Archive for September, 2008

A study by a University of New England linguist has revealed how methods of cross-examination used in Australian courtrooms can disadvantage Aboriginal defendants and witnesses.

Dr Diana Eades said her study – the first of its kind – examined “the ways in which courtroom talk is used to legitimise the overpolicing of Aboriginal people and to continue the neocolonial relationship of control over them”.

The study, recently published as a book titled Courtroom Talk and Neocolonial Control, focuses on the cross-examination – during a Brisbane courtroom hearing in 1995 – of three Aboriginal boys who were prosecution witnesses in the case of six police officers charged with their abduction.

“It shows how, by the use of propositions and assertions in cross-examination, the three boys were portrayed not as victims of police abuse, but in terms of difference, deviance, and delinquency,” Dr Eades said.

The book, which contains 98 extracts from the courtroom hearing, reveals that a pervasive strategy in the cross-examination of the boys (aged 13-15) was one of bullying and shouting until they finally agreed to the propositions being put to them. “Despite the obvious fact that the answers were given under great duress, and therefore not given freely, the legal process interpreted them literally,” Dr Eades said.

“Such examples,” she continued, “reveal one of the problematic assumptions that underlie courtroom rules of evidence: lawyers can take words or expressions from their cross-examination questions and attribute them to the witness. Even if the witness has given only a one-word answer – such as ‘Yes’ – to repeated and harassing questions, this answer can be replaced in the lawyer’s closing address with the words from the question, and then reported as if they were the witness’s own words.”

In an earlier book (Aboriginal English and the Law, Queensland Law Society, 1992), Dr Eades showed a number of ways in which mainstream methods of lawyer-client communication can cause problems when the client is an Aboriginal person. Courtroom Talk and Neocolonial Control (published by Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin) widens the perspective to the larger historical, social and political context of the ongoing struggles between Aboriginal people and the police.

“The legal process is meant to protect citizens from abuse such as that which might be inflicted by individual police officers,” Dr Eades said. “But this book exposes ways in which courtroom language can be manipulated and witnesses linguistically tricked.

“The book concludes by asking whether Aboriginal people can ever expect justice in cases of police abuse and, more broadly, whether we can expect an end to neocolonial control over Aboriginal people without far-reaching changes to courtroom rules of evidence.”

Outstanding contributions to the learning experience of students by members of staff at the University of New England have once again received national recognition through the annual Citations of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC – formerly the Carrick Institute).

During a ceremony in Sydney last month, the Executive Director of the ALTC, Professor Richard Johnstone, presented seven Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning to individuals and groups representing both the academic staff and the general staff of UNE.

In the words of the ALTC itself, the Citations recognise people “who have made a significant contribution to the quality of student learning in a specific area of responsibility over a sustained period”. UNE staff members have received a total of 25 Citations since the awards began in 2006.

This year’s UNE Citations went to:

Dr Josie Fisher, “for sustained commitment to motivating off-campus students to form a community of learners that encourages critical engagement with issues in business and professional ethics”.

Associate Professor Tom Maxwell, “for a decade of national and international leadership in innovative curriculum development and research in more professional, workplace-oriented teacher education”.

Dr Chris Reading, “for commitment to the enhancement of the final-year Education student learning experience through the sustained development of authentic assessment processes”.

The Student Assist Team (Rhonda Leece, Airlie Bell, Kim Glover, Annette Stevenson), “for implementing innovative and responsive programs that provide holistic support for all students to stay academically focused while maintaining a healthy wellbeing”.

Edwina Ridgeway, “for many years of caring and dedicated work within the residential college system, implementing and maintaining programs and facilities supporting students’ learning and life skills”.

The German Team (Professor Kerry Dunne, Dr Linda Hess-Liechti, Dr Julia Petzl-Berney, Jenny Evans, Iain Mackay, Peter Hess, Dr Beat Lehmann), “for sustained innovation in using technologies to foster distance education students’ becoming autonomous language learners”.

Isabel Tasker, “for sustained dedication to understanding and meeting the needs of students undertaking the challenges of learning Mandarin – on and off campus – and inspiring them to succeed”.

The ALTC emphasises that people who are awarded Citations “are widely recognised for their achievements within the nominating institution, and have received strong institutional endorsement”.

In congratulating the University’s nominees – and all those involved in the application process – on their “wonderful effort”, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, said that their success represented the achievement of “the broad community of those who support our students”.

Professor Belinda Tynan, who coordinated the applications from UNE, praised the work of the University’s selection committee – comprising members of the academic staff, the general staff and the Teaching and Learning Centre, and previous Citation winners. “We go through a rigorous process,” she said, “giving feedback and support to the nominees while helping them develop their applications.”

“The whole process has good repercussions for UNE’s Schools and Faculties,” added Professor Tynan, who is the University’s contact officer for ALTC activities.

The Citations were presented during a ceremony at the University of NSW on the 5^th of August.

A PHOTOGRAPH of the UNE group that went to Sydney for the ALTC award ceremony can be seen by clicking on the image displayed here. It shows, from left (back row) Eve Woodberry (UNE’s Pro Vice-Chancellor, Academic), Professor Graham Webb (UNE’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor), Professor Kerry Dunne, Dr Linda Hess-Liechti, Dr Julia Petzl-Berney; (middle row) Professor Belinda Tynan, Annette Stevenson, Dr Chris Reading, Edwina Ridgeway, Dr Josie Fisher; (front row) Airlie Bell, Kim Glover, Jenny Evans, Isabel Tasker, Rhonda Leece.

A report prepared by researchers at the University of New England challenges governments to plan for a doubling of the population along the NSW North Coast within the next 20 years.

A continuation of the current trend of development, the authors say, would result in a growth of urbanised areas along the coastal strip between Tweed Heads and Yamba by more than 400 per cent between the years 2004 and 2050. This would be accompanied by a loss of up to 50 per cent of land currently used for agriculture, and a loss of about 18 per cent of the remaining coastal ecosystems – particularly littoral forest, and coastal heath and wetlands.

The report, Alternative Landscape Futures, presents a number of possible alternatives to this “current trend” scenario. These alternatives redesign the distribution of landscape change pressures to allow for more sustainable futures. They involve measures – in combinations of varying priority – aimed at limiting urban growth, protecting the coastline and its biodiversity, and protecting good agricultural land. (The photograph displayed here shows development on North Coast agricultural land.)

The authors – Professor David Brunckhorst and Phil Morley from UNE’s Institute for Rural Futures and the UNESCO Centre for Bioregional Resource Management – say that by focusing the majority of the predicted population growth further inland, around centres such as Murwillumbah, Lismore, Casino and Grafton, the loss of coastal ecosystems by 2050 could be reduced to about 5 per cent, and the loss of agricultural land to about 15 per cent.

“In all scenarios, population growth is the major driver of landscape change through urbanisation (and subsequent displacement of agriculture and environmental services),” the report says. The authors believe that, with the population of the Northern Rivers region of NSW heading towards one million by the year 2050, planning should begin immediately to shift the focus of urban development back to the inland centres.

Mr Morley explained that the three-year project, funded by Land and Water Australia, had involved the study of North Coast satellite images and census data from the past 25 years, the use of that information to analyse landscape development trends over that period, and the projection of those development patterns into the next 25 years. He said the study had shown that the strongest area of urban growth on the North Coast had been that closest to the Queensland border – “within commuting distance to the Gold Coast”.

Professor Brunckhorst emphasised the importance of this coastal region for the future of Australian agriculture. “It’s a major imperative in Australia – especially as we adapt to climate change pressures – to protect good agricultural land in areas of relatively good rainfall,” he said. He also pointed out the importance of the remaining coastal heath, forest and wetlands as a buffer against the rising sea levels and storm surges associated with climate change. “They’ve learnt in Louisiana and Florida that they shouldn’t have cleared coastal wetlands for development,” he said.

“It’s imperative that local, State, and national government planning and policy take a long-term regional view to adapt and prepare for climate change futures,” Professor Brunckhorst said. “Planning and acting now is likely to reduce vulnerability, potentially saving billions of dollars in damage and losses while protecting productive land and ecosystem services.”

“We expected the availability of water to be a major limiting factor in development,” he added, “but in fact it’s something that local governments seem to ignore when they give building approvals.” He pointed to the massive developments in south-east Queensland that have continued through a period of serious water shortage. “It’s the same in the Murray-Darling Basin,” he said. “In the past water has been ignored as a limiting factor in land use planning.”

The report, provided to Land and Water Australia in July, concludes: “Either through decisive, adaptive action, or by inaction, society is deciding today where we are headed in the future.”

About 1,200 prospective students took advantage of the University of New England’s annual Open Day today to get a first-hand impression of the University’s campus and all that it offers.

They came from near and far, with some – drawn by UNE’s “five-star” reputation for a rewarding educational experience – travelling many hundreds of kilometres from their homes in Victoria, NSW and Queensland.

One of those – Jessica Lloyd – travelled to UNE from south-west of Longreach in Queensland. Jessica, who finished school at Fairholme College in Toowoomba last year, said some of her school friends had come to UNE and had “really enjoyed it”. And, with her preference for country life and her interest in studying rural science, she said the University’s rural setting was an added attraction.

Lazenby Hall was crowded with visitors collecting information and advice on all aspects of UNE’s academic programs, as well as its administrative procedures and student support services. There were displays and demonstrations illustrating UNE’s research and teaching programs in fields such as botany, geology, physiology, zoology, agriculture, chemistry, and environmental science.

The Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Graham Webb, in his official welcome to the visitors, emphasised the accessibility of the University’s teaching staff, and the community atmosphere prevailing on campus and extending into the wider Armidale community.

Professor Webb spoke about UNE’s proud tradition as Australia’s first regional university, its reputation for academic excellence, and the unique “living-and-learning” environment of its residential colleges. He said UNE offered “the best of both worlds”: study at a highly-regarded academic institution while forming life-long friendships in a friendly and supportive community.

Madeline Beveridge, a second-year undergraduate living at Earle Page College, welcomed the visitors on behalf of the University’s students, saying: “UNE is far more than just a place to study”. As well as working towards her Bachelor of Advanced Science with Honours degree, Madeline said, she was making friends and “having the time of my life”.

Meshaal Alshammary, a student from Saudi Arabia studying for a Master of International Business degree, gave a welcome on behalf of UNE’s international students. He spoke about the “warmth and kindness” of the University’s staff, saying that it made the campus “feel like home” for overseas students. He recommended UNE to prospective students as a place to experience cultural diversity in a friendly environment. “On any short walk around the campus you’ll hear at least five different languages,” he said.

This year’s Open Day involved local clubs and businesses more than ever before, and the UNE Bistro was alive with information stalls on religious, environmental, political, sporting, and community service groups, as well as student organisations.

Wet weather focused most of today’s activities indoors, with information sessions on a wide range of academic programs as well as on subjects such as careers, HECS, and applying for a university place. There were also tours of individual Schools within the academic Faculties, as well as of the residential colleges, the Dixson Library, IT facilities, support services, Sport UNE, and the student radio station TUNE! FM. Visitors were treated to a free barbecue lunch, live music and theatre performances, recorded music provided by DJ “Rusty”, and the chance to win an iPod Nano. The prize winner was Vanessa Sing, a Year 12 student from the New England region.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows Professor Graham Webb with Madeline Beveridge and Meshaal Alshammary.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NSW Outback Division of General Practice, Mr Stuart Gordon, will be the guest speaker at a University of New England college dinner next week. The title of his talk will be “Country general practice – more than just medicine”.

The occasion will be the annual Robb College Rural Focus Dinner on Tuesday 9 September. Members of the public are welcome to attend the lecture in the Robb College Dining Hall at 8 pm, but should book through the College office on (02) 6773 1700.

Serving communities in the shires of Bourke, Brewarrina, Cobar and Walgett covering 128,061 square kilometres, Mr Gordon works to ensure that best practice is implemented in these rural and remote areas, and to assist in the delivery of efficient and cost-effective health care.

He has spent more than 10 years working in international and regional health services, and in 2006 completed two years as the Deputy CEO for the Aga Khan Health Services in Tanzania.

Mr Gordon has a Master’s degree in Public Health. However, before working in this field, he gained a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Land Science and worked for the Australian Cotton Foundation and the Australian Conservation Foundation.

The Head of Robb College, Ms Jan Moran, said it was “always a pleasure to welcome speakers to the College’s annual Rural Focus Dinner who have fresh ideas on a sometimes controversial topic”.

A national symposium hosted by the University of New England will examine ways of helping Australian primary industries to adopt innovative technologies more quickly and efficiently.

“Primary industry research hasn’t got a good record for having innovations adopted,” said the convener of the symposium, Dr Philip Thomas from UNE’s School of Business, Economics and Public Policy. “Rates of adopting innovation across Australia’s primary industries are (with a few exceptions) low. This is a fundamental challenge for both the research and the farming communities, and we don’t at present have a strategy to overcome it.”

Dr Thomas said that the aims of the symposium, on the 24^th and 25^th of November 2008, would be to identify impediments to the process of adopting innovation, to discuss solutions, and to outline a strategy to develop and implement those solutions.

The symposium will bring together researchers, farmers, and agricultural advisers and investors, as well as representatives of industry organisations, government and non-government agencies, and agribusiness. There will be about 40 speakers from around Australia and New Zealand, and the Keynote Address will be given by John Bessant, Professor of Innovation Management in the Tanaka Business School at Imperial College London. Professor Bessant, a Fellow of the British Academy of Management, has lectured and consulted widely around the world, and is the author of 15 books and many articles on the adoption of innovation.

The Primary Industries Innovation Centre (a joint venture of UNE and the NSW Department of Primary Industries) is supporting the symposium, together with the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Sheep Industry Innovation, the CRC for Beef Genetic Technologies, Meat and Livestock Australia, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, and Australian Wool Innovation Ltd.

Titled “New Pathways to Adoption and Diffusion of Primary Industries Innovations”, the symposium will draw on a broad range of industry and research experience. “We’re trying to achieve a good balance between academic perspectives and real-life case studies,” Dr Thomas said. “We’ve engaged professionals who will provide insight into real-life innovation success, and also highlight the key factors causing failure to adopt innovation – and how these might be overcome in the future.”

The symposium will end with a workshop to establish a collaborative research strategy aimed at integrating and implementing ideas arising in the preceding sessions.

Selected papers presented at the symposium will be peer reviewed for publication in a special edition of the Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture. The deadline for the submission of abstracts (including poster abstracts) is the 30^th of September, and the deadline for registering attendance at the symposium is the 10^th of November.

A registration form will be available at www.une.edu.au/piic/ from tomorrow (Wednesday 3 September). It can also be obtained - with more information on the symposium - from Elizabeth Davies at the Primary Industries Innovation Centre, University of New England, Armidale (phone 02 6773 2745).

Recommendations in a report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) could lead to more “shop cemeteries” in the main streets of towns, according to two academics at the University of New England.

The report – on the competitiveness of grocery retail prices – was released in July after being commissioned by the Federal Government at the beginning of the year. Among the measures it recommends is a further deregulation of retail sites as part of an attempt to increase competition.

Associate Professor Robert Baker and Dr Stephen Wood from UNE’s discipline of Geography and Planning say this recommendation could lead to a proliferation of “greenfield” retail development on the outskirts of towns. “Such a policy would further exacerbate the problems facing struggling main streets,” Dr Baker said, “and see the increasing invasion of pawnbrokers, $2 shops, tattooists, op shops, local MPs, and ‘adult’ shops into what is becoming the ‘dead heart’ of towns. The ACCC seems intent on creating retail deserts in town centres in the name of competition.”

“What Australia needs is strong regulation, not motherhood statements on competition,” he continued. “Competition policies like this are based on the economic ideology that ‘the market always gets it right’, but in fact the market usually gets it wrong. The ACCC needs to take on the hard decisions against the big players.”

It is those “big players”, the academics say, who could exploit any further deregulation of retail development by building more out-of-town supermarkets – still classified as “general stores” in out-dated government regulations.

Dr Baker and Dr Wood advocate a system similar to that in the UK, where the emphasis in supermarket development is on “what’s good for the community” and not “what’s good for the supermarket company”. “In Britain, priority is given to developments in town centres,” Dr Wood said, “and developments have to be sustainable in terms of the town’s population.”

“In Australia we’re continuing to operate in a policy vacuum in terms of retail planning, and it’s undermining main-street viability and vitality. What we need is a retail policy that has definitions, guidelines, and enforceability.”