming properties as traditional farmers exit agriculture, acquisition of subdivided lots by affluent and mobile urban populations that seek a lifestyle change in rural areas, and diverse land management activities adopted by an increasingly heterogeneous mix of land owners. This transition poses new socio-economic and environmental challenges. A better understanding of these changes and their implications is essential to manage the transition with the least negative impact on socio-economic and environmental conditions. This is quite challenging given the complexity …

The Kosovar Refugees: The Experience Of Providing Temporary Safe Haven In Australia, Robert A. Carr

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

In my thesis I evaluate the experience of Kosovar refugees evacuated to Australia in 1999 as part of the Howard Government’s ‘Operation Safe Haven’. I investigate the experience of the Kosovars in Australia alongside the role of the media in perpetuating the notion of “acceptability” in a broader debate about immigration. The plight of the Kosovar refugees provided much of the initial impetus for the introduction of the Howard Government’s temporary protection regime. My discussion and argument raise questions about Australian politics and refugee policy. These questions include asking why some refugees have been considered worthy of Australia’s charity and …

Youth Social Capital: Getting On And Getting Ahead In Life, Paulina Billett

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

In this thesis, I explore youth social capital. I am interested in identifying what youth social capital is, how it is fostered and reproduced and how this may differ from adult forms. I argue that current conceptualisations of social capital are inadequate to understand the social capital of young people and that these inadequacies have led some youth social capital theorists to label the social capital of young people as defective or incomplete; with some describing young people as possessing ‘bad’ or ‘dark’ social capital or being social capital deficient.

I further maintain that the conceptualisation of social capital as …