Pittwater Online News

Earth Hour events tackle climate change

12 Mar 2015

In the lead up to Earth Hour on March 28, Pittwater Council will host three practical events to get involved in and do your bit to fight climate change.

The first event, Are you prepared for coastal storms? is on Tuesday 17 March from 7:30pm until 9:30pm at Avalon Beach SLSC.

Residents are invited to hear Michael Hall, from the Climate Institute narrate his photographic presentation on how climate change is already impacting our planet.

There will also be a presentation from the SES advising how best to prepare for coastal storms.

The Bushcare workshop on Saturday 21 March, from 1 until 4pm at North Narrabeen will provide skills and techniques for protecting our bushland and identifying and removing weeds from your back yard or local reserve and will be split into a theory and practical session.

Cr Townsend said whilst Pittwater Council has a strong body of Bushcare volunteers, we always welcome more help.

“Tending to our native landscape, whether it’s at home or in a local reserve is an important part of looking after our environment,” added Cr Townsend.

Our next event, Ask a Sustainability Expert is on Monday 23 March, from 6-8pm at Mona Vale. It’s a unique opportunity to get free advice from architects, tradies and designers who will be on hand to answer questions about solar, water re-use, green roofs, native bees and more.

Residents will be able to meet with an ‘expert’ for 10 minute consultations and get advice on their upcoming projects.

Cr Townsend invited attendees to bring along their sketches, plans and photographs to gain insights specific to their renovation or build.

All these events are free, and location information and bookings can be made online:

Are you prepared for coastal storms? Email:floodplain@pittwater.nsw.gov.au

Ask a Sustainability Expert                  Pittwater.nsw.gov.au/sustainability_events 

Bushcare workshop                            Pittwater.nsw.gov.au/cecbookings 

 New carbon accounting method proposed

March 10, 2015 - Established ways of measuring carbon emissions can sometimes give misleading feedback on how national policies affect global emissions. In some cases, countries are even rewarded for policies that increase global emissions, and punished for policies that contribute to reducing them. "We have developed a new method that provides policy makers with more useful information, in order to set national targets and evaluate their climate policies," says Astrid Kander, Professor in Economic History at Lund University, and lead author of the study, published in the latest issue of Nature Climate Change.

Consumption-based accounting, also known as carbon footprints, has been suggested as an alternative to today's production-based accounting. With carbon footprints, each country must account for all emissions that are caused by its final consumption -- regardless of where the goods were produced.

This has been called a fairer way of measuring emissions, potentially avoiding so-called carbon leakage, where rich, developed countries can reduce their domestic emissions by shifting carbon-intensive production abroad.

The new study, a collaboration between researchers in Sweden, Norway and Australia, demonstrates that carbon footprints do not credit countries for cleaning up their export industries. It also punishes countries with more carbon efficient technology than their trading partners for engaging in trade, even if trading leads to a more carbon efficient allocation of production resources, and hence contributes to reducing emissions globally.

The new measure is therefore based on consumption-based carbon footprints, but adjusts for technology differences between countries in their export sectors.

"With the proposed technology adjusted footprint, we explicitly give credits to clean exports," says co-author Daniel Moran, a researcher in the Industrial Ecology Programme at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

"Heavy industry is also given a more creative role in the struggle to reduce global emissions. Companies that have done their homework and improved carbon efficiency more than their competitors actually make a positive contribution by being commercially successful," says Magnus Jiborn, philosopher at Lund university and co-author of the paper.

Applying the new method, the researchers also calculated carbon accounts for 40 countries, jointly responsible for more than 97 per cent of global GDP, between 1995 and 2010.

"The results challenge the gloomy picture of developed countries outsourcing dirty production. In fact, many countries have managed to reduce their carbon footprints by cleaning up their own production. But under our proposed method they must continue to improve their carbon efficiency faster than world average to lock in those gains," says co-author Tommy Wiedmann, Associate Professor of Sustainability Research at University of New South Wales in Sydney.

New method: how do individual countries fare?

Some highlights:

- For several European countries, technology adjusted footprints are considerably smaller than their standard carbon footprints, and for some even smaller than their production based emissions. This indicates that these countries supply the world market with carbon efficient export goods, and hence contribute to reducing global emissions in a way that standard carbon footprints fail to credit.

- For the US, UK and Australia, technology adjusted carbon footprints remain much larger than their production based emissions. This indicates that these countries do not have carbon efficient export industries and that outsourcing of dirty production is an important factor.

- For China, technology adjusted footprints are larger than their standard consumption based footprints, but substantially smaller than their production based, territorial emissions. This indicates that China is acting as the workshop of the world, providing rich, developed countries with many consumption goods, but with dirty, carbon based technology.

- For some developing coutries, such as Brazil, technology adjusted footprints are substantially smaller than their conventional carbon footprints, suggesting that Brazil, just like much of Europe, provides the world with low-carbon goods.

1. Astrid Kander, Magnus Jiborn, Daniel D. Moran, Thomas O. Wiedmann. National greenhouse-gas accounting for effective climate policy on international trade. Nature Climate Change, 2015; DOI:10.1038/nclimate2555

 Palaszczuk Govt charts new course for Abbot Point

Premier and Minister for the Arts, The Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk and Minister for State Development and Minister for Natural Resources and Mines,The Honourable Anthony Lynham

Media Release: Wednesday, March 11, 2015

TOWNSVILLE: Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has today announced a new agreement between the Labor Government and major proponents Adani and GVK to put in place an environmentally sustainable and fiscally responsible proposal for the expansion of the Abbot Point Coal Terminal.

Ms Palaszczuk said the agreement reached would see dredge spoil dumped on land on the site known as T2, adjacent to the existing coal terminal, not on the Caley Valley wetlands or within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

“I’ve always said I support the responsible and sustainable development of the Galilee Basin and Abbot Point, and the agreement we’ve reached demonstrates that,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“Today my Government sends a clear message: we can protect the Great Barrier Reef, and we can foster economic development and create jobs.

“I am determined to deliver on my election commitments, and that includes no dumping of capital dredge spoil in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, no dumping of dredge material in the nationally-significant Caley Valley wetlands, and no taxpayer funding for capital dredging and the disposal of dredge spoil.

“The Government will not proceed with the current approvals process. We will withdraw the applications and present a new application centred on the T2 site.

“T2 is the only remaining unallocated industrial land at the Port and the only responsible way to proceed with the Abbot Point development to ensure it is ready for future exports from the Galilee Basin.

“I’d like to thank Adani and GVK for working with us to come up with a sustainable plan that helps us protect the Reef, protect the wetlands and create jobs.”

State Development Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said unlike the previous government’s project, capital dredging costs will not be funded by taxpayers.

“We will ensure that approvals costs will be met by Galilee Basin proponents, with capital dredging costs to be paid for by the proponents to the Galilee Basin projects,” Dr Lynham said.

Dr Lynham said the new project referral under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act would involve a full Environmental Impact Statement process, which also allows for a new round of public consultation.

“The Port of Abbot Point development is vital to Queensland’s economic future. That’s why we are prioritising this project and are dedicated to ensuring it progresses in a transparent and environmentally responsible manner," he said.

“We will immediately begin work on providing a robust and informed approval referral to the Commonwealth Government and applications to state approval agencies.

“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to working with local communities and project proponents to deliver good economic and environmental outcomes when it comes to major developments.”

____________________________

Halt to Abbot Point wetland dump plan a positive move

11 March 2015 - WWF Aust.

WWF-Australia today said the Queensland Government’s action to formally withdraw the proposal to dump dredge spoil on sensitive wetlands at Abbot Point, was a positive move. 

“This shows the Government is listening to people who care about the Reef and the important coastal wetlands, that are precious habitats and act as filters to protect the Reef,” said WWF-Australia Reef campaigner Louise Matthiesson.

“The new Queensland Government is to be commended for following through on its election promise to rule out dumping on the wetlands and to find an alternative location for the sludge. 

“The approved plan to dump 3 million tonnes of dredge spoil into the World Heritage Area, and the proposal to dump on the sensitive Caley Valley Wetlands, have now both been taken off the table as a result of today’s announcement.”

The new proposal, put forward by the Queensland Government and proponents GVK and Adani, is to deposit the spoil on the site of BHP’s now-abandoned Terminal 2 project.

“The T2 site is between the Reef World Heritage Area and the Caley Valley wetlands, so the utmost care must be taken before a final decision is made, and we await the outcome of the full environmental impact assessment by the Federal Government,”  said Ms Matthiesson.

“WWF has repeatedly called for a longer jetty at Abbot Point to avoid the majority of dredging.

“The dredging operation itself will have serious impacts, like destroying seagrass beds, regardless of where the spoil is dumped.

“Given the downturn in the coal industry, it’s time to genuinely review whether the port expansion is really necessary at all,” she said.

“Better utilization of existing ports could deliver the same economic benefits, without unnecessarily damaging the Reef. If existing infrastructure can meet this demand, we should be using it more efficiently.”

Ms Matthiesson said today’s announcement is a positive first step in implementing the Queensland Government’s ‘Saving the Reef’ election policy, and WWF looks forward to further action on other promises such as a ban on the dumping of dredge spoil in the whole World Heritage Area.

“The world’s best Reef deserves the world’s best management,” she said.

 Snappy campaign to protect WA's blue swimmer crabs

Joint media release: 12 March 2015

A community awareness campaign is expected to have enough ‘bite’ to help protect blue swimmer crab habitat in the south west region of Western Australia.

Save The Crabs, Then Eat Them is the theme of the South West Catchments Council’s autumn campaign to educate local communities about the harm excessive fertiliser run-off causes to the marine environment. 

The multi media campaign, which is part of the council’s successful Home River Ocean programme, was officially launced by Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment, Bob Baldwin, and Federal Member for Forrest, Nola Marino, today during a visit to Bunbury.

“Every year, rain carries tonnes of fertiliser from suburban lawns and gardens into our waterways, threatening the habitat of important marine species,” Mr Baldwin said.

“Using catchy advertising on local TV, radio, newspapers and online the Save The Crabs, Then Eat Them autumn campaign encourages residents to hold off fertilising when rain is around.

“Protecting their habitat will ensure blue swimmer crabs thrive, both as an important part of our marine system and for the ongoing enjoyment of recreational fishermen and diners, who delight in this delicacy.

“This campaign is an excellent example of how the Australian Government’s $2 billion investment via the National Landcare Programme is helping local communities develop simple, long-term solutions to environmental issues in their own backyards. 

Federal Member for Forrest, Nola Marino said that by fertilising at the right time, residents save money, have more leisure time and improve the health of the iconic estuaries and coast around Busselton, Bunbury and Augusta, and beyond. 

“Rain carries excess fertiliser into stormwater drains, rivers, estuaries and all the way to the ocean,” Ms Marino said.

“This campaign is aimed at encouraging residents, gardeners and landscapers not to fertilise before it rains. It will also increase community awareness about the importance of keeping catchments and waterways healthy for the blue swimmer crabs and other wildlife,” she said. 

Further details on the National Landcare Programme are available atwww.nrm.gov.au

 Ponds are disappearing in the Arctic

March 12, 2015 – Ponds in the Arctic tundra are shrinking and slowly disappearing, according to a new study by University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) researchers. More than 2,800 Arctic tundra ponds in the northern region of Alaska's Barrow Peninsula were analyzed using historical photos and satellite images taken between 1948 and 2010. Over the 62-year period, the researchers found that the number of ponds in the region had decreased by about 17 percent, while pond size had shrunk by an average of one-third.

"The 17 percent is a very conservative estimate because we didn't consider ponds that had divided, or split into two ponds," explained Christian Andresen, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at UTEP who led the study. "Some ponds are elongated and as they shrink over time, they can be divided into two or more smaller ponds."

The study, which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, was conducted by Andresen and Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Vanessa Lougheed, Ph.D.

The team points to warming temperatures and encroaching plants as one of the reasons the ponds are disappearing. As temperatures rise, nutrient-rich permafrost -- a frozen layer of soil -- thaws, releasing nutrients into ponds and enhancing plant growth.

"Plants are taking over shallow ponds because they're becoming warm and nutrient-rich," Andresen said. "Before you know it, boom, the pond is gone."

Andresen worries that the geomorphology of the region's landscape will change if these small bodies of water continue to shrink.

"The role of ponds in the arctic is extremely important," he said. "History tells us that ponds tend to enlarge over hundreds of years and eventually become lakes; ponds shape much of this landscape in the long run, and with no ponds there will be no lakes for this region."

Ponds in the Barrow Peninsula also serve as a major food source and nesting habitat for migratory birds, including certain waterfowl on the threatened species list, such as the spectacled eider (Somateria fischeri) and Steller's eider (Polysticta stelleri). If the aquatic system continues to shift toward a drier community, their vital summer feeding and nesting grounds could disappear, affecting the future of these and many other migratory species.

Christian G. Andresen, Vanessa L. Lougheed. Disappearing Arctic tundra ponds: Fine-scale analysis of surface hydrology in drained thaw lake basins over a 65 year period (1948-2013).. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 2015; DOI:10.1002/2014JG002778

Environment Events, Workshops and Bushcare in Pittwater - Jan/Feb 2015

Mona Vale Dunes Bushcare Group

Recent weed control funding has enabled a large area to be replanted with local native species on the Mona Vale dunes behind the Mona Vale Golf Course. This work may have encouraged a recent visit from a family of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. The Bushcare group was given a lovely insight into the birds’ family life, where the mother listened for sounds of caterpillars in dead wattle branches while a juvenile begs nearby. Meanwhile the father sat up on a higher branch keeping watch. 

If you’d love the opportunity to see these beautiful birds up close and personal or just want to give some of your time to help keep Pittwater beautiful, then please contact Council’s Bushcare Officer on 9970 1367.

The Mona Vale Dunes Bushcare Group meets regularly on the 3rd Thursday and 2nd Saturday of each month from 8:30 – 11:30am at the end of Golf Avenue. New volunteers are always welcome!

Bushcare Workshops 

Saturday 28 March, 1 – 4pm

Are you new to Bushcare in Pittwater or thinking about Headland Ecosystems getting involved? Or are you simply looking for some skills and techniques for identifying and removing weeds from your backyard? If you answered ‘Yes’ then this is an essential workshop to learn the tips, tricks and identification skills to conduct bushregeneration work in our local reserves or your native garden.

The workshop will be split into two components - a theory session and a field trip to nearby bushland. In the theory session participants will be guided through a provided booklet in order to learn some of the most common weeds and native plants, including those extra tricky ‘look-a-like plants’. Some live samples of plants will help aid the learning process.

Correct removal techniques for specific weeds will also be shown, along with some of the core principles of bush regeneration and conducting safe work practices in the bush.

The field trip will put this newly found knowledge into practice, identifying natives and weeds in a bushland setting, and discussing strategies for managing weed infested areas.

Where: North Narrabeen – location provided upon booking.

This is a free workshop for Pittwater residents only - Online -www.pittwater.nsw.gov.au/cecbookings, In person: Coastal Environment Centre, Lake Park Road, North Narrabeen or Phone: 1300 000 232 (Reception - Option 1)

Ask a Sustainability Expert  

23 March 2015 - 6pm to 8pm

Architects, tradies and designers will provide free advice on solar, water re-use, green roofs, native bees and more! 23 March 2015 - 6pm to 8pm Mona Vale Memorial Hall, 1606 Pittwater Rd, Mona Vale Book: www.pittwater.nsw.gov.au/sustainability_events

 Face-to-face bullying worse than cyber-attacks, students say

March 11, 2015 – “you see their smile, hear their laugh, see their face, see you break down," girl student, 12. "Because you can't block face-to-face bullying," boy student, 16.

Both children were among 156 students who participated in an Australian study, led by QUT, to describe their perceptions of being bullied.

The research, led and supervised by Professor Marilyn Campbell from QUT's Faculty of Education, investigated the students' responses to both cyber and face-to-face bullying and asked which was more hurtful.

The study was published February issue of the Journal of School Violence titled "Students' Perceptions of Their Own Victimization: A youth voice perspective."

Professor Campbell said the findings indicated significantly more victims perceived traditional bullying to be more harsh and cruel than cyberbullying.

"It clearly indicates the feelings of the children and the very real threat they have of being physically harmed by another child," she said.

She said earlier studies found Australian school students reported the highest prevalence of peer aggression among OECD countries.

Professor Campbell said the study showed 59 percent of the children participants felt face-to-face bullying was worse for them than being cyberbullied.

Twenty-six per cent reported that both forms of bullying were equally hurtful and the remaining 15 per cent perceived cyberbullying to be worse.

"Children reported being scared and very worried by the attacks but it was interesting to find a majority of them were embarrassed that others were witnessing their victimisation as it occurred," Professor Campbell said.

She said recent Australian studies have reported traditional victimisation prevalence rates of between 16 and 40 per cent among students.

She also said a 2008 survey of about 40 countries found Australian primary schools had the highest reported incidence of bullying in the world.

She also said a review of Australian studies found a conservative prevalence estimate for being cyberbullied in a 12-month period was approximately 20 per cent of children aged between eight to 17.

The participants, involved in the latest research, were drawn from a larger case study sample of 3,112 students from across 29 different schools in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.

She said the focus of the research was to give "voice" to students who reported being targeted by both traditional bullies and cyberbullies.

"Few studies have directly examined the perceptions of students who have experienced both forms of bullying and explored which form was worse for them," she said.

Professor Campbell said the perceptions of the students challenged a number of suppositions presented in other literature that attempted to explain why cyberbullying was associated with more negative outcomes than traditional or face-to-face bullying.

She said many students noted that it was their ability or inability to take some form of action in response to their victimisation that was a defining reason as to why they perceived their experiences as they did.

Professor Campbell said taking action against the person who cyberbullied them took the form of deleting a message or 'blocking' a bully.

A girl, 12, said: "I was upset that the person who cyberbullied me hid behind the computer like a coward."

And a boy, 15, said: "Because being physically abused is a lot worse than being abused by a pathetic loser over the Internet."

She said other students referred to the distance created by technology and indicated that traditional bullying was worse than cyberbullying because: "It was real, live communication, not done digitally, it cuts deeper," girl, 14.

"These students specifically referred to the proximity of the bully during the incidents which suggests proximity makes it more emotionally impacting than when it is buffered by the distance that the online setting provides," Dr Campbell said.

She said the children's reactions included feeling hurt, depressed, frightened, anxious, embarrassed and worthless.

Professor Campbell said based on these responses it appeared that when students felt significantly helpless to act in response to their victimisation, it affected their interpretation of which form of bullying was worse.

She said the study had ramifications for schools and guidance counsellors.

"It is also important to involve students and student leaders in anti-bullying programs as teachers are already dealing with a crowded curriculum," she said.

Emma-Kate Corby, Marilyn Campbell, Barbara Spears, Phillip Slee, Des Butler, Sally Kift. Students’ Perceptions of Their Own Victimization: A Youth Voice Perspective. Journal of School Violence, 2014; 1 DOI:10.1080/15388220.2014.996719 

 Historian will co-chair Australian Studies at Harvard

11 March 2015

Professor Penny Russell from the Department of History at the University of Sydney has been jointly appointed to the prestigious Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser Chair in Australian Studies at Harvard University for the 2016-2017 academic year.

"We are delighted to see such strong appointments to the Chair," said Professor Stuart Macintyre, Chair of the Australian Nominating Committee. "That Harvard has made it possible to invite two scholars for the 2016-2017 academic year testifies to their outstanding quality."

As co-chair with Professor John Gascoigne from the University of New South Wales, Professor Russell will commence in September 2016 and will join the ranks of esteemed Australians who have previously held the chair since its inception in 1978. They include former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, historians Charles Manning Clark and Geoffrey Blainey, scientist Tim Flannery, and Indigenous Australian barrister Mick Dodson.

"It's a great privilege to be invited to spend a year in the History Department at Harvard," said Penny Russell, Bicentennial Professor of Australian History at the University of Sydney, "and to pursue my research on honour in colonial societies in the company of historians who have been an inspiration to my own work."

"I can think of no better way to understand Australian history and Australian habits than to view them from the outside for a while, and I look forward to teaching and learning in such a stimulating environment."

Professor Russell's work has illuminated the patterns of sociability that shaped colonial society, and opened new ways of understanding the manners and customs used to negotiate class, gender and racial relations in nineteenth-century Australia. Her year at Harvard will assist her to pursue research in the codes of honour that operated in different colonial settings.

She will work alongside fellow Chair, Professor John Gascoigne, who is a Scientia Professor in the School of Humanities and Languages at the University of New South Wales. Through his studies of Joseph Banks, Pacific exploration and the Enlightenment in colonial Australia, he has provided new perspectives on the mentality of those involved in establishing European Australia. At Harvard he will continue his work on culture contact in the Pacific with particular emphasis on the interaction between early American whalers and the peoples of the Pacific.

"Being based in the History of Science Department at Harvard will provide a very appropriate academic environment in which to pursue further my interests in the links between science and exploration and science and the state," Professor Gascoigne said.

Professor Gascoigne's most recent works are Captain Cook: Voyager Between Worlds (2007), winner of the Frank Broeze prize for maritime history, and Encountering the Pacific in the Age of the Enlightenment (2014), winner of the NSW Premier's general history prize.

Professor Russell is currently chair of the History Department at the University of Sydney, and also a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. Her most recent book, Savage or Civilised? (2011) was recognised by the New South Wales Premier's Award for Australian History. She was co-editor of History Australia between 2008 and 2012, and is renowned for teaching and supervision of research.

The Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser Chair in Australian Studies was made possible by a gift from the Australian Government in 1978 and Professor Russell and Professor Gascoigne will be required to present a report for the Prime Minister at the end of their Harvard tenure.

 ACCC releases draft prices access seekers will pay to use Telstra's copper network

11 March 2015

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued its draft decision on the prices that other operators pay Telstra to use its copper network to provide telecommunications services to consumers.

The NBN is replacing Telstra’s legacy network as the infrastructure over which Australians receive fixed line voice and broadband communications. This structural change has significant implications for how Telstra’s fixed line assets are used during the transition and for the issues that the ACCC has dealt with during its inquiry to date.

The draft decision covering 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2019 is for a one-off uniform fall in access prices of 0.7 per cent for the seven access services. This compares with a one-off price increase of 7.2 per cent covering the same period that Telstra sought in October 2014.

“The draft decision on prices ensures nominal price stability in the wholesale market for telecommunications services and will promote competition in the transition to the NBN,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.

“Given current inflation however, this uniform price fall means the prices access seekers pay will decline in real terms over the next four years by around 12 per cent.”

“There are two conceptual underpinnings to this decision. First, Telstra will no longer bear all the costs of declining consumer demand for fixed line services. Second, however, access seekers will only pay for the assets needed to supply them, and not for any under utilisation caused by the NBN,” Mr Sims said.

On the one hand, the ACCC is adopting a revised approach to the way the costs of Telstra’s copper network are allocated between users. The change means that there will be a full allocation of costs across all services supplied over the network and that Telstra will no longer bear all of the costs of declining consumer demand for fixed line services. Instead, these costs will be shared across all users of the network, including access seekers.

On the other hand, the ACCC is implementing the approach on the treatment of NBN effects of arrangements outlined in its 22 October 2014 position statement. The cost allocation framework allocates costs to NBN Co for its use of leased assets, while assets that are decommissioned or used less because of the NBN are removed from the cost base for the fixed line services. The ACCC is also not allowing Telstra to pass on the costs of capital expenditures that are incurred in making ready for the NBN.

“This means that the prices that access seekers pay do not include a component for the migration of customers off the legacy copper network and onto the NBN or NBN Co’s use of Telstra assets,” Mr Sims said.

“In addition, NBN rollout creates a higher degree of uncertainty about future demand and the costs used to estimate the draft prices than is usual for network industries. The ACCC is addressing this uncertainty by detailing how we will respond if the NBN rollout deviates from current forecasts.”

There are a number of factors that have contributed to the draft price decision in addition to the approach taken on cost allocation and NBN arrangements.

“An important factor is the decline in the cost of capital driven largely by lower interest rates. Additional factors contributing to lower prices include further depreciation of the asset base and lower operating costs due to the decline in the use of the network,” Mr Sims said.

The ACCC recognises that Telstra has made considerable efforts to provide the information needed to form a view on whether its forecasts represent the prudent and efficient costs of supplying services over its copper network. However, the ACCC does not yet have all the information on costs needed to form a final view on efficient costs and has requested further information from Telstra in this regard.

The issue of efficient costs is one of three issues that the ACCC will consider further before reaching a final decision. Another area is whether to make an additional adjustment for the effect of the NBN; the ACCC is considering whether rising unit operating costs due to the loss of economies of scale on Telstra’s network as customers migrate to the NBN should be excluded from the prices that access seekers pay. The third area where the ACCC is still considering its position is the verification of some of the cost allocations within the revised approach.

The ACCC invites stakeholder views on its draft decision on the primary price terms to be included in the final access determinations for the next regulatory period, including reasons for those views. Submissions are due by 5pm on Thursday 30 April 2015. The ACCC intends to release its final decision at the end of June 2015. Draft decisions on connection charges and the non-price terms and conditions will be released later this month.

The ACCC’s Draft decision on the primary price terms for the fixed line services is available at: Fixed line services FAD inquiry 2013

A confidential consultant’s report commissioned by the ACCC to provide expert opinion on the efficient costs of supplying the regulated access services is available to access seekers under confidentiality arrangements.

 Find out what your apps are really doing

March 10, 2015 - Apps, these tiny programs on Internet-connected mobile phones are increasingly becoming entryways for surveillance and fraud. Computer scientists have now developed a program that can show users whether the apps on their smartphone are accessing private information, and what they do with that data. This year, the researchers will present an improved version of their system again at the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover.

RiskIQ, an IT security-software company, recently examined 350,000 apps that offer monetary transactions, and found more than 40,000 of these specialized programs to be little more than scams. Employees had downloaded the apps from around 90 recognized app store websites worldwide, and analyzed them. They discovered that a total of eleven percent of these apps contained malicious executable functions -- they could read along personal messages, or remove password protections. And all this would typically take place unnoticed by the user.

Computer scientists from Saarbrücken have now developed a software system that allows users to detect malicious apps at an early stage. This is achieved by scanning the program code, with an emphasis on those parts where the respective app is accessing or transmitting personal information. The monitoring software will detect whether a data request is related to the subsequent transmission of data, and will flag the code sequence in question as suspicious accordingly. 

"Imagine your address book is read out, and hundreds of lines of code later, without you noticing, your phone will send your contacts to an unknown website," Erik Derr says. Derr is a PhD student at the Graduate School for Computer Science at Saarland University, and a researcher at the Saarbrücken Research Center for IT Security, CISPA. An important feature of the software he developed is its ability to monitor precisely which websites an app is accessing, or which phone number a text message was sent to.

To conclusively detect these functional relationships between the data source and the recipient, the researchers use contemporary methods of information flow analysis. They set their program up in advance with a list of suspicious code combinations that access programming interfaces, so that it would learn to differentiate between "good" and "evil" apps, and additionally fed it with details of currently known attacks. "So it can be helpful, for instance, to know the telephone numbers of these expensive premium services. Say one of these numbers is dialed without the consent of the user, then the fraud is obvious," Derr explains. 

Since his method is computationally demanding and also requires a lot of memory space, the software is run on a dedicated server. "It takes our software an average of 25 minutes per app," Derr says. So far, his research team has tested around 23,000 apps in this manner. And of course, consumers will benefit most from this approach. "The app could be analyzed on our server, and the results would be displayed on your smartphone. Or ideally, the evaluation process could be integrated directly into the app store websites," explains Derr. This is one of the reasons the Saarbrücken researchers are already discussing the issue with US online retail company Amazon. "But Google would certainly be an option as well,," says Derr.

The above story is based on materials provided by University Saarland. 

 MAGNA CARTA SYMPOSIUM IN SYDNEY IN MAY 2015

History's most important document?

The History Council of NSW is delighted to announce our involvement in the celebration of the 800th Anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta. This symposium has been organised in conjunction with the Magna Carta Committee, the Rule of Law Society and the State Library of NSW.

The signing of Magna Carta in 1215 marked an important step in the movement away from arbitrary, monarchical rule towards responsible, constitutional government. By the end of the eighteenth century Englishmen had come to believe strongly in the principles of trial by jury and no taxation without representation-even if the latter took the form of virtual representation. These principles were carried to the colony of NSW and were at the heart of the movements to establish trial by jury and representative (or at least consultative) institutions, which commenced within two decades of the founding of the colony.

The 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta in 2015 provides the appropriate opportunity to re-examine this document and its role in British and Australian history. In this day long symposium, five speakers, including Prof Nick Cowdery, Prof David Clark, Prof John Hirst, Dr Rosemary Laing and Dr Andrew Tink, will explore the historical and contemporary significance of this groundbreaking document.

This event will take place on Thursday May 7 2015. This event is free but bookings are essential!

See more at HERE