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More than 2,000 people are now feared dead in the aftermath of the devastating landslide that struck Papua New Guinea late last week, when tonnes of dirt and rock swept away a village in the country’s mountainous highlands.
What caused it? We don’t know for sure. But as engineer Raj Sharma writes, it’s usually water that causes the ground to slip. If trees have been felled, perhaps to make way for subsistence agriculture, water finds it easier to infiltrate the tunnels left by their roots.
The good news is that replanting forests can therefore help reduce the risk of some landslides – as has been seen in Nepal, another mountainous nation with its own tragic history of landslides. But tree-planting isn’t a silver bullet. If extreme rains fuelled by climate change saturate mountain ranges, all the trees in the world won’t be able to hold the mountainside back.
The situation is made trickier still by the fact that it’s hard to forecast individual landslides with any real accuracy, or to pinpoint the most likely places to search for survivors, explains Pierre Rognon. We may know the factors that make disaster more likely, but it’s fiendishly difficult to implement any kind of useful warning system.
In other news, high-profile ABC political journalist Laura Tingle ignited a wave of controversy at the weekend when she told the Sydney Writers Festival that Australia is “a racist country, let’s face it. We always have been.” Political critics took issue with her negative assessment, while some media commentators seized on the opportunity to take yet another swing at the ABC’s perceived political bias.
But is her claim actually true? We asked five experts in sociology, Indigenous affairs and multiculturalism for their view, based on research evidence. Almost unanimously, they told us Australia does indeed have issues with racism, both past and present. But as ever, the full picture is more nuanced and complex than the latest media outcry would suggest.
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Doug Hendrie
Deputy Environment + Energy Editor
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Raj Sharma, CQUniversity Australia
Deforestation can make landslides more likely. But by itself, replanting trees isn’t enough to remove the risk.
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Pierre Rognon, University of Sydney
Landslides are usually sudden and cause devastation in their wake. Here’s why they are seemingly impossible to predict.
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Justin Bergman, The Conversation; Matt Garrow, The Conversation; Erin Cooper-Douglas, The Conversation
While there is no simple answer to the question, our experts all agree Australia has a serious problem when it comes to racism.
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Andrea Waling, La Trobe University
If men don’t understand or respect consent, this is likely to do with broader societal issues, rather than a lack of knowledge.
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Peter Baldwin, UNSW Sydney
It sounds good in theory, but it doesn’t always work in practice. Here’s what the evidence from the UK and elsewhere shows so far.
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Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
The tax cut will be worth $52.60 per fortnight for an Australian on the median wage. Next Monday’s pay rise might be worth another $65.50.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
In a sensible bit o forward planning Albanese told caucus it should be focused on crafting an offer for the second term, evidence of how politics is now in what’s dubbed the “permanent campaign”.
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Abraham Leung, Griffith University; Matthew Burke, Griffith University
Free or heavily discounted public transport can help achieve social goals. But governments must carefully navigate equity considerations.
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Kim M Caudwell, Charles Darwin University
New research shows how fear of missing out and an inability to regulate our own emotions is linked to using the internet in concerning ways.
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Simone Pettigrew, George Institute for Global Health; Allison Gaines, Imperial College London
The free ecoSwitch app takes the guesswork out of sustainable food choices, empowering consumers to take matters into their own hands.
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Anna Halafoff, Deakin University; Rosie Clare Shorter, Deakin University
Spirituality is central to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and is growing in popularity with young Australians. What is it? And how is it different to religion?
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Richard Shaw, Massey University
Finance minister Nicola Willis is promising to chart a ‘middle course’ in her first budget. Her bigger challenge is to bring middle New Zealand along with her.
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Politics + Society
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Lisa Gowthorp, Bond University
Former sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins is now the chair of the Australian Sports Commission. What should her immediate focuses be for sport in this nation?
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James Mehigan, University of Canterbury
Recognition of Palestinian statehood was previously held out as an incentive to completing peace negotiations. But that’s changed now, and New Zealand should consider changing its position too.
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Health + Medicine
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Amy Reichelt, University of Adelaide
Although the link between sugar and hyperactivity is murky, there is a proven link between the neurotransmitter dopamine and increased activity.
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Environment + Energy
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Gabriel Crowley, University of Adelaide; Stephen A Sutton, Flinders University
There’s a strong case to be made for private landholders to conduct their own cool burns, for dual purposes of reducing fuel load and restoring the ecology.
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Simon Kingham, University of Canterbury; Marco Amati, RMIT University
New Zealand tends to focus on big infrastructural projects such as tunnels or light rail to change cities. But there are cheaper ways to add public spaces to urban design.
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Arts + Culture
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Narelle Yeo, University of Sydney
Walt Disney songwriter Richard M. Sherman, who has died aged 95, wrote some of Hollywood’s greatest film musical songs.
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Katie Ellis, Curtin University; Mick Broderick, Curtin University
The film’s focus on Furiosa’s amputation exploits disability, and closes down the related commentary and critique previously expanded in each progressive Mad Max film.
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Books + Ideas
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Rose Butler, Deakin University
Cate Blanchett’s claim to be ‘middle class’ isn’t unique among the wealthy, or even the 1% she’s part of. Downplaying privilege among elites contributes to the problem of wealth inequality.
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