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In a nation packed with charming animal species, it’s inevitable that Australia’s threatened plants routinely get overlooked. But research by some of Australia’s leading conservation scientists shows this inattention could well lead to extinction by neglect.
As Ayesha Tulloch and her colleagues write today, populations of Australian threatened plants have fallen by an average 72% over the last 20 years. The decline is far steeper than that of threatened birds or mammals, and is permanently altering Australia’s landscapes.
In many cases, this quiet annihilation is happening right under our noses: on road verges or in suburban reserves. Funding is needed to reverse the alarming trend, but everyday citizens can help too. By helping to count the precious few threatened plants we have left, you can help scientists bring them back from the brink.
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Nicole Hasham
Section Editor: Energy + Environment
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Rodd’s star hair (Astrotricha roddii) an Endangered NSW shrub.
Gavin Phillips/NSW DPIE, Saving Our Species
Ayesha Tulloch, University of Sydney; Elisa Bayraktarov, The University of Queensland; Hugh Possingham, The University of Queensland; Jaana Dielenberg, Charles Darwin University; Jennifer Silcock, The University of Queensland; Micha Victoria Jackson, The University of Queensland; Nathalie Butt, The University of Queensland
Australia's plants help make our landscapes unique. But many are in grave danger of extinction, and in many cases, the problem is getting worse.
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Sue Ogrocki/AAP Image
Tania Sorrell, University of Sydney; Ian Frazer, The University of Queensland; Ingrid Scheffer, University of Melbourne
A new review from the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences says managing the pandemic into 2021 will mean persisting with the measures that have made Australia's response successful so far.
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Shutterstock
Anna Boucher, University of Sydney
Australians are highly engaged on the topic, yet don't have strong opinions either way. Among potential migrants, only Indians showed a high degree of interest in Australia as a destination.
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Albany on the south coast of Western Australia, just under five hours’ drive from Perth.
Photographer: © Vicky Shukuroglou taken from Loving Country
Shannon Foster, University of Technology Sydney
A travel guide to some of our most beautiful Country highlights the complexity of Aboriginal cultures and white Australia's historic ambivalence towards them.
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Business + Economy
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Victoria Stace, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Alexandra Sims
A new study suggests the Commerce Commission needs to get tougher with New Zealand businesses over their general terms and conditions.
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Joo-Cheong Tham, University of Melbourne
The federal government's industrial relations bill will fix a problem that doesn't exist by making a failed legal argument the law.
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Hongzhi Gao, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Ivy Guo, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Monica Ren, Macquarie University
The recently signed RCEP trade agreement encourages even closer ties with China, but this puts New Zealand's long-term interests at risk.
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Education
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Damien Field, University of Sydney; Brent Kaiser, University of Sydney; Iain Young, University of Sydney; Pauline Ross, University of Sydney; Stephen Cattle, University of Sydney
Despite the many jobs on offer, agriculture courses are struggling to attract students. A visionary curriculum is needed that is as exciting, diverse and challenging as the sector itself is becoming.
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Politics + Society
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
The government will inject a further $1 billion into aged care, most of it for home care packages, in Thursday's budget update.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Recent survey results show the Australian public is becoming more satisfied with the federal public services.
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Peter McPhee, University of Melbourne
The protests, which have lasted for weeks, have become embroiled with deep anxieties in France about decolonisation, policing, the limits to secularism and the place of Muslims in French society.
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Environment + Energy
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Jenni Downes, Monash University; Damien Giurco, University of Technology Sydney; Rose Read, University of Technology Sydney
It’s great to see the federal government finally providing clear policy direction for the waste industry. But it's far from enough to temper the waste crisis.
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Featured Events & Courses
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8 week online course by BehaviourWorks Australia, Victoria, Australia — Monash University
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