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The embers from Australia’s horror bushfire season were still glowing when a new catastrophe, COVID-19, flooded the public consciousness. Now the pandemic has somewhat eased, we can take a collective breath and look back at how we handled the summer hellfires.
The federal government’s bushfire royal commission, which began this week, will help in this task of reflection. The broad-ranging probe has already heard of hundreds of deaths brought on by toxic smoke plumes blanketing our cities, and scores of living things pushed closer to extinction. Soon it will examine bushfire management - including how ancient Indigenous fire practices might help avoid monster fires in future.
As David Bowman and Greg Lehman write today, Australia must acknowledge and embrace the wisdom of the “fire people” who have nurtured this flammable land for millenia. This will be a complex and far-reaching task, requiring both caution and haste.
As our authors note, the last fire season was in many ways an extension of the brutal acquisition of land in Australia, and the dispossession of those who best cared for it. It’s time to start righting that wrong.
Bushfires in Australia will become more frequent and intense under climate change, and this demands a new response. And if 2020 has shown us anything so far, it’s that Western science does not always have the cure.
P.S. If you value our work and haven’t already, please make a tax-deductible donation today. With your support, quality information can reach more people.
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Nicole Hasham
Section Editor: Energy + Environment
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Rangers from Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa, conducting cool season burning on Martu Country.
Tony Jupp,The Nature Conservancy
David Bowman, University of Tasmania; Greg Lehman
The bushfire royal commission will look at incorporating Aboriginal knowledge into mainstream fire management. But in practice, what does that mean?
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Shutterstock
Kylie Quinn, RMIT University; Kirsty Wilson, RMIT University
A potential vaccine for coronavirus is undergoing a human trial in Australia. It's based on a vaccine that was already in development for influenza, and has shown promise in animal studies.
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Malka Leifer is brought to the Jerusalem District Court for a hearing in 2018.
AAP/EPA/Atef Safadi
Amy Maguire, University of Newcastle
The former head of Melbourne's Adass Israel School has been ruled fit stand trial on charges of child sexual abuse. After many delays, she will now face an extradition hearing.
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Juukan 1 and 2 in June, 2013.
Puutu Kunti Kurrama And Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation
Samantha Hepburn, Deakin University
It's a devastating loss, but the destruction of a culturally significant Aboriginal site is not an isolated incident. Rio Tinto was acting within the law.
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Business + Economy
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Sarah Kaine, University of Technology Sydney; Alice Payne, Queensland University of Technology; Justine Coneybeer, Queensland University of Technology
COVID-19 has been disastrous for people who make our clothes, but there are small signs of hope.
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Anthony Forsyth, RMIT University
Scott Morrison's call for a new deal in industrial relations has been compared to the accords of the Hawke and Keating Labor years. It isn't the same.
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Ray Markey, Macquarie University
Unions, business and government will sit down to try to overhaul our industrial relations system. Past and recent history tell us this is a tough ask.
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Education
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Geoff Hanmer, University of Adelaide
Not all teaching spaces in universities are big enough to allow students to return to normal study as the pandemic restriction ease.
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Politics + Society
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Lorana Bartels, Australian National University; Thalia Anthony, University of Technology Sydney
As we emerge from the pandemic, we need to rebuild our justice system to invest more in First Nations communities, not prisons. It is vital we not return to the status quo.
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Elspeth Tilley, Massey University
Assuming everyone we encounter in public is vulnerable to COVID-19 may be the best ethical response to social distancing and consent.
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Cities
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Hazel Easthope, UNSW; Laura Crommelin, UNSW; Laurence Troy, University of Sydney; Megan Nethercote, RMIT University
Apartments house one in ten Australians, including a higher share of low-income households than other housing types. A new study identifies why some high-density neighbourhoods work better than others.
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Science + Technology
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Simon Lamb, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Timothy Stern, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
New research confirms that massive plumes of buoyant hot rock once rose from near the Earth's core to the surface and triggered vast volcanic eruptions - and that New Zealand sits on top of one.
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Scott Adams, Deakin University; Abbas Kouzani, Deakin University; Tracey Bucknall, Deakin University
Temperature-scanning systems are not always accurate at detecting fever, and raise a host of privacy concerns.
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Arts + Culture
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Jonathon Hutchinson, University of Sydney
From music to porn, online platforms including Twitch, Patreon, Streamlabs, OnlyFans, and SubStack are becoming more familiar to consumers. But will they give creators an income?
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Brooke Collins-Gearing, University of Newcastle
This new NITV documentary captures the power of Country.
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Health + Medicine
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Rachel Climie, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute; Jonathan Shaw, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
We've known for some time type 2 diabetes causes a range of health complications, like heart disease. But now we're starting to see people with diabetes are more likely to get cancer and dementia too.
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Tessa Ogle, The Conversation
We asked five experts if it's OK to drink coffee while pregnant. Four out of five experts said yes.
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