History And Politics Of The North West Shelf Project

Government policy; references to Aborigines; chapter by Lyndall Ryan annotated separately.

The Biogeography of the Australian North West Shelf provides the first assembly of existing information of the North West Shelf in terms of geological, oceanographic and climatological history and current understanding of such issues as biodiversity, connectivity, larval dispersal and speciation in the sea that determine the distribution patterns of its invertebrate fauna. It is intended as a source of information and ideas on the biota of the shelf and its evolutionary origins and affinities and the environmental drivers of species’ ecology and distribution and ecosystem function. Regulators and industry environmental managers worldwide, but especially on the resource-rich North West Shelf, are faced with having to make decisions without adequate information or understanding of conservation values or the factors that drive ecosystem processes and resilience in the face of increasing anthropogenic and natural change. This book will provide a resource of information and ideas and extensive references to issues of primary concern. It will provide a big-picture narrative, putting the marine biota into a geological, evolutionary, and regional biodiversity context. The first book to cover the major benthic habitats and physical and ecological condition of the North West Shelf of Australia Covers new information on geomorphology and biota of coral reefs and other invertebrate habitats that are key species and functional groups of the North West Shelf Introduces new ideas on biogeographic processes and patterns in tropical seas

Western Australia is one of the world's great energy and mineral provinces, and much of its economic history has been shaped by the interaction between mineral-industry developments and government policy. A central feature of this experience has been avoidance of market mechanisms, and excessive reliance on detailed regulation to achieve policy goals. With decisions about future energy policy imminent, The Great Energy Debate provides a timely analysis of the importance of energy costs to the whole Western Australian economy. It lays down benchmarks against which policy proposals can be measured, and raises questions such as: How much competition (and regulation) should there be in the electricity industry to promote the future development of the State? What are the linkages between large mineral, and mineral-processing projects and the rest of the State's economy? How can Western Australia have a competitive and cost-effective energy sector? The Great Energy Debate not only examines future energy projects, but also makes some provocative proposals for the reform of energy policy in Western Australia.

In this compelling and comprehensive work, renowned historian Frank Bongiorno presents a social and cultural history of Australia's political life, from pre-settlement Indigenous systems to the present day. Depicting a wonderful parade of dreamers and schemers, Bongiorno surveys moments of political renewal and sheds fresh light on our democratic life. From local pubs and meeting halls to the parliament and cabinet; from pamphleteers and stump orators to party agents and operatives - this enthralling account looks at the political insiders in the halls of power, as well as the agitators and outsiders who sought to shape the nation from the margins. A work of political history like no other, Dreamers and Schemers will transform the way you look at Australian politics.

Four decades ago, faced with a series of economic, political and social crises, business and government leaders in Australia and many other nations were convinced by a well organised ideological insurgency of the need for what at first was presented as a series of technical changes in economic policy. However, neoliberalism quickly became a revolutionary agenda for re-ordering the social democratic state. Captured: How neoliberalism transformed the Australian state directs attention to the central role of state power not just to remake markets, but also to remake a broad swathe of political life, social policy and citizenship. In seeking to undermine the power of organised labour and “unleash” market capitalism, neoliberalism promised a surge of competition, productivity and common prosperity. For the wealthy few, this has indeed been an historically unprecedented time of capital accumulation, but for most, the results have been profoundly disappointing. Today, neoliberalism is in crisis. We are living through an age of great instability, disillusionment and despair. Inequality of income and wealth has been rising; a majority of workers have experienced long-term declining relative living standards; corporate political and market power has reached historic levels; and younger generations are increasingly giving up the expectation of attaining the living standards of their parents. The status of prevailing neoliberal ideas and policy is in increasing disarray. But without a coherent understanding of the ideas and interests driving neoliberalism, many people have turned to incoherent populism for an explanation and salvation and, failing that, even to forms of nihilism. Disillusion and anxiety constitute the dominant mood among the economic and policy elites, within Australia and internationally. Captured presents a series of case studies from leading public policy experts, building critical new insights into the malaise that has characterised the neoliberal era. This book tells the story of how a small group of economists and lobby groups with a universalising agenda of radical change used neoliberalism to transform the state, and of the destructive effects of those policies on everyday life. Captured includes critical accounts of neoliberal policy and speculates on the likely future of neoliberalism as a form of political power and governmentality in Australia.

Traces the discovery and development of Australia's largest natural energy resource which culminated in 1989 with the first shipload of liquefied natural gas to Japan. Author is a well-known industry writer whose works include TFuels Rush In', TThe Split: Australian Labour in the Fifties' and TFrom Dharug to Dungaree: The history of Penrith and St Marys to 1860'.