Law Commons^™

We Need To Talk About How We Talk About Climate Change, Sharon Beder

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

How we talk about climate change has a lot to do with how we feel about it, and what we’re willing to do to act on it. Recent research from the US found that the terms “global warming” and “climate change” evoke different reactions: global warming is perceived as far more threatening.

While there is no similar research in Australia, over the past 25 years we’ve seen debate shift from the greenhouse effect to climate change to climate variability — with a corresponding decrease in action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Global warming, the US research found, is more likely …

If A Country Is An Extended Family, We Have Become Dysfunctional, Eric Loo

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

Growing up in the three-bedroom home where three generations lived and huddled, we had the occasional family drama and sibling squabbles. When we had difficulties, my grandfather, who revered Confucius as his patriarch, would gather us to help each other out. The extended family was our refuge.

Today, however, I see the nuclear family becoming the norm. Privacy and timeout from the mob are more valued over blood ties. Unresolved issues between distant kin and reminders of less pleasant memories lead to fewer and shorter muted charts.

Not For Punishment: We Need To Understand Bail, Not Review It, Julia Quilter

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

Courts make hundreds of bail decisions every week but we rarely hear about them. In the past month in New South Wales, however, we have heard much about three high-profile decisions granting bail to: Steven Fesus, accused of murdering his wife 17 years ago; Hassan “Sam” Ibrahim, charged with selling illegal firearms across western Sydney (bail was revoked on appeal); and Mahmoud Hawi, charged with the murder of Peter Zervas during a brawl at Sydney Airport in 2009.

Each was granted bail under the Bail Act 2013, which came into force on May 20 this year. The allegations these men …

The News We Lose When We Cut Local Newspapers, Shawn Burns

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

I remember the day I started work at what was then The Imlay Magnet in Eden. It was 1991 and I had taken the job straight out of my journalism degree at the Canberra College of Advanced Education (now the University of Canberra). The desk was clear, all but for the IBM and the flashing green cursor on its otherwise blank black screen

We Need A Global Conservation Agreement For The High Seas, Robin Warner

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The high seas cover about 50% of Earth’s surface and host a major share of the world’s biodiversity, but remain largely ungoverned. With increasing threats to open ocean ecosystems, now more than ever we need a high seas conservation agreement.

Recently the first of three meetings was held in New York to assess the scope, parameters and feasibility of an international conservation agreement for the high seas and the sustainable use of its biodiversity. States meeting at the UN will decide by September 2015 whether to have such an agreement.

So why are the high seas important for conservation?